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The Hawks fly high, Rendulic returns to score. Top imports
Avangard is on a hot streak propelled by its exceptional top line, while Borna Rendulic returns to scoring for SKA. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
United States
F, Avangard
3 G, 10 (7+3) points, +8
Avangard’s top line is simply the best in the league and demonstrated it once again last week with Reid Boucher, Ryan Spooner, and Vladimir Tkachyov posting outstanding numbers, with the American forward netting seven goals in just three games. Boucher netted two doubles and a hat-trick in his three games, scoring a treble against the Gagarin Cup reigning champion, CSKA, helping the Hawks achieving a 6:4, away win in Moscow. That was Boucher’s best game of the week, but was he busy in the others. After netting a double in Avangard’s 4:3 win over Dinamo Minsk on Monday – and following his hat-trick in Moscow – Boucher posted a three-point performance (2+1) when Avangard defeated Kunlun Red Star on Sunday (6:4). If that’s not enough, that day Boucher accumulated a plus-5 differential. The Hawks have climbed up to third place in the Eastern Conference, and Boucher’s line is unstoppable.
Canada
F, Avangard
3 G, 9 (3+6) points, +5
Boucher’s linemate had a tremendous week as well, with just one point less than the American forward. Spooner also netted the game-winner in Avangard’s win over CSKA – he had a four-point performance that night (1+3), with the Muscovites failing to find an answer to the Hawks’ top unit. Spooner didn’t have his best week on the dots, but as Avangard won all its matches and Spooner produced at such a rate – he can be forgiven for this time.
Slovakia
G, Torpedo
3 G, 2 W, 93.75%, 1.69 GAA, 1 SO
The Slovak netminder had his first shutout of the season on Friday, when Torpedo blanked Admiral in Vladivostok (3:0) – his third shutout in his KHL career. Huska had 24 saves against the Sailors as it was one of his top games this season. However, before his shutout against Admiral, Huska had another striking performance when he stopped 22 shots out of 23 in Torpedo’s 4:1 away win over Vityaz on Wednesday. On Sunday, the Slovak netminder ended his week posting 29 shots on Torpedo’s losing effort against Amur. Torpedo is currently the fourth seed in the West, and Huska is helping the side to stay in the top four.
Croatia
F, SKA
2 G, 2 (1+1) points, +1
After a strong start with SKA, Rendulic slowed down a bit, but the forward returned to scoring when SKA downed Neftekhimik on Saturday (4:2). The Croatian had a goal and an assist that night, opening the score after fifteen minutes and assisting Mikhail Vorobyov’s second of the night – the eventual game-winner for SKA. Despite his production going a bit down in the most recent period, Rendulic is one of the top scorers for the St. Petersburg franchise – with SKA he has accumulated 10 (4+6) points, and he had another fifteen earlier in the season with HC Sochi. SKA’s recent wins got the team in fifth place as the St. Petersburg squad has surpassed CSKA in the Western Conference standings.
