In with the new...
The past week in the KHL saw two outsiders marching up the standings, youngsters bagging their first KHL goals, and a new buddy for Traktor’s offense.
Five-star show from Goldobin
Nikolai Goldobin continues to lead the KHL scoring race. The former Sharks and Canucks forward made a flying start to his career with Spartak, putting up 15 points in his first 10 games. His tally got a big boost last week in a 6-3 win over Barys, with the 27-year-old contributing five assists! He’s the ninth player to score five or more in a KHL game, with Ryan Gunderson leading the way after getting six points for Jokerit against Neftekhimik in 2014-2015. Only one other Spartak player has five points in a game: Stefan Ruzicka had 4+1 against Metallurg Novokuznetsk back in 2008-2009.
Lada enjoys CSKA success, Goldobin stars for Spartak. September 21 round-up
Michkov opens account
While Goldobin was orchestrating Spartak’s win over Barys, Matvei Michkov was scoring his first goals of the season. The youngster is back on loan at HC Sochi, and he scored twice to grab a battling win over Traktor. This season’s Sochi looks a far more competitive force than last year’s struggler: the Leopards recorded a fifth successive win in that game and are currently among the leaders in the Western Conference.
First goals for young prospects
Michkov wasn’t the only young player to find the net last week. Three Salavat Yulaev prospects got their first KHL goals in Ufa’s 4-2 win over Neftekhimik. Defensemen Alexander Komarov and Danil Sherstobitov, both 20, scored the first two goals in that game. Then Matvei Babenko, 17, added an empty-net goal to finish the job. That makes him the second youngest player to score for Salavat Yulaev in the KHL. However, the following game saw Salavat Yulaev on the receiving end: Avtomobilist’s 19-year-old forward Vladislav Razdyakonov scored the only goal of the teams’ clash, snapping Ufa’s three-game winning streak and ending a similar run of losses for the Motormen.
Lada riding high
Lada Togliatti’s return to the KHL is going well. The Motormen climbed to second in the Eastern Conference last week, although Ak Bars overtook them on Sunday. Along the way, Oleg Bratash’s team celebrated a couple of milestone wins. Victory over the defending champion handed CSKA its first loss in Togliatti since 2009. Then Lada got its first ever KHL win over Kunlun Red Star, handing a 5-1 thumping to the Dragons.
SKA snaps skid
After five losses on the spin, SKA needed instant improvement. Roman Rotenberg handed the captaincy to Alexander Kadeikin, promoted the veteran to the first line and brought young Artemy Pleshkov into the team as starting goalie. And those changes worked. If a 4-1 win at home to Severstal was a slightly flattering final score in a close game, the 4-0 road win at Amur was entirely merited. Summer signing Alex Galchenyuk scored twice in that one, getting his first goals in the KHL.
SKA snaps the skid. September 20 round-up
Traktor signs new Buddy
After injury prevent Andrei Chibisov from making his Traktor debut, the Chelyabinsk club moved to fill its import quota with a suitable replacement. Charles Robinson, better known as Buddy from his time in the NHL and AHL, is a big beast of a winger blessed with surprising pace for his size. The 31-year-old American had a circuitous route to the NHL: he wasn’t drafted, nor was he part of the U.S. junior program. Robinson has played much of his hockey in the AHL, but featured in nine games for the Black Hawks last season, picking up 3 (1+2) points and helping the team deny Evgeny Malkin’s Pittsburgh a playoff spot. Robinson has a one-year deal with Traktor.
Smith’s heavy load
Kunlun Red Star netminder Jeremy Smith is possibly the hardest-working goalie in the league. In last week’s shoot-out win at Amur, he was at it again, stopping 56 shots to keep the Dragons in the game. That’s the seventh time in 114 KHL games that Smith has faced 50+ shots. Another 30 encounters brought at least 40 efforts on his net. Compared with other goalies who played a similar number of games, the difference is striking. In 113 appearances, Igor Shestyorkin never once faced 40 shots, while Lars Johansson had one 40-shot game in 116.
Shoot-out win snaps Red Star skid. September 19 round-up
