Murphy’s production and Lynch’s first double. Week 19 top imports
Murphy breaks records and scores in bunches, while Bobby Lynch potted his first double in the league. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
Canada
D, Sibir, 4 G, 6 (1+5) points, +2
Trevor Murphy continues to impress this season. In a recent home matchup against CSKA, the Canadian recorded another assist, pushing his season total to 47 points—a new club record for a defenseman. This achievement places him second in the league’s scoring race, behind only Salavat Yulaev’s Joshua Leivo. His 37 helpers this season have not only shattered the club record for defensemen but also tied the all-time club record, previously set by forward Taylor Beck—another standout performer for Novosibirsk this year. As for last week, Murphy had points in all four games, starting with a goal against Neftekhimik, then adding two helpers in Sibir’s losing efforts to Traktor and Lokomotiv, and having another assist as Sibir lost to CSKA on a shootout on Sunday. The d-man is currently on a five-game scoring streak and will be looking to score even more to help Sibir qualify for the postseason. For his efforts, Murphy was awarded best defenseman honors last week.
Slovakia
F, Spartak, 3 G, 3 (3+0) points, +3
The Slovak had another good showing last week, helping Spartak returning to victory on Friday against Kunlun Red Star after three straight losses. Most remarkably, Ruzicka scored the goal that sealed the deal for the Red-and-Whites against the Dragons. Moreover, the productive forward potted a double in Spartak’s losing effort against Avtomobilist earlier in the week (2:3). Ruzicka is currently leading Spartak in scoring, proving to be the team’s top import player, with his countrymate Michal Cajkovsky struggling to produce at the same level as his previous seasons.
France
F, Avtomobilist, 3 G, 3 (2+1) points, +3
After a six-game drought, the Frenchman returned to the scoresheet with two assists against Dinamo Minsk last week, and scored points in three straight games this time around, helping the Motormen getting to a six-match winning streak. Not only did he score in all games, but both his tallies were game-winners for Avtomobilist – against Spartak (3:2) and HC Sochi (2:1). On top of that, Da Costa also posted a helper when the Motormen collected a win in Ufa (4:1) – once again, that goal was the game-winner for his team, this time netted by linemate Anatoly Golyshev. With 41 points, Da Costa leads all Avtomobilist skaters in points and is confirming his position as one of the league’s best international players.
US
F, Torpedo, 2 G, 3 (3+0) points, +1
The American forward had a very nice week with Torpedo, as he’s improving his stats in his second KHL season. On Jan. 16, the Michigan native potted his first double in the league, including the game-winning goal in Torpedo’s away win over Lada (3:2), with two third-period tallies. Earlier in the week, on Monday, Lynch had another goal in Torpedo’s losing effort against Traktor. The Nizhny Novgorod side has just got some much-needed points for its postseason qualification push, while Lynch established a new career-high in both goals and points.
