Gilbert returned to Super Series 72
Let’s talk about the essentials right away. Artemi Panarin is now second on the NHL’s top scorers list. He scored 24 (8+16) points in 14 matches. Only Swede Elias Pettersson from Vancouver is in the lead (7+18=25).
Khlebushek has won points in every match since the start of the championship. And he has already repeated the record of club legend Rod Gilbert, who in the 1972/73 season also scored points in 14 matches since the start of the season.
If you didn’t know, Gilbert spent the last few years of his junior career in the OHL. He scored 256 points in three championships with the Guelph Biltmores. And in the third season, he was seriously injured when he slipped on trash that one of the fans had thrown onto the ice. The result was a fractured spine and a complex operation to fuse the vertebrae. While he was already playing in the NHL, his back problems reappeared. Gilbert tried to play with a special corset, but it made it difficult for him to breathe. Finally, in January 1966, the striker was forced to interrupt the season to undergo another surgical procedure. Already on the operating table, as Gilbert recalls, he was close to death. And I heard somewhere in the distance the voice of Rangers head coach Emile Francis speaking to the nurse: “Bring him back, he’s my best player.”
In general, everything was not so simple for Gilbert in life. That’s if anyone thinks it was easier to score points and hockey was more open. He just started the 1972/73 season as a Stanley Cup finalist, then the Rangers lost to Boston. And Gilbert had just arrived from the USSR, where the Canadian team won the 1972 Super Series. In six games, he scored 4 points (1+3) and made an assist in the eighth game, which became decisive for the Maple Leafs.
Panarin: “It means a lot to me”
Maybe Panarin will be remembered years later as a Rangers legend. At least his team has everything it needs to go for the Stanley Cup.
He played the game with Columbus on a line composed of Vincent Trocheck and Alexi Lafrenière. New York head coach Peter Laviolette has vowed not to finish in the top three. And she really played the game, starting to produce results.
The first pick of the draft, forward Lafrenière, finally began to reveal himself on a team with Panarin. In this match he scored a double. In the second period, Khlebushek started a combination by recovering the puck. Pass to Trocheck, who passes to Lafrenière, who scores a goal from the left flank with a well-aimed throw.
And in the third period, this combination shot again, when the hosts were behind the score and had already eliminated the goalkeeper. The massive attack led to Lafrenière pushing the puck into Elvis Merzlikins’ net at the far post with 11 seconds left in the third period.
It’s actually surprising that Columbus lost and Merzlikins missed three goals, but he was recognized as the third star of the game. That’s because Elvis made 37 saves and kept his team in the game, allowing them to take a point.
When Panarin learned in the locker room that he had equaled Gilbert’s record for scoring streaks since the start of the championship, he responded: “Honestly, it means a lot to me. It’s a good feeling. Thank you to my partners, thank you to the fans for their support.
Artemy inflates Lafrenière
In addition, Panarin repeated the Russian record for goal streak since the start of the championship. It belonged to Dmitry Kvartalnov, who played spectacularly for Boston in the 1992/93 season. He totaled 72 points (30 goals, 42 assists) in 73 games, often teaming up with the Bruins’ main forwards, Joe Junot and Adam Oates. But the Russian had a conflict with coach Brian Sutter, who felt that Kvartalnov did not fit with the team’s Canadian style.
In the second season, Dmitry was sent to a farm club, and then to the Swiss League, where he played for Ambri-Piotta.
And Gretzky? Only Wayne has had a longer goal streak for Rangers in the last 30 years – 15 games. And Panarin can still come to her.
Gretzky also holds the record for all NHL records, when he scored points in 51 consecutive games. This height will be difficult to reach. But you can think about the record of the 21st century, which now belongs to Dany Heatley: in the 2005/06 season he scored points in 22 consecutive matches with Ottawa.
The most important thing is that Panarin not only plays well himself, he also makes his partners better. The same Lafreniere goes from a disappointing player to someone the Rangers expected, selecting a hockey player with the first pick in the draft. In the last five games, Lafrenière scored 7 (3+4) points and showed very good advanced statistics. He found himself in an excellent trio, and its mastermind is, of course, the dynamic and restless striker Panarin.
At the same time, Artemy tries to take control of the game – he managed as many as 8 shots on target! By the way, this is a repeat of Khlebushka’s personal best. He also made plenty of shots in 2020 (vs. Colorado) and 2021 (vs. Philadelphia).
In general, Panarin is on fire in every sense of the word. Hot stud! This is why the New York Rangers are third in the league (23 points), just behind Boston (24) and Vegas (25). Everything they do on Broadway is good in a hockey sense.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
