We all know the quote that has long been lost to the people ” Life is the best playwright…” After that very victory of the Russian national team in Quebec, we apply this phrase of Roman Skvortsov to almost every bright, beautiful story, the main character of which overcomes a series of great troubles and difficulties, but still achieves success. Now the hero of this plot, “which Hollywood couldn’t come up with,” has become Andrei Svechnikov. The Russian forward of the Carolina Hurricanes shows by his example how to achieve the desired result through work and hard work.
To understand the situation, let's go back almost nine months. March 12, Raleigh, regular season game against the Vegas Golden Knights. “Carolina” lost that match (0:4), but truly the main setback for the “Hurricanes” was not the defeat, but the loss of Andrei Svechnikov. In the middle of the second period, the Russian collided with Vegas defender Alec Martinez and injured his knee. After that, Andrei remained on the court for some time, but then realized that he could not continue the game, and went to the locker room.
A few days later, the club made a sad statement: Svechnikov was diagnosed with damage to the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee joint, the forward will undergo surgery. This was the end of the season for the Russian superstar.
Without Svechnikov, the Hurricanes reached the finals of the Eastern Conference, where they lost to the main sensation of the 2023 Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers. Andrei, watching the performances of his teammates from the sidelines, gradually prepared for the new season. It was planned that the Russian would be able to start from the very first match of the championship, but his long-awaited comeback had to be postponed a little. Svech played his first game after a serious injury on October 28 – by this time, Carolina had already played eight matches, winning four of them.
The return of Andrei Svechnikov is also a separate chapter in this nine-month story. Full of the desire to return to a high level, the Russian was so active that he often acted to the detriment of his own team. In nine of the first 11 games, the Hurricanes forward was guaranteed to go to the penalty box. Svech collected penalties for every taste and even played out a series of seven matches in a row, in which he did not do without punishment from the referee.
This was compounded by the lack of goals. In all 11 matches after his return to the ice, Andrei could not score a goal. Only in assists, of which he accumulated seven during this period. It seemed that Svechnikov was being pursued by some kind of evil fate. After all, in a recent game with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Russian forward seemed to score a goal, but that one was cancelled!
But any series – including unsuccessful ones – are still interrupted. This happened today in a match with the Columbus Blue Jackets, which became a real thriller.
During the first two periods of the meeting, the teams could not get a clear goal. The Hurricanes seemed to shoot more often and more (like Dmitry Orlov, who almost caught Elvis Merzlikin off guard), but the Blue Jackets responded less often and better. Peter Kochetkov, who was entrusted with the task of defending the Canes goal, made several truly outstanding and important saves.
But in the third 20 minutes, the opponents staged a scoring extravaganza. Moreover, it started not with the Hurricanes, as expected, but with the Blue Jackets, who are struggling to get out of the bottom of the standings. In six minutes, the “uniforms” scored twice, and both goals were very offensive for Kochetkov. First, Kirill Marchenko hit his goal: the Russian Columbus striker, just 13 seconds after the throw-in, luckily shot from an acute angle, and the Carolina goalkeeper couldn’t help it. Later, Kochetkov was upset by Johnny Gaudreau, whose throw surprisingly treacherously flew the puck into the goal. From the series “you can’t make it up on purpose.”
But the 0:2 score did not spell doom for Carolina. Rod Brindamor's team did not get out of such situations. In the last ten minutes of regular time, the Hurricanes, like their nickname, went through the opponents and scored three goals in a row. The main hero of the bright comeback was… Andrei Svechnikov. Who else?
It was from his pass that Brady Shea equalized the score. And less than two minutes before the siren, the Russian distinguished himself. Unfazed by the puck hitting his ear, Andrey continued the attack and finished it off with a winning shot. The emotions and joy from this goal are more valuable than any words.
After the match, the Hurricanes players held a traditional victory show with the fans, and then demonstratively began to congratulate the main star of the match. Such support is worth a lot. This was noted by Svechnikov himself, who thanked everyone who was with him during these difficult nine months:
““These months were special. I felt a lot of love. It’s incredible. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to everyone for their support. My goal? I knew it would happen. And that time has come. Obviously, at a very right moment. A big victory for all of us.”
Andrey SvechnikovCarolina Hurricanes forward
Keep it up, Svech!
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