Minnesota’s Russian players defeated Washington! And Alexander Ovechkin remained in the shadow of another Russian veteran – Vladimir Tarasenko. The Wild’s most experienced forward played his best game of the season, scoring three points. And you can look at his masterpiece pass forever.

Minnesota is in great shape.

In the last match, Washington suffered a painful defeat from Winnipeg (1:5). The unsuccessful result can be explained, among other things, by the fatigue of the main goalkeeper Logan Thompson, who, due to an injury to Charlie Lindgren, was forced to start for the fourth meeting in a row. And in principle, the Capitals’ lineup cannot be called optimal due to the absence of center forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and the team’s main young talent, Ryan Leonard.

In that game, Russian striker Bogdan Trineev made his debut, taking the place of Sonny Milano. But before the meeting with Minnesota, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery brought Milano back. Due to a major defeat to the Jets, Washington’s impressive streak of scoring points in nine games came to an end, so the capital team’s players were extremely motivated before the away game.

As for the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov and his teammates approached the home game in a great mood. Firstly, the “savages” won four games in a row. Secondly, as a result of the trade, one of the best defenders in the league, Quinn Hughes, joined Minnesota. There were rumors that Washington also applied for him, but Vancouver was not satisfied with the proposed compensation for the captain.

“Dry” victory

It was expected that the focus would be on the duel between Kaprizov and Ovechkin, but Tarasenko was the first to announce himself, opening the scoring in the match. In the third minute, Danila Yurov rolled out from behind the goal and joined Tarasenko in the attack, and he took a lethal position and hit Lindgren’s goal with an accurate wrist shot. The Capitals goaltender, who had missed the last four games, was clearly hoping for a more successful comeback.

After the puck was scored rather quickly, there were no more goals in the first period. At the same time, the guests desperately tried to equalize, but Filip Gustafsson managed all 11 shots on target. And after the break, Minnesota increased the lead, and this time a combination of the team’s main stars worked.

In the power play, Hughes fired from the blue line and hit Yoel Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov was the first to react to the rebound and played on the finish – 2:0. The Russian leader now has 38 points (21+17) in 34 meetings. Kaprizov moved into first place in Minnesota history in power-play goals (70) and moved into second place on the Wild’s all-time scoring list, ahead of Mikko Koivu (205).

It seemed that at least in the third period Washington would improve and try to save the match, but instead the guests completely failed. It all started with a goal from 34-year-old Tarasenko. In the 45th minute, Yurov won a throw-in in the opponent’s zone against his compatriot, who immediately fired into the open corner – 3:0. For the first time this season, Vladimir scored a double!

Vladimir Tarasenko / Photo: © Brad Rempel / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

But the bunch of Russian hockey players didn’t stop there. After a few shifts, the experienced veteran did something incredible, setting up a beautiful goal for Danila. Tarasenko, with the help of a “stick-skate-stick” feint, quickly eliminated the opponent and passed the ball to Yurov on an almost empty goal; the 21-year-old center forward did not disappoint and converted the chance.

If it weren’t for the epidemic of injuries in Minnesota, Tarasenko and Yurov would not have played together in the second line. But thanks to a coincidence of circumstances, a Russian attacking troika was formed, which also includes Yakov Trenin. It was this combination that made the difference in the home match against Washington.

In the middle of the period, the guests had the opportunity to seal Gustavsson’s goal when the opponent caught the penalty. But they failed to realize their numerical advantage, and the Wild scored in the minority: Matthew Boldy put the point in the match – 5:0.

Washington suffered its third defeat in a row, conceding 10 goals in its last two matches. Ovechkin did not score for the fifth meeting in a row, finishing the match with a utility score of -2. The Capitals’ next game will be at home against Toronto. Surely the team will try to brightly rehabilitate itself for the latest results.