Best players of September

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the Regular Season’s first month in four categories.

- Best goalie for the second time in his career was Ilya Konovalov (Dynamo Moscow), who won six games of nine last month, adding a SO win. The Blue-and-Whites’ goalie faced 237 shots, or 26.3 per game, posting a saves percentage of 94.51% and a goals-against average of 1.44. Konovalov also posted shutouts in the games against Vityaz and Ak Bars. He was awarded best goalie honors for the first time in January 2019, while representing Lokomotiv.

- Best defenseman for the first time in his career was Alexander Nikishin (SKA), who scored 9 (2+7) points in 12 games. Only once did Nikishin end a game with a negative rating, ending September with a plus-6 differential. The SKA blueliner also recorded 17 hits, 16 blocked shots, and three takeaways. He logged an average time on ice of 20 minutes and 49 seconds.

- Best forward for the second time in his career was Sergei Shirokov (Avtomobilist), who scored 17 (9+8) points in 12 games last month. Shirokov was the top sniper of September, with nine tallies, including four game-winning goals. In the game against Spartak, the Avto’s forward netted a hat-trick and became the first player in the KHL history to score a hat-trick for four different teams. Shirokov was awarded top of the month for the first time in September 2014, representing Avangard.

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was Vasily Atanasov (Torpedo), who scored 6 (4+2) points in September’s twelve games. He also had 18 shots on goal, blocked ten shots (best figures among rookie forwards), and three takeaways.