Artemi Panarin isn’t particularly known for his sniper skills, but the Russian gave it his all in the New York Rangers’ 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes with four goals on Saturday night in Raleigh .
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The Russian has been on cloud nine since the Blueshirts added fellow countryman and friend Vladimir Tarasenko. Author of a fourth career hat trick, Panarin reached the plateau of 200 goals thanks to his first success of the evening, with 2 min 11 s remaining in the second engagement.
The 31-year-old winger opened the game in the third, scoring three more to bring his total for the night to five points. Since returning from the All-Star Game break, Panarin has collected nine points in four games.
Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko also scored for Rangers, with Alexis Lafrenière adding one assist to his tally.
Among the “Canes”, we tried to bring the team’s winning streak to eight. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Teuvo Teräväinen did their best to score three minutes apart in the second half, but the attack was then thwarted by Jaroslav Halak. The Slovak made 27 saves.
Nathan MacKinnon, le poison de Sergei Bobrovsky
At Sunrise, Sergei Bobrovsky had a great night in front of the net for the Florida Panthers, but Nathan MacKinnon had other plans for the Colorado Avalanche, who won 5-3 thanks to three points from their star player .
After allowing goals to Logan O’Connor and Matt Nieto in the first period, Bobrovsky was very solid against the onslaught of the defending Stanley Cup champions, stopping a total of 45 shots.
MacKinnon, however, took advantage of the traffic in front of the Russian to beat him on the power play late in the second period. Minutes earlier he had fed Bowen Byram, whose powerful shot was pushed past Bobrovsky by Devon Toews. MacKinnon added an empty net goal.
Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad hit the target for the Panthers, who had won their three previous meetings. Alexandar Georgiev scored in goal for the Avalanche with 42 saves, including 11 shorthanded.
Finally generous Marchenko
In Toronto, the Eastern Conference’s worst team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, upset the Maple Leafs 4-3.
After 29 games in the National League, Kirill Marchenko had 13 goals, but still no assists. The Russian remedied the situation by being complicit in the success of Boone Jenner at the start of the second period. The maverick was not going to stop there, however, and his 14e net allowed the Jackets to tie the game.
Sean Kuraly and Kent Johnson also threaded the needle for the visitors at the expense of Joseph Woll, who was making his first start for the Leafs this season.
