Vasicek’s record

Goal blitz
Torpedo and SKA set a season record today by sharing seven goals in only 18 minutes 49 seconds, slashing more than three minutes off the previous best set by Lokomotiv and Traktor. The two teams fell slightly short of breaking the KHL record, established on the 27th of December 2008 when Vityaz and Ak Bars needed just 18 minutes 20 seconds to score 7 goals.

Five-star Vasicek
Lokomotiv attacker Josef Vasicek made five assists in a game, equalling KHL record set by Sergei Soin in 2008. Six other players had managed four, although Alexei Yashin has achieved this at two different teams, Lokomotiv and SKA. It is worth noting that before today’s heroics, Vasicek had never scored more than three points in a game.

Torpedo’s unwanted record
With today’s victory over SKA, the men from Nizhny Novgorod finally put an end to their run of seven straight games without a win, during which they earned just one point - a shootout defeat to Lokomotiv. While it is the longest losing streak in the club’s KHL history, Torpedo had suffered a sequence of six successive regulation time defeats in both previous seasons.

Figure of the day
Torpedo’s Karri Ramo became the tenth goalie this season to supply the decisive pass for his team-mates to score. He now has two points in his KHL account, as he also bagged an assist in the previous championship. And Dimitrij Kotschnew of Lokomotiv became the KHL’s leading goaltender-turned-goalmaker today, notching his third assist of the current campaign.

Key players
Scott Munroe (Neftekhimik). Kept his goal intact for the first time this season, saving 29 shots.

Alexei Yemelin (Ak Bars). Made one assist and finished at a +1, having spent over 25 minutes on the ice.

Danny Groulx (Torpedo). In 22 minutes and 51 seconds’ playing time he scored one goal, made two assists and earned a +1.

Ivan Khlyntsev (Yugra). Set up three goals, won two out of two face-offs, spent over 20 minutes on the ice and earned a +4.

Alexander Korolyuk (Lokomotiv). Threatened the opposition goal six times, scored a hat-trick, and added an assist in a performance which merited a +4.

Sergei Mozyakin (Atlant). Struck yet another double, and this one included the killer goal in overtime. Spent over 23 minutes on the ice and had four shots at goal.

Quotes of the day
“At the end it went our way, because the hosts picked up penalties from silly mistakes,” Atlant head coach Milos Riha.

“It’s hard to tell how to avoid mistakes. We work on them, watch videos, and look into every error. Out in the ice we work through all these elements, but in a game it’s a different situation, and the added pressure means mistakes will happen,” CSKA head coach Sergei Nemchinov.

“Which game was tougher – this one or the last one? To be honest, I’ve already forgotten the previous one,” Dynamo Moscow head coach Oleg Znarok.

Alexei Shevchenko, special to khl.ru