Blacker, Chmelevski return to score. 15th week’s top imports
Avtomobilist and Salavat Yulaev’s imports find their scoring touch back, Jeremy Roy helps Vityaz battling for playoffs qualification. KHL.ru presents last week’s top imports.
Kazakhstan/Canada
D, Avtomobilist, 2 G, 2 (1+1) points, +4
The blueliner finally found his scoring touch back – he’s now on a three-game scoring streak and last week he was again instrumental for the Motormen. Avtomobilist recorded two wins against Eastern rivals – Magnitka and Traktor, respectively – and Blacker was on the scoresheet in both matches. He first helped Avto taking down Metallurg with an assist and a plus-3 differential on Dec 6 – included Oleg Li’s game-winner. Two days later, the Motormen found themselves down by one against Traktor, but Blacker tied things up in the end of the opening frame, getting full advantage of a neutral-zone mistake by the opposition to gather the puck and blast it past Sergei Mylnikov. The Motormen ended the first part of the regular season on top of the Eastern Conference’s standings and Blacker’s season is now getting on the right track.
Canada
D, Vityaz, 2 G, 2 (0+2) points, +4
The Canadian defenseman, at his debut in the KHL, helped Vityaz achieving two victories last week and is currently one of the best players of his team, leading all Vityaz’s defenseman with 22 (4+18) points in 40 games. He also sports an impressive plus-20 differential – even more impressive if thinking that his team is on the seventh spot in the Western Conference. Roy posted a plus-3 in Dec 8 Vityaz’s win over HC Sochi, adding an assist, and also had a helper when the Moscow Region franchise defeated Kunlun Red Star two days earlier. If Vityaz keeps on playing this way, they can return to postseason after a two-year hiatus.
United States
F, Salavat Yulaev, 2 G, 2 (1+1) points, +3
The American forward is another debutant who’s having a sweet season – Chmelevski is currently third in scoring for Ufa, trailing only Sergei Shmelyov and Alexander Kadeikin, having accumulated 22 (11+11) points in 38 games played so far. Chmelevski has kind of found his scoring touch back with two straight games with points, after collecting only two helpers in his previous eight appearances. Salavat Yulaev seemed also to be back on track, with two straight victories against Eastern Rivals – Avangard and Sibir. The young forward sealed the deal in Omsk with an empty-netter in the Dec 6 dying seconds as Salavat collected a much-welcomed 3:1 away win. Two days later, the Ufa side travelled to Novosibirsk and achieved another victory. Chmelevski assisted on Daniil Skorikov’s game-winner this time as he kept his scoring streak alive. Currently, the Ufa side is the fourth seed in the East, and things are improving for the Viktor Kozlov’s team.
