Best players of January

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

Last month, the League’s teams played 133 games, with 635 players (53 goalies, 208 defensemen, and 374 forwards) taking part in the action. The scoring was at 4.79 goals per game.

- Best goalie for the second time in his career was Timur Bilyalov (Ak Bars), who won seven games of nine last month, with also one SO win. Bilyalov faced 248 shots, or 27.6 per night, posting a saves percentage of 96.37% and a goals-against average of 0.98. The Ak Bars’ goalie posted shutouts in Ak Bars’ win over Vityaz (2:0) and Avangard (2:0), and was awarded Goalie of the month honors back in November 2019.

- Best defenseman for the third time in his career and this season was Alexander Nikishin (SKA), who scored 12 (0+12) points in eleven games. Nikishin also recorded 21 hits, blocked 12 shots, and had four takeaways. Nikishin was awarded Defenseman of the month honors in September and October.

- Best forward for the first time in his career was Alexei Kruchinin (Torpedo), who scored 13 (5+8) points in eleven games. Kruchinin potted two doubles, tallying the game-winner for Nizhny Novgorod in the games against Lokomotiv (3:2 OT) and HC Sochi (5:2). He also recorded two hits, blocked six shots, and had seven takeaways. Kruchinin was the third Torpedo forward to be awarded Forward of the month honors, following Robert Nilsson in February 2012 and Damir Zhafyarov in September 2019.

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was forward Nikita Grebyonkin (Amur ), who scored 9 (4+5) points in twelve games. Grebyonkin potted a double in Amur’s win over Sibir (6:4), and recorded seven hits, blocked eight shots, and had eleven takeaways.