To mark the end of the twentieth week’s play of the ninth season of the Championship, the Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the week in four categories.

– Best goaltender was Juha Metsola (Amur), who kept the opposition off the scoreboard in both matches. Following last week’s exploits, the 27-year-old Finn’s unbeaten spell currently stretches to 119 minutes 13 seconds, and he now has 6 shutouts under his belt this season;

– Best defenseman was Chris Lee (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), who made three appearances and finished the week with two wins and 6 points (1+5). The 36-year-old Canadian struck the overtime game-winner against Torpedo, earned a +2 for the week and averaged 25 minutes 6 seconds of ice time – more than any other player in the KHL;

– Best forward was Vadim Shipachyov (SKA), who helped his team to victory in all four games, thanks in no small part to his mighty haul of 11 points (4+7), which was the highest total in the League and included a double against Metallurg Novokuznetsk. The 29-year-old Russian did not receive a single negative rating on his way to meriting a +4 for the week;

– Best rookie was 20-year-old Lokomotiv forward Artyom Ilyenko, who enjoyed three outings and celebrated victory in all three, scoring the game-winning goals against both Neftekhimik and Ak Bars and averaging 9 minutes 43 seconds on the ice.