Eight NHL teams lost their Stanley Cup chances after the first round of the playoffs. The legion of Russian contenders for the trophy has also thinned out. The season will continue immediately without two of the brightest stars from Russia – top sniper Alexander Ovechkin, whose “Washington” could not cope with the daring “Florida”, and the best Russian scorer of the season, Kirill Kaprizov. Despite his sniping exploits, Minnesota were eliminated once again in the first round.

But the winning team will almost certainly have a Russian hockey player, or even more than one.

Vladimir Tarasenko, Pavel Buchnevich, Ivan Barbashev, Alexei Toropchenko (Saint Louis)

Photo: © REUTERS / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The largest representation of Russians is in St. Louis. Four hockey players from Russia at once take to the ice steadily and score points. Tarasenko, who is having the best season in his overseas career, scored a hat-trick in one of the first round matches against Minnesota. Spoiled the nerves of Kaprizov and Buchnevich with Barbashev, who scored 5 points for two. One transfer was recorded at his own expense by 22-year-old Toropchenko, who is spending his debut season in the NHL.

In the next round, the Blues will have a life-and-death struggle with a very powerful Colorado, so the support of Russian fans will be very useful to our compatriots.

Nikita Kucherov, Andrey Vasilevsky, Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Andrey Vasilevsky / Photo: © Debora Robinson / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.com

The first-round series between Tampa and Toronto was worthy of the Stanley Cup final. The reigning Stanley Cup Lightnings from Florida experienced the upstarts from Ontario, but spent literally everything on it. A significant contribution to the success of the Lightning was made by the best NHL goalkeeper of recent years, Vasilevsky, who generally spends the season rather modestly, but it was in the playoffs that he shone as before. Kucherov, although playing with some kind of malaise, scored 8 points at the start of the Stanley Cup. The third, but not superfluous in this company is defender Sergachev, who had a hard time in the first round against Toronto, famous for their attacks.

In the semi-finals of the conference, it will not be easier – Tampa will meet with its neighbor Florida, which won the regular season. If the Lightning get to a third championship in a row, it will definitely be the toughest of them all.

Igor Shesterkin, Alexander Georgiev, Artemy Panarin (Rangers)

Artemy Panarin / Photo: © Jared Silber / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.com

Another trinity from Russia plays for the Rangers. The day before, the team from New York defeated Pittsburgh in brilliant style, having issued a victory in overtime of the seventh game. The decisive goal was scored by Panarin, a favorite of local fans, who sent the Penguins, led by Crosby and Malkin, on vacation with one throw.

The playoffs turn out to be dramatic for another Russian from the Rangers, Shesterkin. The goalkeeper, nominated for Vezina and Hart, unexpectedly failed two matches in a row, giving way to his compatriot Georgiev on the ice. But the selfless faith of the coaching staff and teammates returned Shesterkin’s self-confidence: after returning to the start, the Rangers won three matches in a row.

Sergei Bobrovsky, Maxim Mamin (Florida)

Photo: © Eliot J. Schechter / Contributor / National Hockey League / Gettyimages.com

It is impossible to break away from the hockey of the fearless Panthers this season: this is what it means to be the most attacking team in the league! In the first round, Florida not without difficulty finished off Washington, winning their first playoff series in 26 years. Forward Mamin, who still has to fight for a place in the line-up, went on the ice twice for the confrontation in the Panthers.

But Bobrovsky does not have such a problem – he is the undisputed number one in Florida, which cements the back line while a formidable attack rushes forward. In the next round, for the second time in a row, he will have to go against a counterpart from Russia: in the confrontation with Washington, he played half the series against Ilya Samsonov, and now he will fight against Vasilevsky from Tampa. Will Bobrovsky outplay another compatriot?

Andrey Svechnikov, Petr Kochetkov (Carolina)

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Serious chances for the conference finals were indicated in the first round by Carolina, which passed the uncompromising Boston. One of the leaders of the “hurricanes” Svechnikov left a double impression of his game, turning invisible in several matches. And even a double in the sixth meeting, which did not help Carolina, did not significantly improve the situation.

Yesterday’s debutant Kochetkov showed himself much brighter in the series, having played two out of seven matches against Boston. Due to an injury to the main goalkeeper, he had to play in the playoffs for the first time, having only three regular season meetings. Even with such a small amount of experience, the 22-year-old Kochetkov managed to celebrate his first victory in the playoffs. But will the Russian still have a chance to go on the ice in this season? In the long rounds of the Stanley Cup experience will play a much more important role.

Nikita Zadorov (Calgary)

Photo: © REUTERS/David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

“Calgary” in the first round had to thoroughly suffer with “Dallas”, which in the end of the “regular season” fought for the playoffs, and then for the conference semifinals. The Flames turned out to be stronger, but the Stars thoroughly ruined their nerves, calling into question the status of the favorite in the next round with Edmonton, the only team in the second round that did not have Russians.

Calgary’s progression to the Conference Finals will largely depend on how hard he plays. The Flames’ power hockey specialist is defender Zadorov, who hits terrible but filigree in terms of the rules, which even the Department of Player Safety cannot find fault with. This is exactly what happened in the previous series, where he put Klinberg on the ice, and then avoided disqualification.

Valery Nichushkin (Colorado)

Photo: © REUTERS / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

According to the results of the first round, Colorado is the undisputed favorite. With Nashville, the Avalanches managed to crack down in four games, so they had plenty of time to rest, recover and watch the rivals fighting in the seventh matches.

Nichushkin, who is the only Russian hockey player in the club from Denver, can be pleased with the start of the season: in four meetings he scored three points, making a double in one of them. The long-suffering Valery in Colorado is still going great, and this can be seen from his inspired game and the most productive season of his career. At this rate, Nichushkin, who was considered by many to be a decommissioned pilot and an overrated player, can come to the coveted Stanley Cup.