Yaroslav Galak: ‘Tarasov has just surpassed me’
There is something stable in this world – Artemi Panarin continues to lead the NHL in scoring (4+8=12 points). The Rangers forward is ahead of Valery Nichushkin (6+5=11), Connor McDavid (5+5=10), Mats Zuccarello and David Pastrnak (4+6=10 each), Sidney Crosby (3+7=10), not to mention the rest.
And if we talk about unstable, the New York Rangers had an extremely unsuccessful home game against Columbus, flying with the score 1: 5.
Overall, the first star of the game was Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov, who earned his first NHL career victory. He made 30 stops and where – Madison Square Garden! A day that the Russian goalkeeper will remember all his life.
“It was amazing,” said Tarasov, 23. – Especially for me. The guys helped me a lot.”
“I think Daniil played well,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. – He was very calm. He made some tough saves that looked very easy today.”
But Yegor Chinakhov, who scored six goals at a time in pre-season games, has now scored his first goal in Game 7 of the regular season. He received a pass, rolled to the door of Slovak veteran Jaroslav Halak and hit them with a well-aimed wrist shot.
By the way, Igor Shesterkin rested, and that’s one of the reasons why Rangers played so badly.
“Their keeper (Tarasov) just outplayed me,” Halak said. — I have to be better in the next game. I hope in the future I can help guys get wins and score points. Today I didn’t play well.”
“We haven’t done well enough, obviously,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. We were slow. I didn’t like the way we played. I like when our team attacks aggressively. I haven’t seen much of it. It seemed to me that we were a step behind the team which played two matches in a row all evening. Disappointed. The speed of our game was not very good.
Panarin leads the NHL scorer
Panarin, by the way, extended the goal streak to six matches. Since the start of the championship, not a single New York Rangers player has given that – if you count since the 2009/10 season, when Marian Gaborik scored points in eight consecutive games.
Khlebushek scored in the majority, as the scoreboard was already burning 0:3. With 76 seconds remaining until the second break, Rangers had a double majority. Panarin received a pass from a Columbus player who inadvertently dropped the puck. Thrown – and knocked on the door of a compatriot. There was no such thing.
That goal in the locker room could have changed the game for Rangers. The hosts continued to press, inflicted three more shots on target, four more missed. But now Tarasov was a wall, the Blue Jackets kept the score until the break and then took it to victory.
“It’s far from Halak’s fault,” Gallan continued. — I didn’t like the body language of our players. I really didn’t like it. It was visible. We spoke more with the linesmen than with the teammates. Let’s play hockey. We are big boys. We had several chances to save this game. With the score at 1:3, we had some good chances at the start of the third period, but we didn’t convert them. And then the opponent just went into the gap.
It must be said that the Rangers played most of the game with 11 attackers, because Filip Chytil left the ice with an upper body injury. On the other hand, when it came to proving himself, New York forward Vitaly Kravtsov was again invisible, and in almost 12 minutes on the ice (11:33) he scored only two powerful shots . It was Kravtsov’s first game of the season, and he dated Khytil and Barclay Goodrow.
“I repeat, as I already said in the locker room in my speech, today the whole team had a winning mentality,” Tarasov said. “We focused on our game, on showing our best hockey. And we did.”
Zak Verensky: ‘Tarasov’s game is very impressive’
In general, Russian goaltenders are, of course, the weather in the NHL. Do you count:
And now Tarasov’s star rises over Columbus. Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen declined to discuss Latvian goaltender Elvis Merzlikins’ game after losing 3-6 to Pittsburgh. But he released a Russian goalie from Rangers and he showed incredible hockey.
And we have to consider not only that Columbus played the second time in 7 p.m., but Rangers were fresh, having a two-day break. Additionally, the Blue Jackets have played the last two periods in New York with just five defenders after Nick Blankenburg suffered a left elbow injury late in the first period.
And just like that, Tarasov got Columbus out of these troubles.
He also made great saves and demonstrated excellent rebound control that Merzlikins has failed to achieve so far (86.4% save rate this season).
“It was amazing,” Columbus defenseman Zach Werensky said. – Every shot that hits Tarasov feels like he’s either going to make a save or deflect the puck into the corner. The game is impressive for a guy who has only played a handful of NHL games in his career. He had an incredible attitude from the first seconds.
By the way, like Vasilevsky, Tarasov comes from a goalkeeper’s family. His father Vadim Tarasov was drafted by Montreal in 1999, became the Super League champion with Salavat Yulaev and now works as a goalkeeper coach at Siberia.
But we won’t praise Daniil, it’s only his first victory in the NHL. The league record among Russians belongs to Evgeny Nabokov (353), who, like Tarasov Sr., comes from the famous Ustinka, Ust-Kamenogorsk hockey school.
If Danya Tarasov is a maximalist, then let him focus on those numbers.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
