Second round’s finest

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the Gagarin Cup playoffs’ second round in four categories.

In the first round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs, the league’s teams played 22 games, with 194 players (12 goalies, 60 defensemen, and 122 forwards) taking part in the action. The scoring was at 5.05 goals per game.

- Best goalie for the first time in his career was Ilya Nabokov (Metallurg), who won four games from six against Spartak. The Magnitogorsk netminder faced 219 shots, or 36.5 per night, posting a 96.35% saves percentage and a goals-against average of 96.35. He also posted three shutouts in the series,

- Best defenseman for the second time in his career was Andrei Sergeyev (Lokomotiv), who scored 5 (1+4) points in seven games against Avangard. The Yaroslavl d-man posted no negative ratings, ending the series with a plus-4 differential. Sergeyev also recorded six hits, blocked nine shots, and had two takeaways.

- Best forward for the first time in his career was Maxim Beryozkin (Lokomotiv), who scored 8 (4+4) points in seven games. Beryozkin posted no negative ratings, ending the series with a plus-7 differential. Beryozkin posted two game-winning goals, recorded 15 hits, blocked four shots, and had four takeaways.

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was forward Roman Kantserov (Metallurg), who scored 3 (1+2) points with a plus-3 rating in six games against Spartak. His lone goal was the series-clinching for Magnitka. He also recorded nine hits, blocked two shots, and had four takeaways.