KHL 3x3 Round 10: Metallurg’s moustaches

The latest round of the KHL 3x3 Championship brought a dominant performance from Metallurg – and the winning team also made something of a fashion statement as it marched to the top of its division.

Story of the Round – Metallurg’s latest triumph

Metallurg comfortably won this round, even though it was up against high-flyers Ak Bars and Salavat Yulaev. Magnitka dropped just one point, scoring 37 goals in six games, and went on to win the Supergame. That puts the Steelmen out in front in the Fonbet Division, two points clear of Salavat Yulaev. In the Winline Division, Ak Bars is now 17 points clear of Dinamo Minsk and Traktor.

Metallurg might have taken inspiration from the new team look: most of the players in this round sported impressive moustaches. As defenseman Nikita Kharkin said on the opening day, these were winning moustaches. And he turned out to be spot on.

Hero of the Round – Sergei Shmelyov (Metallurg)

Metallurg captain Sergei Shmelyov had 14 (6+8) points through six games and added another goal in the Supergame. He was particularly impressive in a game against Sibir, scoring four times.

He wasn’t the only Metallurg player to have a productive weekend. Pavel Varfolomeyev reached the 50-point mark for the championship and leads the scoring race (Shmelyov has 48 points). And Andrei Oleinikov currently shares first place in the goal ranking with Varfolomeyev: both have 33 goals, five clear of Dmitry Drozhkin from Ak Bars on 28. Shmelyov isn’t far behind that trio with 26 goals. 

Game of the Round – Metallurg 3 Ak Bars 2

With three heavyweights fighting it out in this round, it’s no surprise that there were plenty of great games. But the Supergame lived up to its billing at the end of a memorable weekend.

One unofficial rule of the KHL 3x3 Championship is that if Ak Bars is playing in any given round, one of the Supergame contenders is known from the start. This time, though, Kazan barely scraped into the showdown: Salavat Yulaev needed just one win from its final two games to deny its old rival a place in the Supergame, but failed both times. However, that was the end of Ak Bars’ good fortune. In the Supergame, the team had five penalty shots ... and missed them all! Metallurg goalie Kirill Kuzmenko performed wonders to keep his team in the game.

Metallurg had just one penalty shot in the game, and Sergei Shmelyov showed how it should be done. There were further markers from Andrei Oleinikov and Denis Polukarov, which proved sufficient to win the game and send another million rubles back to Magnitogorsk.