Kalnins earns milestone, Jaskin breaks record. 16th week’s top imports
Imports keep on being key for their teams as the New Year approaches. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
Latvia
G, Amur, 2 G, 1 W, 95.38%, GAA 1.50
The Latvian netminder made history this week – he became the first goalie among his compatriots to reach the 100-win milestone, and was the 28th goalie in history to achieve this feat. The Amur’s netminder reached the mark in last week’s away victory over Salavat Yulaev. With the Tigers on the lookout for points trying to return to the East’s top-eight, Kalnins stopped 32 shots from 33 as Amur recorded a 5:1 win. Two days before, Kalnins had another striking performance for the Tigers, with 30 saves in a losing effort in Magnitogorsk (1:3). Evgeny Alikin is currently Amur’s starter, but Kalnins also played well so far, and his future performance will be key for the Far East franchise to return to playoffs.
Czech Republic/Russia
F, SKA, 3 G, 2 (2+0) points, even
Maybe it wasn’t the best week for the Czech international, but just like Kalnins, he’s made history last week. When he scored his 100th KHL goal on Saturday on a SKA’s 4:2 win over Spartak, he erased one of the records set by the great Sergei Mozyakin. Jaskin only needed 176 games to reach the milestone, compared with 202 for Mozyakin. Moreover, Jaskin is the leading goalscorer in the KHL since his debut on Sep 1, 2019. If that’s not enough, the SKA forward missed last year’s KHL action as he joined the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL. Also thanks to Jaskin’s goals, SKA is still leading the Western Conference and the league, and it’s unlikely that they will step down from the top spot in the standings.
Sweden
D, Severstal, 3 G, 3 (2+1) points, +4
Press is one of the top players for his team currently, other than one of the best on the blue line in the whole league – the Swedish d-man trails SKA’s Alexander Nikishin and Sibir’s Trevor Murphy by only one point among the blueliners, and share the lead with Nikishin with nine goals. Two of these tallies came last week. First, Press scored as the Steelers downed HC Sochi in OT on Dec 21, then, three days later, the d-man posted two points as Severstal defeated Dinamo Minsk 4:0 in a key game for the Cherepovets’ side hopes for a postseason qualification. Against Minsk, Press first scored Alexander Suvorov’s eventual game-winner, then scored himself in the dying second of the opening stanza. The Andrei Razin’s men are currently the ninth seed in the West, but have still plenty of time to overcome Dinamo Minsk and get to top-eight.
Canada
F, Dynamo Moscow, 3 G, 5 (1+4) points, +3
The Canadian forward has been excellent last week for the Blue-and-Whites, who had a perfect showing with three straight wins. Weal started the week with a two-point performance as Dynamo Moscow downed Spartak on Dec 20. Two days later, the Blue-and-Whites had another win, this time with Dinamo Minsk as the victims, but Weal was left out from the scoresheet as the Muscovites enjoyed a tight victory (2:0). However, the Canadian returned getting points for Dynamo as soon as the next game. With the Blue-and-Whites defeating Traktor after OT (4:3), Weal had a hat-trick of assists, including helping Yegor Martynov’s game-tying tally and Andrei Mironov’s game-winner. The Canadian forward is currently leading Dynamo with 31 (9+22) points – three more than Eric O’Dell. The duo also shares the lead in the differential rankings, sporting a plus-19 rating.
United States/China
G, Kunlun Red Star, 2 G, 2 W, 95.55%, 0.96 GAA
The Kunlun Red Star netminder had a good showing last week, winning two games from two (including one SO win over Neftekhimik). The Michigan native had his first last week victory in Nizhnekamsk, when he stopped 30 out of 32 shots as the Dragons got away with a 3:2 away W. two days later, on Dec 23, the Dragons snapped another win as they shut HC Sochi out with Smith stopping all 26 shots for his second blanking of the season – his fifth in his KHL career. The goalie is having yet another good season with Kunlun Red Star, and while a postseason qualification may seem far to achieve right now – the Dragons are the tenth seed in the West – hope dies last.
