KHL looks to the East
Tashkent is set to be the next city to welcome the KHL World Games, Vadim Shipachyov is closing on the KHL scoring record and two long-serving forwards hit mighty milestones last week. Find out more in the latest KHL review.
World Games return
The KHL is heading to Uzbekistan as the World Games come back in December. Spartak will take on Dinamo Minsk in Tashkent as the league takes the action to a new audience in Central Asia. The game, on Dec. 22, will be played at the 12,000-seater Humo Arena in the Uzbek capital. The World Games project began in 2018 with games in Austria and Switzerland. Most recently, Dubai hosted a Green Derby between Ak Bars and Salavat Yulaev. Uzbekistan will be the 16th country to stage a KHL game, Tashkent the 49th city.
KHL World Games return! Dinamo Minsk and Spartak to play in Tashkent
900 games for Plotnikov
SKA forward Sergei Plotnikov is the fourth player to reach 900 games in the KHL. Plotnikov made his debut in the 2009-2010 season and has played for Amur, Lokomotiv, Metallurg and CSKA as well as SKA. In his 900 games, he has 506 (220+286) points, plus three Gagarin Cups. The three players to reach 900 games previously were Evgeny Biryukov (1,001), Vadim Shipachyov (999) and Ilya Kablukov (972).
Shirokov reaches 1,000
Another long-serving player, Sibir captain Sergei Shirokov, achieved a career milestone with his 1,000th game in Russia’s top league. Shirokov, an Olympic champion in 2018, made his senior debut in 2004-2005 with CSKA and was a regular on the team before the KHL began. Later he played two seasons with the Canucks organisation before returning to CSKA in 2011. His career has brought him a Gagarin Cup in 2017 with SKA and two World Championships, while his other clubs include Avangard, Spartak and Avtomobilist.
Shipachyov closes on Mozyakin’s record
Vadim Shipachyov scored his first goal of the season and moves to within four points of Sergei Mozyakin’s KHL points record. When Shipachyov found the net against SKA last week it took him to 924 career points, just four behind Mozyakin’s 928. With such a big milestone in sight, Shipachyov’s production has stuttered a little this season. He currently has four points from 12 games and went almost a month without adding to his haul. However, a couple of games out of the team seems to have revitalized the forward, who returned with an assist at Severstal before helping the Belarusians win at SKA.
Kuznetsov recovers fast
Evgeny Kuznetsov returned to SKA’s team rather quicker than expected after sustaining an injury on Sep. 27. And his recovery has him in top form with two goals in two games since regaining full fitness. His first came in a losing cause against Dinamo Minsk, redirecting Alexander Nikishin’s point shot into the net. Then he scored again to set SKA on the way to victory over Avtomobilist.
Long-awaited debut
There are not many players who spend their entire careers in Russia, but make a KHL debut at the age of 30. However, goalie Evgeny Yaroslavlev did just that when he backstopped Dynamo Moscow to a 4-2 win over Salavat Yulaev last week. Yaroslavlev began his career with the Ak Bars organization and made 86 junior appearances for Irbis and Bars. Later he played 373 games in the VHL, most recently for Dynamo St. Petersburg, before getting the call to the senior team. With 28 saves in a winning debut, he helped the Blue-and-Whites climb back into the playoff places.
A ‘no-look’ save
Kunlun Red Star’s 3-0 win at Severstal was notable for a few reasons. It was the Dragons’ first win in Cherepovets, and it brought a first KHL shut-out for American goalie Kyle Keyser in only his third game in the league. Along the way, the 25-year-old pulled off one memorable save among his 41 stops: despite having his back to play, he instinctively read an incoming shot from Emil Pyanov and managed to pull off a ‘no-look’ save.
Murphy leads scoring race
No defenseman has ever finished the season as the KHL’s leading scorer. However, Trevor Murphy might have a shot at rewriting history. The 29-year-old Canadian has been in fantastic form for Sibir this season, putting together a 10-game scoring streak and delivering 17 (3+14) points before he was silenced against Neftekhimik on Friday. That has him level with Traktor forward Maxim Shabanov in the scoring race, while his hot streak equalled the KHL record from a defenseman. Previously Chris Lee, Kirill Koltsov and Darren Dietz picked up points in 10 consecutive games.
