New name for 500 club, new coach in Togliatti

Last week saw only the 10th player – and just the second import – in KHL history to reach 500 points in the league. There were two club records at Lokomotiv and, at Lada, the first head coach to lose his job. Read on for all you need to know:

500 points for da Costa

Stephane da Costa is the 10th player to reach 500 points in the KHL. He got there with three assists in Avtomobilist’s 4-2 win over Salavat Yulaev last week. The French center is the second import to reach 500 points behind Nigel Dawes, who also played in Yekaterinburg. The 36-year-old is closing on Dmitry Kagarlitsky, who is ninth on the all-time KHL scoring list with 533 points. Kagarlitsky has yet to find a new club since leaving Torpedo in the summer. The all-time KHL scoring leader is Dinamo Minsk’s Vadim Shipachyov, who currently has 981 points and is looking to reach 1,000 this season.
 

First coaching casualty

Lada’s Boris Mironov was the first head coach to lose his job this season. After a run of four losses, the Motormen pulled the trigger on the coach they hired during the summer. He was replaced by Pavel Desyatkov, who played for Lada in the 1990s when the Togliatti club was a regular championship contender. Last season Desyatkov was head coach at Vityaz.

Silantyev tops scoring chart

Metallurg’s Dmitry Silantyev became the first player to reach 10 points in the KHL this season. The 25-year-old has four goals and six helpers from seven games to put him clear at the top of the scoring race. There’s a chasing pack on nine points, including Sergei Goncharuk (Torpedo), Josh Leivo (Traktor), Andrew Poturalski (Avangard) and Danil Yurtaikin (Neftekhimik). 

Torpedo, Magnitka lead the way

Silantyev’s form has helped Metallurg to the top of the Eastern Conference. Magnitka has 12 points from seven games and stands two points clear of Traktor and Avangard. But Torpedo remains undefeated in six games this season and still holds the overall lead in the standings.  

Basement Green Derby

At the other end of the standings, there are some unusual names at the foot of the Eastern Conference. The first Green Derby of the season saw Ak Bars and Salavat Yulaev battle to avoid dropping into the basement. Ak Bars claimed a 3-1 win, leaving its old foe adrift, but the result did not trigger a revival: the next game in Kazan brought a 6-1 win for Avangard. However, the last place in the overall standings belongs to Lada, at the bottom of the west with just two points from six games.


 

CSKA’s flying Dutchman

Daniel Sprong, the first Dutch player in the KHL, has adapted fast. The 28-year-old former NHLer is up to 7 (4+3) points from his first seven games and scored his first hat-trick against city rival Spartak during the week. However, that wasn’t enough to secure a derby win as the Red-and-Whites roared back from 2-5 to tie the game and claim a shoot-out verdict.
 

Not over ‘til it’s over

We’ve seen some great fightbacks this week in the KHL. Dynamo Moscow grabbed a tying goal with five seconds to play at Admiral, Devin Brosseau finding the Sailors’ net to set up a shoot-out win. The Muscovites recovered from two down, as did Avtomobilist at home to Spartak. Semyon Kizimov and Reid Boucher scored twice, with the tying goal coming 38 seconds from the end before Boucher got the shoot-out winner. On the same day, Dinamo Minsk scored twice in the first two minutes at SKA, but the home team recovered to win on an overtime goal from Trevor Murphy.  

Kayumov, Rafikov’s club records

Long-serving Lokomotiv forward Artur Kayumov set a club record for KHL scoring when he reached 251 points last week. He got there with a hat-trick of helpers in a 6-1 road win at Lada. He has 110 goals and 141 assists. Defenseman Rushan Rafikov also set a club record this week. His goal against CSKA moved him to 202 points for the club and makes him the Railwaymen’s most productive defenseman in the KHL. That goal also contributed to a crushing 5-1 victory for Loko over former head coach Igor Nikitin, who returned to CSKA in the summer after bringing the Gagarin Cup to Yaroslavl.

Barys adds new goalie

It’s tough to be a goaltender in Kazakhstan right now. Barys responded to a long-term injury to Nikita Boyarkin by signing up Canada’s Olivier Rodrigue. However, he too suffered an injury and has left the club. Next up is 26-year-old American Adam Scheel, announced by the Astana club last week. Scheel was an unused back-up in the USA’s golden World U18 roster in 2017 and went on to win honors in the NCAA and ECHL. He dressed for a single NHL game with Dallas in 2021/2022 but did not make it on to the ice. The Ohio native left the Colorado Eagles and signed a contract with Barys to the end of this season.