Best players of February

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the Regular Season’s sixth month in four categories.

In February, the League’s teams played 108 games, with 628 players (53 goalies, 207 defensemen, and 368 forwards) taking part in the action. Scoring was at 5.69 goals per game.

- Best goalie for the fourth time in his career was Vasily Demchenko (Dinamo Minsk), who won six games from nine last month. The Minsk goalie faced 227 shots, or 25.2 per night, posting a saves percentage of 94.71% and a goals-against average of 1.32. Demchenko posted shutouts in games against Dynamo Moscow (5:0) and Spartak (3:0), reaching six shutouts this season

- Best defenseman for the second time in his career was Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard), who scored 8 (4+4) points in nine February games. The Omsk blueliner didn’t post any negative rating, ended the month with a plus-8 differential. In his team’s road victory over Lada on Feb. 6 (2:1), Sharipzyanov potted the game-winning goal. He also made seven hits, blocked 23 shots, made five pass interceptions and had seven takeaways.

- Best forward for the first time in his career was Artyom Galimov (Ak Bars), who scored 10 (7+3) points in eleven February games. The Kazan forward ended the month with a plus-3 differential. Galimov posted game-winning goals in his team’s wins over SKA (8:3), Avtomobilist (4:1), and Lada (2:1), blocked four shots, made one pass interception and had twelve takeaways.

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was forward Matvei Korotky (SKA), who scored 6 (4+2) points in eight February games, ending the month with a plus-2 differential. The young forward potted the game-winning goal in his team’s road win over Severstal on Feb. 17 (5:3), recorded ten hits, blocked two shots, made one pass interception and had two takeaways.