Panarin helped Rangers beat Columbus
06:30
“Rangers” walked the rink on the opponent.
NHL. Regular season
Rangers 6-2 Columbus (3:2, 1:0, 2:0)
Goals: Khytil – 22 (Lafrenier, Miller), 5:23 – 1:0. Tarasenko – 16 (Schneider, Harpur), 6:50 – 2:0. Kane – 21 (Trochek, Kreider), 8:00 – 3:0. Marchenko – 20 (bol., Roslovik, Godro), 11:45 – 3:1. Gaudreau – 19 (Jenner, Christiansen), 19:31 – 3:2. Panarin – 25 (bol., Fox, Zibanejad), 37:36 – 4:2. Zibanejad – 38 (Panarin), 54:27 – 5:2. Trochek – 20 (p.v., Lafrenier, Fox), 56:21 – 6:2.
Goalkeepers: Shesterkin – Hutchinson (45:34 – 56:21).
Penalty: 8 — 4.
Throws: 36 (17+12+7) — 30 (12+10+8).
Our: Panarin (17.07/4/+2), Tarasenko (15.26/1/+1) — Marchenko (18.28/5/-2).
March 29. NY. Madison Square Garden.
After the Rangers secured a playoff berth for the second consecutive season, the team couldn’t lose face in a home game against a clear underdog. Looking at the score, it may seem that the struggle did not work out, but Columbus did not let Igor Shesterkin get bored. He had to parry 28 shots and make some incredible saves. Fans in New York, as always, were delighted and began to chant the name of the Russian goalkeeper.
The start of the match turned out to be shocking for the hosts, and Gerard Gallan’s team scored three goals in eight minutes. All goals were scored in equal compositions, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the first time in five games. The striker played great on the penny and effectively corrected Braden Schneider’s shot. For Tarasenko, this puck was the 16th this season, and Columbus goalie Mike Hutchinson could not do anything in this episode.
Just a minute later, Patrick Kane also scored, who scored in the second match in a row. Despite the disastrous start, Hutchinson stayed in the net, and the Blue Jackets were able to pull themselves together and bring the opponent down from heaven. Even before the first break, the guests scored two goals, and Kirill Marchenko became the author of one of them. The Russian striker scored in the majority and scored the 20th goal in the championship. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the same number of goals in his debut season, so Kirill repeated the club record.
In the second period, “Columbus” was not much inferior to the New Yorkers, but Shesterkin helped his team feel confident again. Three minutes before the next break, the guests made a mistake, which, in fact, became a turning point. Blue Jackets forward Hunter McCone broke the rules, which Artemiy Panarin took advantage of. The striker converted the majority and became the sixth Russian to score 25 goals this season.
Artemy traditionally likes to upset his former teams and decided not to stop there. At the beginning of the third period, he went down the flank, effectively moved to the center and helped Mika Zibanejad score. For Panarin, this transfer was the 59th in the current championship, so the next anniversary is just around the corner. Zibanejad, in turn, came close to the mark of 40 goals per season.
Vince Trochek’s puck into an empty net did not decide anything, and three and a half minutes before the siren fixed the final score of the match. Immediately two Russians were in the top three players of the meeting. Panarin is in second place, and the first went to Shesterkin, who finally got into great shape and is preparing to make some noise in the playoffs. Igor deserved a standing ovation from the fans, and with 34 wins this season, he is second only to Linus Ullmark from Boston.
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