Ottawa are the absolute worst team this season in the NHL, with just two wins in 16 games. All this makes it a tasty morsel for rivals in the Northern Division. Despite losing consistently, the Senators play fun, concede a lot and score a lot. Often, useful actions in the capital of Canada are celebrated by Russian hockey players, of whom there are four people. Last week, Artyom Anisimov was put up for a bounce draft, but no one took the center forward from there, and he returned to the squad again. Recently, Artem Zub, who missed the start of the regular season, has become an iron candidate for getting into the application. It was the 25-year-old Russian defender who actually became the person who started an incredible comeback against Toronto.
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Maple Leafs opened an account pretty quickly. Already in the seventh minute, Matthews scored, extending his streak to 13 matches. A little later, Auston scored a double, thus in the last 55 matches (taking into account last season) he has 49 goals. The hosts of the ice were leading in throws with a serious advantage. And even Drake Butterson’s puck (made 1: 2) did not confuse the leader of the season.
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The second period turned out to be a shock for Toronto – the team scored three goals. Even 41-year-old John Thornton was noted with an abandoned puck. The third link, in which Ilya Mikheev plays, also scored. But the Russian forward was left without points – everything was done by his partners. Another Russian Alexander Barabanov was not included in the roster, a newcomer from St. Petersburg in general, rarely gets a chance.
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Ottawa, having conceded five goals, was not too upset and continued to wait for the opponent’s mistakes. And she waited. At the end of the second period, Paul scored the second goal against Anderson, but then, however, nothing portended a fiery ending. The most interesting thing happened after the break: at the beginning of the third period, Zub jumped out of the penalty box and scored. The debutant’s first goal in the NHL was spectacular. A few years ago, no one could have imagined that a Khabarovsk citizen could score points in the best league in the world. Artyom scored in his eighth game of the season, having had two assists before.
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The Russian defender is generally one of the discoveries of this season. At the beginning of the championship, he was in reserve, patiently waiting for a chance and, coming out on the ice, looked extremely confident in a new league for himself. The Senators immediately began to give him 15-18 minutes of playing time, sometimes even releasing in unequal compositions (in the minority). Zub has no questions about playing on the defensive, he does his job well, and now he shows that he can help the attack.
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Zub’s goal gave the match intrigue. After a few minutes, Brown reduced the lead to a minimum, and it became quite interesting. Stüzle could do 5: 5, but the German could not realize his moment. In the end, Ottawa almost lost Zaitsev, who threw himself under the puck. In the fall, Nikita covered his face with his hands, and possibly thereby avoided serious injury. The Russian defender was able to continue the meeting.
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2:01 before the end of the third period, Evgeny Dadonov equalized the score. The Russian forward played out in recent meetings, and now he scored the most important goal of the match. It was painful to look at the “Toronto” – too quickly the favorite relaxed and was confused.
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Overtime turned out to be bright, albeit not long. Marner had a super moment, but he did not use it, and the guests had the puck. And then Dadonov turned on: he ran “one” to zero and scored. In a crazy match, Russian hockey players brought Ottawa their third victory of the season.
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