The Ottawa Senators defeated the New York Rangers 6:2.
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The most notable character of the NHL regular season match, in which the Ottawa Senators defeated the leader New York Rangers at home with a score of 6:2, was Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian forward of the Canadian club, who finished last season with the Rangers, scored twice against his former club and added an assist to the double.
To properly evaluate what happened in this match, you need to know the context. In the previous season, the New York Rangers felt like a team that had to chase the Stanley Cup, sparing no expense to do so. And before entering the end of the regular season, due to the ban on player transfers, he made several transactions that, in theory, should have strengthened the already excellent squad. One of the newcomers was forward Vladimir Tarasenko, acquired from the St. Louis Blues, with his vast experience and excellent sniper talent. It was assumed that in conjunction with compatriot Artemy Panarin he would be very dangerous.
But the Rangers’ bet, which looked almost certain, never worked out. The season ended for him so early as no one expected – after a collision in the opening round with the New Jersey Devils. The recruits didn’t help.
And in the summer, Vladimir Tarasenko, who is now 31 years old and whose biography, in addition to various kinds of personal and team successes, also includes many serious injuries, became a free agent and did not receive a contract offer from the Rangers. But an offer of $5 million a year came from Ottawa. It hung around for a long time among the vague middle peasants, but took on the appearance of a team preparing for a breakthrough. The Canadian club already had a decent attacking team of Brady Tkachak, Tim Stuetzle, Claude Giroux, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, Dominik Kubalik, and adding a seasoned Russian forward to it seemed like a completely logical step: it would definitely help in some way.
But the reality did not correspond to expectations at all. Having said goodbye to Tarasenko without regrets, the Rangers approached the match with Ottawa at the top of the league table. With his brilliant play, he has already earned a reputation among experts as almost the main contender for the Stanley Cup. And they talked about Artemy Panarin, who after this meeting with 37 points was third in the scoring race, as a likely winner of the prize for the best hockey player of the championship – he is so productive now.
Ottawa, meanwhile, has no hints of the expected breakthrough. Instead, there is a dismal last position in the Atlantic Division, albeit with matches in hand compared to competitors and equality of victories and defeats. And Vladimir Tarasenko, with whom so much hope was pinned, disappointed the fans. He was tried in different units – drums, third, but the Russian was not effective anywhere. Before the match with the Rangers, Tarasenko had three goals to his name, and he had not managed to score against anyone else for 13 matches in a row, since the end of October – an amazing streak for an excellent sniper.
But in the game against the flagship of the championship, the entire Ottawa team, and specifically Vladimir Tarasenko, seemed to be replaced.
The Canadian team very clearly demonstrated its full potential, which for some reason cannot learn to realize on an ongoing basis. She was tough and prickly. And the Rangers hockey players seemed to be slightly taken aback by these qualities.
They seemed to come to their senses after Artemiy Panarin, with a brilliant shot, reduced the two-goal gap to a minimum at the beginning of the second period. But just then Tarasenko turned on, who, after the loss of the New Yorkers, ran to the goal and threw no less skillfully than Panarin.
Then the Rangers once again came close to Ottawa. And again Tarasenko turned on in time. It was he who picked up the puck, which Panarin unsuccessfully threw back, and a couple of seconds later Drake Batherson managed to rebound from Russian goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin and sent it into the net. And the well-deserved cherry on the cake for Tarasenko turned out to be a goal at the end of the match into the gate abandoned by Shesterkin in order for the sixth field player to enter the ice.
NHL Championship scorers
I G P O
1. Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay) 25 16 26 42
2. JT Miller (Vancouver) 26 14 25 39
3. Artemy Panarin (New York Rangers) 24 16 21 37
4. David Pastrnak (Boston) 24 14 22 36
5. Quinn Hughes (Vancouver) 26 9 27 36
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