The Russian rookie scored his first NHL goal. American fans are already crazy about him

A great game by Egor Chinakhov.

"Columbus, which selected Egor Chinakhov in the first round of the 2020 draft, sees a great future in the Russian. The 20-year-old forward won the Gagarin Cup with Avangard and went to North America this summer to conquer new horizons. Now he plays in the second line with Cole Sillinger and Jakub Voracek, gets power play time and a lot of credit from the coaching staff. For eight games Yegor was unable to hit the opponents' goal, although he had numerous excellent opportunities to do so. Today in the game against Detroit, Chinakhov finally managed to score and helped his team pull out a win in the very end of the game.

With four minutes left in the third period, the Red Wings led 3-2, but the home team was not about to lose their third straight game. The Russian forward received a masterful pass from Voracek and ran alone to face Thomas Greiss. Columbus fans have closely followed Chinakhov's actions in every game, actively discussing his play on Twitter and eagerly waiting for the forward to score his debut puck. Now everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. Including Yegor, who seems to be under a bit of pressure from this whole situation and the excessive attention.

"The Blue Jackets smelled blood after the Russian's puck and ran on the attack, and Zach Werenski gave his team the lead. "Detroit could not recover from such a knockdown in the very end, and there was almost no time to do so. Alexander Texier hit an empty net shot to put the game tied at one.

Chinakhov was named the game's first star, noting his assist in addition to the goal. At the end of the second period, Grice handled a shot by Yegor, but retrieved the puck in front of him. Adam Boqvist took advantage of it, as he scored for the first time for Columbus.

💙 NOTHING LIKE A CELLY WITH SILLY 💙 pic.twitter.com/jC9wW8KuxH

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 16, 2021

After the game, Chinakhov donated his stick to a child in the stands, finally becoming the new hero for the Blue Jackets fans. He now has 4 (1+3) points under his belt. Tonight's game should give the forward a lot of confidence, but he shouldn't relax. When Patrick Line and Max Domi return to the lineup, the competition will be much higher. At the moment the forward has everything he needs to progress. That includes the support of his teammates. It is enough to see how his teammate Sillinger sincerely cheered for Egor and what atmosphere prevailed in the locker room after the game. The Russian was congratulated, received the traditional hat of the best player of the match, and Chinakhov confidently demonstrated his knowledge of the language: "Good job. Good work. Good goal next." The talent and the shot are there, but the English still needs some work.