Andreoff on fire for Sibir’s playoff push. Top imports
Andreoff helps Sibir in fighting for a playoff place, while Reid Boucher continues his incredible season. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
Canada
F, Sibir, 4 G, 5 (4+1) points, -1
Sibir is pushing hard to get to the playoffs and last week achieved two wins, one OT loss to Lokomotiv and one regulation loss in the Siberian derby against Avangard. Starring for Sibir was Canadian forward Andy Andreoff, who scored in all games and is on a five-game scoring streak as he is leading all Sibir skaters by a good margin with 26 goals (tied at fifth place league-wide). Andreoff, at his first year in the league, potted a double in Sibir’s Friday win over Neftekhimik (2:1 OT), including the OT game-winner. Earlier, he had tallies against Lokomotiv (2:3 OT) and Ak Bars (4:1). He went on with his scoring streak adding a helper in Sibir’s losing effort in Omsk on Sunday. Sibir will need his goals to keep on hoping to reach the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
United States
F, Avangard, 3 G, 7 (5+2) points, +3
It has been another incredible week for Boucher, in an incredible season. The American forward is leading the league with 44 goals and has a chance to beat Sergei Mozyakin’s record of 48 goals in the 2016-2017 regular season – he has already the second-best all-time performance after surpassing Dmitrij Jaskin’s 40-goal season last term with SKA. The productive scorer netted a hat-trick in Avangard’s 9:5 win over SKA on Tuesday, and added a double two days later in the Hawks’ losing effort against Spartak. Avangard and Boucher returned to victory on Sunday against Sibir – this time, the American forward scored no goals, but recorded two helpers with the Hawks ending the game with a commanding 7:2 victory. Boucher will be one of the men to be closely followed in the upcoming Gagarin Cup playoffs.
Slovakia
D, Severstal, 3 G, 2 (1+1) points, +2
The Slovakian defenseman had a good showing last week, helping Severstal defeating Dinamo Minsk twice and forcing an OT in Thursday’s game against Vityaz. The blueliner netted his second goal of the season on Tuesday, when Severstal had its first win of the week over the Belarusians. Jaros posted no points on Thursday, in Severstal’s losing effort against Vityaz (1:2), but ended the game with a plus-1 differential. The imposing defenseman had another point when he collected a helper in Severstal’s second win over the Bisons on Sunday. Severstal is having a tremendous season, and Jaros is excellent for the Steelers on the blueline, contributing at both ends of the ice.
