Best players of November
The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the Regular Season’s third month in four categories.
In November, the League’s teams played 119 games, with 636 players (55 goalies, 201 defensemen, and 380 forwards) taking part in the action. The scoring was at 5.03 goals per game.
- Best goalie for the first time in his career was Ivan Prosvetov (CSKA), who won five games from seven last month. The CSKA goalie faced 194 shots, or 27.7 per night, posting a saves percentage of 95.35% and a goals-against average of 1.32. Podyapolsky posted three shutouts in November, against Lokomotiv (2:0), Ak Bars (3:0), and Dynamo Moscow (1:0), respectively.
- Best defenseman for the first time in his career was Sergei Telegin (Traktor), who scored 6 (1+5) points in nine November games. The Chelyabinsk defenseman posted no negative ratings, ending the month with a plus-9 differential. Telegin made 19 hits, blocked 21 shots, had three takeaways and made three pass interceptions.
- Best forward for the second time in his career was Matar Khairullin (SKA), who scored 14 (7+7) points in ten November games. Only once did Khairullin end a game with a negative rating, ending the month with a plus-7 differential. The SKA forward had a hat-trick in the game against Amur on Nov. 30 (7:5). He also recorded six hits, blocked five shots, and had three takeaways. Khairullin was awarded the best forward in October 2021 while representing Neftekhimik.
- Best rookie for the first time in his career was forward Nikita Khoruzhev (Neftekhimik), who scored 4 (3+1) points in eleven November games, ending the month with a plus-2 differential. The young forward potted the game-winning goal in his team’s win over Salavat Yulaev on Nov. 23 (4:2). He also recorded two hits, blocked seven shots, made four pass interceptions, and had four takeaways. Khoruzhev was the fourth Neftekhimik’s player to be awarded the Best rookie of the month award following Rafael Bikmullin (January 2018), Nail Yakupov (October 2012), and Nikolai Belov (December 2009).
