KHL 3x3 round 8: Reizvikh’s shut-outs earn Avangard another million

The latest round of the KHL 3x3 Championship was one of the closest yet. On the final morning, all four teams had a chance of making it to the Supergame. In the end, Traktor’s win over Metallurg put it on top of the standings, while Avangard was a point behind after defeating Sibir. The Hawks then went on to win that Supergame.

In the overall standings, Avangard remains third in the Fonbet Division. Metallurg, which also played in this round, is second with Salavat Yulaev three points clear at the top. In the Winline Division, Traktor moved ahead of inactive Dinamo Minsk into second place but both are a long way behind runaway leader Ak Bars.

Story of the Round – Avangard’s second million

In this round, Avangard pulled off a fantastic comeback: after losing the first two games, Alexei Kopeikin’s team rallied to reach the Supergame and win the million-ruble bonus. It’s not a unique achievement; Metallurg did similar in the third round. Nonetheless, it’s still impressive.

Throughout the weekend this round was full of intrigue and the Supergame contenders were only established on the final day. In effect, we saw two regional semifinals: the big game was contested by the winners of Ural and Siberian derbies.

After beating Traktor in the Supergame, Avangard secured its second million. After eight rounds, it turns out that four teams have two Supergame wins apiece: Ak Bars, Metallurg, Salavat Yulaev and now Avangard.

Hero of the Round – Eduard Reizvikh (Avangard)

Metallurg forward Pavel Varfolomeyev impressed in the first three games of this round, compiling 10 (9+1) points to resume the lead in the scoring race. But on the final day his team lost to Traktor for the first time this season and missed the Supergame for the first time. Then on Sunday, the true star of the round emerged – Avangard goalie Eduard Reizvikh.

He had performed strongly in earlier rounds and was among the leaders on all goalkeeping metrics. But here, Reizvikh took his game to a whole new level. We’ve already noted how in 3x3 hockey, a shut-out for a goalie is a much tougher achievement that a forward scoring three or even four goals. Yet Reizvikh managed to silence the opposition not once, but twice in a row. And, in terms of the tournament picture, this was effectively the semi-final then the final. We definitely haven’t seen anything like that before.

Now there can be no doubt: Reizvikh is the top goalie from the opening third of the season.

Game of the Round – Avangard 2 Traktor 3 SO

This game took place on Saturday and, at the time, nobody could imagine it was a dress rehearsal for the Supergame. For Avangard, defeat in regulation would effectively end any hope of a place in the top two. And the Hawks were close to suffering that fate: goals from Danila Bogush and Artyom Penkovsky gave Traktor a two-goal lead in a tight game.

But there was drama ahead. Igor Shama, new to the team this week, pulled a goal back before young Danil Fiskov tied it up five seconds before the hooter! Traktor went on to win the shoot-out, but the point that Avangard claimed on that late tying goal was the turning point that steered Omsk towards victory in this round.