With ten points, he remains the top Russian scorer in the NHL

In the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), the sole leaders of the conferences scored 14 points. The Montreal Canadiens are in the lead in the East, and the Anaheim Ducks are in the West. Among the Russians, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has entered the season best, scoring points in every match.

On the eve of the season, Evgeni Malkin was recovering from an injury and missed his team’s training camp. For this reason, at the start of the championship, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Johnston transferred the center forward to the right flank of the second line attack. Now the Russian coach is completely satisfied with the play of the Russian, and in the last two matches Malkin played in his usual position, displacing Brandon Sutter from the second three, who dropped to the third line. In the last match - against the Nashville Predators - Malkin scored again, scoring another goal, and continues to gain at least a point per game. Now the top scorer in the NHL among Russians has 10 points (3 goals + 7 assists). The hero of this meeting, which ended in Pittsburgh's victory with a score of 3:0, was Sidney Crosby, who scored three points. Crosby has 12 points (5+7), the captain of Pittsburgh and the Canadian national team is only one point behind the championship's top scorer, Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars.

The list of championship snipers is led by Rick Nash (New York Rangers) and Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks), who scored nine goals each. The best among the Russians, Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin (five goals), failed to score a single point for the fourth match in a row. “Washington” lost in the meeting against the “Vancouver Canucks” - 2:4, but the head coach of the capital team Barry Trotz praised Ovechkin, saying that the Russian does absolutely the right things on the ice - he blocks shots, works well in defense, thereby demonstrating a desire to win . It is not clear, however, whether the right forward, from the coach’s point of view, will be able, as last season, to win the Maurice Richard Trophy, awarded to the best sniper of the regular season. In three matches of Washington's away series, the natural sniper Ovechkin shot at the opponent's goal no more than twice per game.

But another Russian super forward Pavel Datsyuk recovered from injury and began to score points. In the match against the Philadelphia Flyers, the 36-year-old Detroit Red Wings center scored his first goal of the season, but this did not stop Philadelphia from winning - 3:2. In three matches, Datsyuk scored three points (1+2). Another legendary hockey player, well known to Russian fans for his performances for Avangard, 42-year-old Czech Jaromir Jagr, scored six points (2+4) in eight matches. In the game against the Ottawa Senators, his accurate shot in overtime brought the New Jersey Devils a 3:2 victory. The next goal - the 708th of his career - will allow Jagr to catch up with Mike Gartner and share sixth place with him on the list of the best NHL snipers of all time.

Russian Colorado Avalanche goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov categorically refused to comment on the legal battle with his ex-girlfriend Evgenia Vavrinyuk, who wants to sue him for $1 million for allegedly causing injuries, emotional harm and loss of reputation. A year ago, investigators were unable to prove the goalkeeper’s guilt. It seems unlikely that they will prove the guilt of disqualified Russian defender of the Los Angeles Kings Vyacheslav Voinov in domestic violence. His other half, according to lawyers, does not intend to sue the hockey player. Without Voinov, the Stanley Cup winner won his sixth victory in a row, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets - 5:2, and surpassed the Western Conference leader Anaheim in terms of lost points.

Ruslan Karmanov

Evgeni Malkin does not play without glasses