New year, new leader, new records

2024 arrived with some changes at the top of the KHL. The new year also saw updated club scoring records, the end of a notable shut-out streak and a new face in the all-time top three scorers.

Loko leads the way

There’s a new leader in the KHL. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl moved into top spot this week, lifted by a run of seven wins (and one shoot-out loss) in eight games. The Railwaymen are tied on 68 points with Eastern Conference leader Metallurg, but have a substantial advantage in terms of regulation-time wins. Next comes Spartak, one point adrift, with Dynamo Moscow a further point back.

Loko hits the front. January 5 round-up

Radulov up to third

Alexander Radulov’s assist during Ak Bars’ 2-1 win over Admiral moves him to 686 career points. That puts him third in all-time KHL scoring, moving clear of Danis Zaripov. His pass created one of two goals for Vadim Shipachyov in that game, moving his team-mate even closer to Sergei Mozyakin’s league scoring record of 928 points.

Moisevich allows a goal at last

SKA’s goaltending prospect Pavel Moisevich finally allowed a goal. The 20-year-old netminder completed 242 minutes, 55 seconds before he was beaten by Ivan Vorobyov of Vityaz on January 3. That represents the longest ever shut-out streak for a goalie at the start of his KHL career, and also the longest shut-out streak of the current season. He’s also sixth on the all-time KHL list and second in SKA’s history. Vorobyov’s goal didn’t do much to help Vityaz: SKA won the game 6-1.

Boucher sets Avangard record

Reid Boucher’s scoring form continues. He got his 32^nd goal of the season in Saturday’s 5-3 win over Lada. That puts him ahead the club record 31 goals scored by Roman Cervenka in 2010-2011. The same game saw Vladimir Tkachyov make his comeback after injury – and he scored 28 seconds into the game to announce his return.

Boucher’s double gives Avangard the edge. January 8 round-up

Camara beats Dawes

Nigel Dawes is something of a legend at Barys. However, one of his club records fell last week. Anthony Camara, who moved to Kazakhstan from Neftekhimik earlier this season, scored twice at Lokomotiv on Jan. 3. That stretched his goalscoring series to seven games, beating Dawes’ mark of six.

Atanasov injury

Vasily Atanasov suffered a big blow in Torpedo’s game against Kunlun Red Star. The exciting young forward, who has 39 (19+20) points in 42 games in his breakout season, collided with an opponent and twisted he knee as he fell awkwardly early in the game. He was unable to continue, and after the incident Torpedo’s GM Alexander Kharlamov admitted that it wasn’t clear how bad the damage was. 

“Because of the swelling, we can’t see everything on the scan,” Alexander Kharlamov told journalists. “It will take about five days to understand exactly what we’re dealing with. But I think he will play again this season.”