Ivanovo means: the results of the regular season before the break in the NHL

On the night of December 24, the final matches of the NHL regular season took place before the Christmas break. We recall the most striking and key moments of the past period: Alexander Ovechkin's goalless streak, Ivan Demidov's performance and his pursuit of the Calder Trophy, the formation of the Russian backbone in Minnesota, as well as Artur Akhtyamov's debut in Toronto.

Demidov is the most productive rookie of the season

Even before the start of the NHL season, Ivan Demidov was on the list of top favorites for the Calder Trophy, the award for the best rookie of the season. At the same time, the Canadiens' management did not force its development. The Russian started the regular season in the third three, got limited playing time and very rarely appeared on the ice at crucial moments of the game.

Demidov was steadily progressing. If in the first games he stood out mainly due to non-standard moves in the majority, then over time he began to show his high level quite often and in equal formations.

By halftime, Ivan had grown to the second tier, where he plays alongside Oliver Kapanen and Yuri Slafkovsky (the first number of the 2022 NHL draft). And these three are in great order: Demidov himself scored 7 (3+4) points in eight matches, and Slafkowski, who had previously experienced serious performance problems, scored as many as 9 (2+7) effective actions during the same period.

This breakthrough in scoring allowed the Russian to break into the leaders in terms of performance among newcomers. At the start of the season, Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer was the best at this. Then Anaheim forward Beckett Senneke took over the lead. And now Ivan Demidov has become the best with 30 (9+21) points.

Right behind him in this list are the same Sennecke (30 points) and Schaefer (28 points). By the way, Demidov's link partner Oliver Kapanen is fifth in terms of performance among newcomers. But he is already 11 points behind the Russian.

At the same time, Demidov is still not considered the first candidate for Calder - Matthew Schaefer is above him in the polls.

There is another hockey player who is now rated, if not higher than the Russian, then at least on the same level with him. This is Minnesota goalkeeper Jesper Wolsstedt. In 14 matches this season, the Swedish goalkeeper scored four crackers with a 93.2% deflected shot percentage. These are incredible numbers for the modern NHL, where statistics are lagging for almost all goalkeepers.

Minnesota's matches are becoming perhaps the most interesting for hockey fans from Russia. And it's not at all about Demidov's competitor for the Calder Trophy.

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The Russian foursome in Minnesota

After the collapse of the Russian core, Washington did not have teams with a large representation of Russian hockey players for a long time. Yes, so that everyone was in a leading role. By the Christmas break, such a backbone had developed in Minnesota.

Currently, four forwards from Russia are playing in the first two links at once.: Kirill Kaprizov, Danila Yurov, Vladimir Tarasenko and Yakov Trenin. Except for the highest-paid hockey player in the history of the NHL, everyone in this company had difficulties with the Wild. But together they proved that they can show a high level.

So far, the most memorable match for these four was against Washington. Minnesota scored five unanswered goals against the Capitals. And the Russians participated in each of these goals.

But things are not going well for the main Russian player in the NHL.

Ovechkin is very unstable

Surely everyone remembers how hard this season started for Alexander Ovechkin. The Washington captain repeated numerous anti-records at the start of the regular season. He was only really able to return to his usual sniping schedule in the second month of the season. However, Alexander's statistical situation is much worse now than it was then.

Ovechkin's goalless streak now totals nine matches. In this segment, the Russian has only two effective passes and a terrible score of "-7".

The main thing is that the team also felt the captain's decline: in these nine games, Washington won only two, which is very bad considering the density in the East table.

This is the third longest goalless streak in Ovechkin's career. In the 2016/17 season, he did not score for 10 matches, and in the last regular season he played as many as 14 games in a row.

Washington's head coach has been randomly shuffling the links in recent matches in the hope of fixing something, but it seems Alexander just needs a little rest. I am sure that after this four-day vacation, he will start scoring again, as in his best years.

"Luck must be earned, achieved through work"

Metallurg hockey player Dmitry Silantyev — about his debut for the Russian national team and Magnitogorsk's leadership in the KHL

A confident debut

Artur Akhtyamov, a graduate of Ak Bars Kazan, made his NHL debut for Toronto on December 14. The goalkeeper got only 10 minutes at the end of the match with Edmonton, but he did not miss during his time, deflecting all five shots. The goalkeeper has been playing in the Maple Leafs system for the second season.

"10 minutes wasn't quite enough to experience the NHL level, but it's still a good experience," Akhtyamov said in a conversation with Izvestia. — I played against a strong opponent. It so happened that my debut came against a team like Edmonton, last year's finalist. I'm very happy that I got to play. In the future, I will fight for the chance to play the entire match. I'm still in the AHL. I'm doing my job, earning chances, proving that I deserve a place at the Toronto FC base.

Akhtyamov also talked about the Russian goalkeepers he keeps an eye on.

"Askarov is playing great this year, I'm very happy for him," the Russian hockey player continued. — I'm happy for Murashov too: the guy did well, he proved that he is ready for the NHL. He plays at a very high level, although I don't know him personally. I also keep an eye on our, so to speak, indigenous Enhaelites. I try to keep an eye on Vasilevsky, Bobrovsky, Shesterkin, Sorokin, and I'm happy for everyone.

It should be noted that Akhtyamov's teammate at Toronto, Joseph Wall, said in an interview with the press service that goalkeepers in Russia are fed something special because they are so cool.