KHL 3x3 Round 7: Victory for Salavat and Anisimov’s wonder-goal

Salavat Yulaev slowed Ak Bars’ impressive 3x3 progress as the new format witnessed its first Green Derby meetings. The two powerhouses finished the round with five wins and one shoot-out loss apiece, but Ufa had the edge, scoring 41 goals in six games. Ak Bars, unusually, found things tougher this time: four of its five wins were in shoot-outs. The two teams are out in front in the Fonbet and Winline Divisions. Dinamo Minsk is second in the Winline behind Ak Bars, while Barys struggled throughout this round and remains at the foot of the Fonbet.

Hero of the Round: Ildus Suleimanov (Salavat Yulaev)

The Ufa forward had an incredible round. He had 16 (7+9) points in the group stage, and another 4 (3+1) in the Super Game. On the final gameday Ildus potted two hat-tricks in two games.

And Suleimanov’s penalty shots are a real 3x3 phenom. From the outside, they might look to follow the same pattern: a patient build-up, approaching the goalie, then a sudden shot – either into the corner or through the fivehole. Ildus himself says that there’s no great trick to it: he just watches the goalie and finds a gap for his shot. Even so, he has a few options in his arsenal, including a slow-motion shot in the style of Evgeny Kuznetsov. We can only feel sorry for the goalies. Dinamo Minsk's Vladislav Gorbachyov  admitted that he can’t yet read Suleimanov’s attempts. 

Game of the Round: Ak Bars 5 Salavat Yulaev 4 SO

The Green Derby was the talking point of the round – and we saw three instalments of this long-standing rivalry. After two tight games in the group stage, the teams met again in the Supergame.

In group stage play, both games followed a similar script. Salavat opened a 4-1 lead each, then Ak Bars recovered the deficit to tie it in the third period. Ufa took the first shoot-out, Kazan the second. In the Supergame, Salavat finished off Ak Bars in the end to claim the million ruble prize fund. The 3x3 Green Derby was a hit!

Goal of the Round

Dinamo Minsk forward Nazar Anisimov went viral with a spectacular goal in this round. A beautiful strike in his team’s game against Ak Bars didn’t just make waves among hockey fans, it grabbed the attention of a wider sporting audience. Despite having his back to goal, Anisimov quickly got his bearings and fired a shot between his own legs and into the net. Hang it in the Louvre, as they say. It’s not the first time Nazar has caught the eye in the 3x3 championship: earlier, he scored the first lacrosse goal in this format. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

Surprise of the Round

The first Saturday of February is traditionally a day for school reunions. And the KHL 3x3 Championship honored that tradition: Salavat Yulaev’s Dmitry Makarov and Nikita Shchitov got an unexpected visit from two childhood friends who played on the same team at the Ufa Hockey School. Ruslan and Dmitry hadn’t warned anyone they were coming, and the two players were delighted to see their surprise guests. “Hockey friendships are stronger than school ones,” commented Shchitov on his Telegram.