Galimov, Khafizullin, Dawes and Zhukenov. Players of the Week

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

– Best goaltender was Stanislav Galimov (Torpedo), who appeared in two games and helped the Nizhny Novgorod Men win both. Galimov achieved a shutout in one match and allowed just a solitary goal in the other, finishing the week with a save percentage of 98.11 and a goals against average of 0.51;

– Best defenseman was Dinar Khafizullin (SKA), who played in three games, all of which were victories for the reigning champions, and contributed 3 (1+2) points. Khafizullin earned a positive efficiency rating in each game, ending the week at +5;

– Best forward, for the second week running, was Nigel Dawes (Barys), whose account for the week shows 7 goals (the highest total in the League), one assist, and a rating of +4 as he helped the Astana Men claim victory in all three road matches over the past seven days. Dawes's haul comprised two doubles (against Dinamo Riga and Vityaz) and a dramatic hat-trick at Salavat Yulaev, extending his scoring streak to six straight matches;

– Best rookie was 20-year-old Avangard forward Dmitry Zhukenov, who enjoyed two outings on the road and helped the Omsk Men triumph in both. Zhukenov everaged 8 minutes and 4 seconds of ice time, earned a +1 for the week, and against Slovan in Bratislava he scored the first goal of his KHL career.