To properly disperse, such a heavyweight colossus as the National Hockey League, two weeks will not be enough. Of course, it is not worthwhile to draw far-reaching conclusions on such a short period, but let’s note it as a fact: three teams passed without losses - Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild and Buffalo Sabers.
Dallas “Stars” won their fifth consecutive victory in “Anaheim”, and, as usual, lost in the process. Sergey Zubov equalized the score in the game by five to three, scoring his first goal of the season, and after a draw overtime with a score of 3: 3 he went out first to shoot. If you recall last season, in the “jesters”, “Dallas” was almost invincible, and this trend seems to continue, since the bullet crew remained in the team the same. It usually doesn’t even reach the third throw: Zubov and Jussi Jokinen score, and goalkeeper Marty Turko does not allow opponents to do the same. Which, in fact, happened in a duel with Anaheim.
Ilya Bryzgalov did not live up to the shootouts. After the second missed goal, he went to the bench, giving way to the goal of Jean-Sebastian Giger. I can’t say that Ilya had a very bad match, but, as Anaheim coach Randy Carlisle explained, “it’s not good when the team misses the second after the first goal. You need to stir up the players somehow and replacing the goalkeeper is not the worst way to do. "
In the last days, the Russian forwards in the NHL are doing slightly better than the goalkeepers, although Ilya Kovalchuk, for example, was able to open his personal account only in the sixth match of the season. His goal, however, was victorious for “Atlanta” in a duel with “Washington” - Ilya scored in the fourth minute of overtime (4: 3). Dainius Zubrus also scored in this match, Maxim Afinogenov from “Buffalo” participated in the Rangers distribution (7: 4), and Dmitry Afanasenkov contributed to the victory of “Tampa” over “Florida” (4: 1).
“Montreal” held his first home match against “Ottawa”. The game of the Kovalev - Plekanets - Samsonov link again left a contradictory impression, however, it was Sergei Samsonov who saved the Canadiens from defeat in regular time a minute before the end of the third period. At speed dribbling, he traveled the entire zone of the Senators, and when the guests believed that Sergey would go to the second round, abruptly, with brushes, threw. True, when it came to the shootouts, “Montreal” again blundered - 2: 3, but managed to remain one of the five teams that score points in each match.
Against “Montreal” his first official match in the NHL was held by Alexei Kaygorodov. He appeared on the ice of the “Molson Center” as part of the fourth link of “Ottawa”, nevertheless he was noted for an assist. The debut for “Phoenix” Enver Lisin, called up from the farm club, was also held, but the ex-forward “Ak Bars” was not so successful - a utility indicator of “minus 2” and the defeat of the team 1: 4.
Well, not only Russian, but also North American fans are looking forward to the first exit of Evgeni Malkin. According to Pittsburgh head coach Michel Terrien, this can happen any day. “Penguins”, however, do not rush things - Malkin will appear in the team only when he is completely healthy.
Anton Filinsky