Best Players of the 2023-2024 twenty-first week

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

The League’s teams played 31 games last week, with 541 players (41 goalies, 175 defensemen, and 325 forwards) taking part in the action. The scoring was at 5.16 goals per game.

- Best goalie for the first time in his career was Matt Jurusik (Kunlun Red Star), who recorded two wins in two games last week. The Dragons’ goalie faced 78 shots, or 39 per night, posting a saves percentage of 97.44% and a goals-against average of 1.00. Jurusik posted a shutout in Kunlun Red Star’s win over Vityaz (2:0) on Wednesday.

- Best defenseman for the second time in his career was Martin Gernat (Lokomotiv), who scored 3 (2+1) points in four games last week. The Yaroslavl defenseman netted the game-winner in Lokomotiv’s win over Spartak on Wednesday (2:1). He also recorded one hit, blocked three shots, and had one takeaway.

- Best forward for the first time in his career was Nick Merkley (Dinamo Minsk), who scored 5 (3+2) points with a plus-2 differential in three games last week. The Minsk forward netted a double in Dinamo’s win over Admiral on Sunday (4:0), and recorded two hits.

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was forward Alexander Pashin (Spartak), who scored 2 (1+1) points with a plus-2 differential in three games last week. Pashin has also recorded one hit, blocked two shots, had one takeaway and two pass interceptions.