Sorokin, Panin, Azevedo and Kravtsov. Players of the Round

To mark the end of the first round of the 2017-18 season playoffs, the Conference quarter-finals, the Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the round in four categories.

– Best goaltender was Ilya Sorokin (CSKA), who celebrated victory in all four games in the series against Spartak, keeping the Red-and-Whites off the scoreboard in three matches and limiting them to a solitary goal  for the entire series. Sorokin achieved the best save percentage (98.80) and goals against average (0.25), and longest shutout series (177 minutes 02 seconds) of any goalie in the round;

– Best defenseman was Grigory Panin (Salavat Yulaev). The 22-year-old played in all seven games of the epic series against Avangard, celebrating four wins and scoring three goals – more than any other D-man in the Conference quarter-finals. The 32-year-old Russian also recorded 2 assists, 15 shots, 21 hits, and eanrned a +4 for the round;

– Best forward was Justin Azevedo (Ak Bars), who in five matches against Amur struck three goals, all of which (in Games 1, 2 and 4) secured victory for the Kazan team. The 29-year-old Canadian also tallied 4 assists, no penalties, 10 hits, and merited a +3 for the round;

– Best rookie was 18-year-old Traktor forward Vitaly Kravtsov, who appeared in all five matches of the series against Neftekhimik and scored four goals, two of which (in the first and third encounters) were game-winners. The teenager hit a double in Game 3, and his account for the round also shows 1 assist, 21 shots, 6 hits, and an average ice time of 12 minutes and 31 seconds.