KHL 3x3 Round 6: Hawks get younger, Chmelevski scores five on Sibir

The sixth round of the KHL 3x3 Championship turned into a battle between Salavat Yulaev and Avangard. In the group stage, Salavat won both games between the two and claimed top spot with 10 points from a possible 12. But Avangard was only a point behind, and got revenge in the Supergame with a 4-2 victory to claim the million-ruble reward. Salavat remains second in the Fonbet Division, now five points clear of Avangard. Traktor and Sibir collected four points each and remain third and fourth in the Winline Division.

Hero of the round

Danil Storchak (Avangard)

After struggling in the previous round, Avangard reconfigured its roster and introduced fresh blood. Two 18-year-olds got a call up from the juniors, Danil Storchak and Danil Fiskov. Storchak made a big impact: in his first game he scored a hat-trick on Traktor, and through six games he put up 12 (8+4) points. Then he added the winning goal in the Supergame, earning the Hawks a million rubles.

Game of the round

Salavat Yulaev 5 Traktor 2

Even though the Supergame contenders were clear on Saturday, this round proved highly competitive: three games needed shoot-outs to determine a winner. But this was a key game resolved in regulation. The equation was simple: if Salavat Yulaev beat Traktor, it would secure a place in the Supergame. Traktor, with KHL veteran Sergei Shumakov making his 3x3 debut in this round, needed to win to stay alive in the competition.

This was a fairly lowly-scoring game and tensions were high. Salavat got in front, Traktor recovered to turn it around but the final word went to Ufa. Damir Fakhretdinov and Dmitry Makarov found the net, Ildus Suleimanov scored a penalty shot and Ilya Krikunov wrapped up the win.

Highlight of the round

We’re already used to hat-tricks, and even four-goal hauls in 3x3 are no surprise. Now we have our first five-goal game, thanks to Ilya Chmelevski. If that surname sounds familiar, you’re not wrong: this is the younger brother of Alexander Chmelevski, one of the stars for Salavat Yulaev in the KHL. Ilya joined the Ufa organisation in the summer and his big game here came in an 8-5 victory over Sibir. Almost everything he tried came off, but he modestly deflected attention to his team-mates: “I’m glad we won. The guys did great!”