Athletistic/Hockey. The New York Rangers pleased their fans in another NHL regular season game. The club met with Tampa Bay and defeated the opponent with a score of 5:1.
The main hero of the match was Artemiy Panarin, who scored a hat-trick. The Russian striker had a brilliant match.
The Rangers looked good without Panarin, but the Russian, with his energy, helped the team find courage.
Panarin is now third in the championship in points (50) and fourth in goals (23). Panarin is incredibly dangerous when he gets the puck. Every second of the game, opponents must be prepared for him to say something supernatural.
Panarin competes for the Hart Trophy with players such as Nikita Kucherov, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Jack Hughes, Nathan MacKinnon and David Pastrnak. Despite such a bright list of contenders, Artemy has a very good chance of winning this trophy.
Last regular season, Artemi Panarin led the New York Rangers in points scored (92), but did not end the year in the best way.
The 32-year-old forward looked terrible in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New Jersey Devils. He only had two assists. After this failure, Blueshirts fans doubted whether he was a player fit for big games.
Panarin likely heard the fan grumblings during the offseason and jumped to some drastic conclusions. The hockey player shaved his head and entered the regular season with a new image. As a result, Panarin and the Rangers are off to a good start. The team is currently ranked first in the entire league.
Based on the results of 35 games this season, Panarin has 50 points (23+27), eight power play goals and 145 shots on target.
Why is Panarin having such a successful season this season? Firstly, he is no longer afraid of taking shots on goal. Previously, he was seen as a striker who preferred to pass the ball to a teammate rather than do it himself. This added assists to his collection, but sometimes led to Artemy losing the puck or missing excellent scoring opportunities.
Second, new Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette trusts the Russian. Under the team’s former coach, Gerard Gallant, that wasn’t always the case. Although Panarin scored a lot of points under him, rumors swirled that they often clashed. Most likely, due to disagreements, the Russian lost self-confidence in the last playoffs.
If Panarin continues in the same vein this spring and doesn’t slow down, then the New York Rangers will have a very good chance of winning the trophy.
Andrey Andreev, Sport.Ru
Source: Sport
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.
