Rybar’s saves still key for Spartak. Week 13 top imports
Spartak changed much after the hiring of Igor Grishin, but what remained is Patrik Rybar’s superb goaltending. KHL.ru presents the top players from each country.
Canada
G, Metallurg, 2 G, 2 W, 96.67%, GAA 1.00
One of the top KHL goalies, Pasquale had two striking games last week when Magnitka faced Salavat Yulaev twice. The Canadian goalie had an incredible 39-save performance on Wednesday, with Metallurg getting the upper hand on home soil with a 2:1 win. On Sunday, the two teams faced again, this time in Ufa, but the outcome didn’t change – Magnitka returned home with a 3:1 victory, with Pasquale this time stopping a “mere” 19 shots. Metallurg has gained shape lately, and is currently the second seed in the East, with just one points shy of Avtomobilist. Pasquale is naturally a big part of this success.
United States
D, Avtomobilist, 2 G, 3 (1+2) points, +3
The American defenseman is at his second year in the KHL, having already skated in our league in 2017-2018 with Slovan Bratislava. He was good in Slovakia, but in Yekaterinburg, he’s playing some of the best hockey in his career. Last week, the blueliner kept his scoring streak alive adding three points to his total. On Wednesday, Avtomobilist visited Chelyabinsk, and with Traktor up by one in the end of the third period, Ebert picked up a pass by Curtis Valk and put it in the back of the net for a real buzzer beater. The Motormen then won the game in OT with Jesse Blacker, and the defenseman had an assist earlier when Stephane Da Costa cut Traktor’s lead in the third stanza.
Two days later, Avtomobilist surrendered to Salavat Yulaev, once again in OT, and Ebert had another helper to keep his scoring streak alive. The American defenseman is currently in the top-3 scoring defensemen, and his contribute is extremely valuable in helping the Yekaterinburg side leading the East.
Slovakia
G, Spartak, 2 G, 2 W, 93.55%, GAA 2.02
Much has changed for Spartak since the Boris Mironov’s firing, but what remained is Rybar’s strong performance between the piping. Last week was no exception, with the Slovak netminder winning two games out of two played – with Alexei Krasikov stepping in for the Red-and-Whites’ 3:1 win over Avangard on Nov 23. Rybar stopped 26 shots from 27 attempts in Spartak’s victory in Kazakhstan on Nov 25, while he helped the Moscow side achieving another win in Chelyabinsk just two days later. Spartak is currently seven points above the playoffs line – qualifying to the postseason is looking more and more doable for the Muscovites.
Czechia/Russia
F, SKA, 3 G, 4 (2+2) points, +1
The SKA’s captain is having yet another excellent KHL season, and last week he contributed to the cause with two multi-point games, getting a goal and an assist in each of the St. Petersburg’s side wins, against CSKA and Torpedo. When the two giants collide on Nov 22, SKA got away with a huge 6:2 win, with Jaskin sealing the deal on the win with a late third-period tally (and an assist on Damir Zhafyarov’s 5:0 goal in the middle frame). After a pointless performance in a SKA’s losing effort against Lokomotiv on Thursday, Jaskin returned to production on a 6:2 victory over Torpedo – Jaskin netted his 19th of the season to open the score in the first period. With SKA still being the first seed in the West, its captain is emerging as one of the season’s top players.
