Big week for goalscorers

From goal-rich games, to biting the hand that once fed, to a five-way scramble at the head of the KHL scoring race, last week was a big one for forwards.

Goal crazy

We’ve seen some scoring spectaculars in this week’s KHL. On Tuesday, fans in Chelyabinsk saw 13 goals as Avangard won 8-5 at Traktor. Andrew Poturalski led the scoring in that game with 4 (2+2) points, the home team’s Josh Leivo had 1+1 in a losing cause. But it didn’t stay the season’s highest-scoring game for long. On Sunday in nearby Magnitogorsk, Metallurg and Neftekhimik shared 15 markers in a 9-6 win for the home team. Remarkably, Neftekhimik scored three short-handed goals in the game, while Magnitka had nine different goalscorers.


 

Crazy ‘goal’

Yet the most talked about goal of the week came on Monday as Andrei Pedan fired SKA to a much-needed win over Avtomobilist. At first sight, it looked as if the defenseman’s powerful point shot had flown into the net. Nobody questioned the on-ice call, and SKA claimed a 2-1 win. Only after the game did it emerge that the shot had actually entered the cage via a hole in the side of the net, and the goal should never have stood. The result will not be changed, but the video official from that game has been dismissed. 
 

Leaderboard logjam

At the end of week seven of the season, there’s an incredible five-way tie at the head of the KHL scoring race. Josh Leivo has the best PPG, with 20 (7+13) from 15 games and resumes his familiar position at the summit. But he’s joined by Dmitry Silantyev (8+12), Avangard duo Andrew Poturalski and Konstantin Okulov (both 7+13) and Metallurg’s Vladimir Tkachyov (1+19). Each of those four has played 17 games.
 

Two ex-players hurt Ufa

It’s been a tough week for Salavat Yulaev fans. On Tuesday, the Ufa club lost the latest Green Derby on home ice against Ak Bars. To make matters worse, former Salavat favorite Alexander Chmelevski scored his first goal for his new club to wrap up a 4-1 win. Then came a trip to Traktor, where last season’s top scorer Josh Leivo grabbed a late goal to claim a 2-1 victory.


 

Shoot-out kings

Sibir took a shoot-out victory after a tempestuous 3-3 tie at Barys. And that means Vyacheslav Butsayev’s team has won all six of those post-game tests of nerve and skill. No other team has played as many this season, let alone enjoyed such success.
 

No fall for Ak Bars this October

It’s been a great month so far in Kazan. Ak Bars is played seven, won seven since losing 1-4 at Avtomobilist on Sep. 29. That run briefly took Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men to second in the East, but Sunday’s results pushed them down to fourth. Nonetheless, it’s a far healthier position than mid-September when a 1-6 loss at home to Avangard left the team with just two wins from its first seven games.

Prince moves to Torpedo

Shane Prince, an American forward with a Belarusian passport, is something of a KHL veteran. Back in 2018 he first arrived in Novosibirsk from Davos, only to return to Switzerland within a year. Later he returned to play for Dinamo Minsk, collecting that Belarusian paperwork and ceasing to be an import. He even represented his new country at a World Championship. Later he was a reliable goalscorer at Spartak but in his third season the Muscovites traded him to Admiral. Now he’s on the move again, arriving at Torpedo and going straight into the top line alongside Maxim Letunov and Yegor Sokolov.


  

Lee heads to Sochi

Another player to complete the passport process, Canadian-born Cam Lee is a naturalized Russian. The defenseman had been with Amur for just one season when he completed the formalities in Oct. 2023. He adapted fast after arriving from the AHL and was the most productive D-man for the Tigers under Vadim Yepanchintsev. But different coaches have different needs, and current Amur boss Alexander Galchenyuk Sr could not find a role for a defenseman who loves to bring the puck right down the ice. His new role at Sochi reunites him with Vadim Pokotilo, the GM who brought Lee to Russia in the first place.
 

Yekaterinburg unveils All-Star logos

The 2026 Fonbet KHL All-Star Week is scheduled for Yekaterinburg, and last week saw the logos and branding for February festival released. The imagery combines several features of the Ural region, including an outline of a mountain top and echoes of its gem-mining heritage. The color scheme – malachite, copper and black – references natural resources and the design of the UGMK Arena which is hosting the event on Feb. 6-8.