April's finest: Johansson, Tokranov, Azevedo and Kravtsov
To mark the end of the seventh and final month's play of the tenth season of the Championship, the Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of April in four categories.
– Best goaltender was Lars Johansson (CSKA), who was given five outings for the Army Men, recording a save percentage of 97.35, a goals against average of 0.67, and a shutout series lasting 170 minutes 31 seconds (all three figures were the best of any goalie during the month), The 30-year-old Swede also shut out the reigning champion, SKA, in the decisive 5th game of the Conference final;
– Best defenseman was Vasily Tokranov (Ak Bars), who appeared in 5 games and helped his team to victory in all five, ending April with 4 (1+3) points (the best total of any defenseman), 7 hits, and no negative ratings on his way to a +3 for the month. The 28-year-old Russian scored the game-winner in overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final series against Traktor;
– Best forward, for the second successive month, was Justin Azevedo (Ak Bars), who celebrated victory in 7 of his 8 games, tallying 8 (3+5) points (the highest total of any player in the League) and earning a +1 for the month. The Canadian forward scored points in no fewer than 5 games, and was named the MVP for the 2017-18 playoffs;
– Best rookie, also for the second month in a row, was 18-year-old Traktor forward Vitaly Kravtsov, who was given three outings in April, contributing 3 shots, 3 hits, and averaging 13 minutes 17 seconds on the ice (the highest total of any rookie during the month).
