Best Players of the 2023-2024 fifth week

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

The League’s teams played 36 games last week, with 574 players (43 goalies, 189 defensemen, and 342 forwards) taking part in the action. The scoring was at 5.75 goals per game.

- Best goalie for the first time in his career was Alexei Kolosov (Dinamo Minsk) who won two games from three last week, adding a SO victory. The Dinamo Minsk’s goalie faced 91 shots, or 30.3 per night, posting a saves percentage of 95.60% and a goals-against average of 1.31. The Belarusian netminder posted a shutout in his team’s 3:0 win over Barys.

- Best defenseman for the eighth time in his career was Darren Dietz (CSKA), who scored 4 (2+2) points in three games. Dietz posted no negative ratings, ending the week with a plus-7 rating. His goal in the game against Vityaz (9:1) was the game-winner for CSKA. He also recorded one hit and blocked six shots. Dietz was awarded the Best defenseman honors seven times while representing Barys.

- Best forward for the second time in his career was Nikita Korostelyov (Severstal), who scored 6 (5+1) points in three games. Korostelyov posted no negative ratings, ending the week with a plus-4 differential. His tally in the game against HC Sochi (10:1 OT) was the game-winner for his team, and he also netted his second hat-trick in his KHL career. He also recorded two hits and two interceptions.

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was forward Roman Kantserov (Metallurg), who scored 3 (1+2) points in four games last week. Kantserov posted no negative ratings, ending the week with a plus-4 differential. He also recorded four hits and one interception. The last time that a Metallurg player was awarded the Best rookie honors was Ilya Samsonov back in 2016-2017.