Result of the day
Vityaz Chekhov – Severstal Cherepovets 5-2. Perhaps, one of the most entertaining teams in the KHL is now to be found in Chekhov. No doubt many sides have superior technique, but hardly any show the same desire to step out and die on the ice. Traktor was recently such a club, but the Chelyabinsk outfit has fallen into disarray.
This summer the news from Vityaz raised eyebrows. There was no preseason camp, the players were almost training as and when they wished, rather than as a team. But Mike Krushelnyski created in his players a desire to put in more and more work, and the results soon showed. At the start of the championship the Moscow Region team were riding high in the table, then started falling away, but it seems that things now are on the up again.
In the day's other matches Lokomotiv beat Metallurg Novokuznetsk, 3-2, CSKA were beaten on their own ice by SKA, 2-5, HK MVD were too strong for Sibir, winning 5-1, and Torpedo received another thrashing from Atlant, 2-7.
Sushinsky is the new leader
SKA attacker Maxim Sushinsky's assist against CSKA set a new record - he has gained points in 11 consecutive games. Maxim performed the same exploits for a 5-game sequence in the first KHL championship.
First goal
CSKA defenseman Mikhail Pashnin struck his first goal of the season, having only one assist to his name in his previous seventeen matches. And Mikhail, first choice in the KHL Entry draft this summer, was not in much of a hurry to open his account, managing just seven attempts at goal all season.
First score
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist averages over 18 minutes on the ice, but had to wait until his 22nd match to take part in a scoring attack, finally bagging an assist.
First punishment
Metallurg Novokuznetsk attacker Stepan Zhdanov went 12 games before receiving his first penalty minutes of the season. Moreover, in six outings with the youth team he was only sent to the penalty box twice. The Siberians still have four players who are yet to break the rules this season, including defenseman Anton Kapotov, who is yet to be penalized after 23 games.
Two times four
For the first time this season, two players from one team - Atlant's Sergei Mozyakin and Jan Bulis - both picked up four points. Indeed, Torpedo must be sick of Mozyakin: in two meetings Sergei has bagged two goals and five assists.
Agressive debut
Vityaz's Ivan Larin made sure his debut in the KHL was a memorable one: having spent just eight minutes in play, he earned a 25-minute penalty for fighting. Nothing much new for Ivan - in 18 games for the youth team he has collected 117 minutes of penalty time.
Fatal expulsions
Sibir's attacker Denis Kartsev claims first place among players whose penalties turn out to be very costly. He has left his club short-handed 14 times, and from the bad boys' bench has watched his team concede 7 goals. And it's even worse with his Sibir's team-mate Alexei Akifyev and Vityaz's Andrei Kolesnikov - their penalties are immediately punished with a goal, so far on three occasions.
Figures of the day
26 minutes 48 seconds on the ice for CSKA defenseman Konstantin Korneyev.
6 shots on goal from Atlant attacker Sergei Mozyakin and Lokomotiv forward Alexander Galimov.
68.8% of 16 face-offs won by Torpedo attacker Vadim Shakhraychuk.
36 shots by Severstal on the Vityaz goal.
Key players
Alexei Yashin (SKA, pictured). Twice scored on powerplay, bagging himself first place in the ranks of the tournament's highest scorers. He has now 9 goals and 22 assists to his name.
Alexander Ryazantsev (Vityaz). Added one goal, one assist, and a +2 to his account.
Martin Strbak (HK MVD). Grabbed a double and finished the match with a +1.
Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant). Struck two goals and added two assists.
Quotes
“Just looking at the score, you would think it was an easy game, but I can't say that it was.” - Atlant head coach Nikolai Borshchevsky.
“I am ashamed of the result and ashamed of the performance.” - Torpedo head coach Sergei Mikhalev.
Alexei Shevchenko, khl.ru
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