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Big week for Da Costa, Spooner. Last week’s top imports
Dinamo Minsk and Avtomobilist are enjoying top game from their key international players, while also Dynamo Moscow and Admiral had powerful inputs from leading imports. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
Canada
F, Dinamo Minsk, 3 G, 6 (5+1) points, even
The Canadian forward had a fantastic start of the season, and is currently one of the top scorers in the KHL, trailing only to France’s Stephane Da Costa. This week, Spooner, at his fourth season in the league, scored two straight doubles – in a 6:3 victory over Avangard (where he also had an assist) and in a losing effort against Salavat Yulaev (2:4), and added a tally in Minsk’s away thumping of Neftekhimik (5:1).
Dinamo Minsk started well the season, and Spooner is a big part of this success. For his efforts, Spooner was awarded for the first time of his career best forward honor last week.
USA
D, Dinamo Minsk, 3 G, 6 (0+6) points, +2
If Spooner is no foreign to KHL action, Duszak just went, as the Russian saying goes, directly “from the ship to the ball”, having signed in Minsk less than two weeks ago. However, this didn’t prevent Duszak from becoming one of the top-scoring defensemen in the league right away. The American d-man had six assists in three games last week, and he seems to be the menace on the blueline that Minsk was lacking since the days of Brennan Menell.
France
F, Avtomobilist, 3 G, 6 (2+4) points, +1
The Frenchman is back in fantastic shape – not that last year he was disappointing, but the whole Avtomobilist squad had a bad season. This year, the Motormen started the engines right away, and Da Costa had an excellent start. He scored two points in each of last week’s games, including a win over Avangard, where he had two assists. Avto is currently leading the Eastern Conference, but they need more – its import, however, started with the right spirit.
Sweden
F, Dynamo Moscow, 3 G, 3 (3+0) points, +3
Swedish players are a rare commodity in this year’s KHL, but Lilja is having a nice start with Dynamo Moscow. Last week, he helped the Blue-and-Whites achieving two victories out of three games, and when he scored, Dynamo won. The Swede had a double in Dynamo’s 6:1 win over Neftekhimik, when he scored the two inaugural goals of the night, including the eventual game-winner in the middle frame. Two days later – on Wednesday – Lilja scored again as Dynamo recorded a 4:2 win in Sochi. He was then held scoreless when the Blue-and-Whites had a loss against SKA on Friday. Dynamo is currently the second force in the West, and Lilja has his share of merit in all this.
Czech Republic
D, Admiral, 3 G, 4 (1+3) points, -1
The Sailors had a decent start of the 2022-2023 campaign, and Sulak – the Vladivostok side’s captain – looked excellent so far. After being left off the scoresheet when Admiral lost to Spartak in Moscow (2:4) on Monday, the Czech had points in two straight games. He first had an assist when the Sailors lost to Ak Bars in OT on Thursday, then, on Sunday, he was on the ice for all three Admiral’s goals as he had one goal and two helpers in a 3:1 win in Vladivostok. Admiral is currently the fourth seed in the East. While it’s hard to imagine that the Sailors may go on this way, they can still concur for a playoff spot, and Sulak needs to play his top game for this to happen.
