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With the resumption of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, the first game was played tonight by a Latvian striker Theodore Blugers and his Pittsburgh Penguins, who scored two goals in the first third of the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadiens in less than three minutes and missed a two-goal deficit, but lost in overtime with 2: 3.
In the first match after the resumption of the NHL season Blugers played in the fourth shift with his usual partners of the season Zek Aston-Rice and Brandon Tanev. The Latvian center striker spent 17 minutes and 47 seconds on the field tonight (the sixth largest playing time among the Penguins strikers), during which he made two shots on the opponents’ goal, failed at the throw-in (33%) and got a negative efficiency of -2.
Teodors spent most of the time in a heap on the ground today, his normally rapid movement hindered by the slippery pitch. “Canadiens” often broke the rules and played a lot in the minority, so the Latvian striker had the opportunity to play in the majority for 44 seconds. Although Pittsburgh earned only four minutes of penalty, Blugers spent a lot of time tonight in the minority – two minutes and 45 seconds. Only his replacement partner Tanevs, who was in the minority on the ice for five seconds longer than a Latvian, played longer than Theodore in the minority “Penguins” tonight.
Having completed his first full season in the NHL, Blugers went 69 games in the regular championship this season, scoring nine goals and making 13 assists. The Latvian center striker spent his most productive season in the NHL so far and with 23 accumulated points in the regular tournament, he became the Pittsburgh’s ninth most successful striker and 11th most successful hockey player. A year ago, making his debut in the world’s strongest hockey league, Teodors stood out in 28 matches with six goals and four assists.
Blugers also earned 25 penalty minutes and a positive efficiency of +2. In addition, the Latvian became one of the two “Penguins” hockey players and the only Pittsburgh striker who did not miss a single match this season. The second hockey player in the regular tournament “Penguins”, who did not miss any games this season, was the Swedish defender Marcus Petersons.
Pittsburgh completely dominated the Canadiens in the first third tonight and scored 12 shots more than their opponents (the Penguins threatened Montreal goalkeeper Kerry Price’s defense 18 times in the first 20 minutes, while rivals made just six shots at Meta Maray’s goal), but In the 12th minute, the leader took the lead with 0: 1, when, in the field of Bluger, NHL’s debuter Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who made his NHL debut last season, drove the puck into the Pittsburgh goal after the active fight in front of the opponents’ goal and put “Canadiens” in the lead.
Although Nick Suzuki, who made his debut in the world’s strongest hockey league in the 27th minute of the season, defeated Murray with a quick shot from the left throw and doubled Montreal’s lead (2: 0), the Penguins scored two goals in the second third and scored two goals. on the board. Just three minutes after the Canadiens scored a two-goal lead, Pittsburgh captain Sydney Crosby, behind the opponents’ goal, took a shot from a very sharp angle in the fight against the opponent and surprised Prais unprepared – 1: 2. Meanwhile, after a little more than two and a half minutes, Brian Rast realized the numerical majority and reached 2: 2.
If in the second period Montreal equalized the game a bit and even made a few more shots than the opponents (13: 8), in the last 20 minutes of regular time, the Penguins attacked again, making eight shots at the Prais goal and allowing their rivals to threaten their rivals only four times. . At the start of the third period, Pittsburgh earned two numerals in 28 seconds and was able to play the big majority for more than a minute and a half, but failed to realize the big majority and use the numerical advantage of two players. Just over three minutes before the end of regular time, the Penguins had another great chance of winning, but Connor Shary was unable to take the penalty shot at the Montreal goal. In the remaining three minutes, neither team could score a goal and pull out a victory, so extra time followed.
Conor Sheary misses the net on the penalty shot
2-2 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/3QeyFhZEMy— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 2, 2020
In the fourth minute of the extra time, the Pittsburgh won the next majority, but was unable to achieve a numerical advantage for the second time in the match and score a point. Shortly after passing the minority, the Canadiens also gained the right to take a free throw, but Jonathan Druin failed to deal with Murray and bring Montreal victory. After just over seven minutes, Jeff Petri, from Bluger’s court, made an accurate throw-in from the right throw-in and secured the Canadiens a 3: 2 extra time in the first play-in of the series.
“Penguins” will play the next match of the “play-in” series against “Canadiens” in two days (August 4 at 3:00 Latvian time). The series will lead to three victories for a team.
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