On the count of three: how Ovechkin made a fool of himself with Edmonton

The NHL regular season resumed brightly for Russian hockey players. Alexander Ovechkin became the first star of the game against Edmonton, taking three more steps toward the all-time sniper record. Matvei Michkov, who had one of his best games of the season against the Oilers, also played effectively after the break. Vladislav Namestnikov has agreed to a new contract with Winnipeg, while Evgeni Malkin said he has no intention of changing clubs and will finish his career in Pittsburgh. Read more - in the material "Izvestia".

New records

"Washington" defeated "Edmonton" (7:3) in a home game of the regular NHL championship, Alexander Ovechkin sent into the gate "oilers" three pucks, the first of which turned out to be the winning one. The Russian forward repeated the league record for the number of decisive goals, equaling Czech Jaromir Jagr (135). None of the current players has yet reached the 100-goal mark, although the 80-goal mark has been surpassed by six pursuers: Sidney Crosby (95), Steven Stamkos (90), Evgeni Malkin (85), Bral Marchand (82), John Tavares (81) and Patrick Kane (80).

This is the second time Ovechkin has scored three pucks in the current regular season - he was seriously hurt by Vegas in mid-November. During his time in the NHL, the Russian forward has already accomplished 33 hat tricks - 32 in the regular season and one against Pittsburgh in the 2009 Stanley Cup.

Ovechkin, 39, is the fourth player to record more than one hat trick this season. The Washington captain is tied with Canadians John Tavares of Toronto and Mark Scheifeley of Winnipeg, and is second only to Finn Marko Rantanen, who had three hat tricks before moving to Carolina from Colorado.

Ovi is tied with Phil Esposito for the most hat tricks in the NHL regular season. Forwards distinguished themselves 32 times, but the legendary Canadian played 185 games less. Alexander is one hat trick behind third-place Brett Hull, but the trio of leaders Gretzky (50) - Lemieux (40) - Bossy (39) is unlikely to move.

In the historic race for the title of the NHL's best regular season sniper, Ovechkin has closed the gap to Wayne Gretzky to 12 goals. The Russian is keeping up with the Canadian's average sniper pace (0.60 goals per game) and could be on par with him if he scores the remaining 12 goals in 20 games.

- I think Ovechkin's performance is phenomenal," former Dynamo sports director Alexey Sopin told Izvestia. - Alexander has a second youth, scoring goals, bringing benefit to the team. I am very happy for him. I hope that he will break Gretzky's record this season, and next season he will increase the gap. I want to wish Sasha all the best and no injuries. He understands everything himself and is systematically going towards his goal.

Charging in Dubai

Another Russian forward, Matvey Michkov, also played well against Edmonton the other day (a goal, two assists and a record +5 rating). The former SKA forward took on the experience of Alexander Ovechkin, who tore up the NHL a year ago after spending a mini-vacation in Dubai. The Flyers forward traveled there for the Four Nations Tournament and upon his return he quickly scored in his first game back. That puck was the 17th for Michkov in his debut season. "The Oilers didn't falter and responded with two goals, going into the break with the lead.

That's where the pleasant moments for the visitors almost completely ended. The Dubai energizer continued to work. Michkov added to his goal in the second period with two gorgeous goal assists on his linemates Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett. The Russian looked fresh and, surprisingly, fast against his opponent. Their trio created one moment after another.

It's unknown where Andrei Kuzmenko was resting recently, but the Russian forward scored his first goal for Philadelphia after being traded from Calgary. Edmonton's lineup was too much of a passenger on this day, and one of the top stars in the entire NHL, Leon Draisaitl, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't drag the others along with him. Connor McDavid, another top player, apparently left too much emotion behind at the Four Nations Tournament and didn't look his best throughout the meeting.

"Michkov is a great guy, he's doing well," Ovechkin is quoted as saying by RG. - He played against us recently, so I've seen him. But I'd like him to show off a little less. Other than that, everything is fine."

Just Pittsburgh

In other big news, Winnipeg's new deal with 32-year-old Russian forward Vladislav Namestnikov also stands out. The hockey player will earn $6 million over the next two seasons. Namestnikov has been playing for Winnipeg since 2022. In the 2024/25 season the forward scored 30 (10+20) points in 53 regular season NHL games.

Last season, Namestnikov had 37 points (the second highest point total of his overseas career, he scored 44 in the 2017/18 season with Tampa Bay). This year, he could very well look to surpass those personal bests. The Voskresensk native has seven (1+6) points and a +4 in his last five games.

Evgeni Malkin returned to the game after an injury. However, it didn't help his team in the games against Washington (3:5, Evgeni had one assist). Malkin missed 10 of the Penguins' 16 games in January and February. Earlier in the year, the forward was absent from four games in one week due to an upper-body (arm) injury, and before the regular season break, he was absent from six more games due to a lower-body (leg) injury. Evgeni also injured his knee in a game against Seattle (Jan. 25) after colliding with Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson in the middle zone.

After such a string of injuries, the forward began to receive questions about continuing to play in Pittsburgh. In the summer of 2022, the Russian signed a contract until the end of the season-2025/26 with a cap hit of $6.1 million. Crosby and Letang have longer agreements - respectively until 2027 and 2028. The Magnitogorsk man is not going to part ways early with the only club in his North American career, and he has no plans to play for his hometown Metallurg for the time being after retiring in the NHL.

"I'm not ending my career [after this season]. I know some people say, like, I'm going to go back to Russia and play for my hometown team," Malkin said for The Athletic. - But I never said that, you know. "I'm going to finish my career in Pittsburgh. "The Penguins are my team. I love this team. When I'm done, I'll [retire] here. I don't think I'll play in Russia after "Pittsburgh". Maybe I'll play one game for my hometown team. Just one - to say goodbye."

Malkin has been playing for Pittsburgh since the fall of 2006, joining the team along with defenseman Kris Letang a year after Crosby's debut. The trio of legends brought the club three championships with four Finals appearances and didn't miss the Stanley Cup for 16 seasons until the spring of 2023. Now Sullivan's team is looking at a third consecutive playoff failure.