Da Costa’s return and Anas’ consistency. Week 6 top imports
Stephane Da Costa returns for Avtomobilist, Sam Anas keeps on scoring, and Joshua Leivo doesn’t forgive his former team. KHL.ru presents the best players from each country.
US
F, Dinamo Minsk, 2 G, 4 (2+2) points, +3
The American forward, in his third year in the league, had another impressive week with Dinamo Minsk. The Bison forward opened his week netting a double, with only three attempts, in Minsk’s 7:1 thumping of Torpedo on Tuesday. Fast forward three days and he posted another two-point performance in Dinamo Minsk’s losing effort to Neftekhimik at home (3:4). In both cases, Anas posted a positive rating, ending the week with a plus-3 differential. With Dinamo Minsk pushing hard for a top-four finish in the Western Conference, Anas’ production will be key for Dmitry Kvartalnov’s squad.
France
F, Avtomobilist, 3 G, 4 (2+2) points, +1
The Frenchman is back after missing almost twenty days of competition, and Avtomobilist has now a few problems less with players sitting on IL – that has been an issue all season for the Motormen. In his return, Da Costa failed to score as Avtomobilist was shut out by Severstal on Wednesday (0:2). However, the Frenchman returned to his usual production once he found his game pace back: on Friday, he took part in all Avtomobilist’s goals as the Motormen defeated HC Sochi on the Black Sea (3:2 OT). Da Costa opened the scoring in the first period, then assisted the following two goals for the Yekaterinburg side, including Maxim Denezhkin’s game-winner. With the Motormen tied with Avangard at 23 points in the East, Da Costa’s return is a key move for Avtomobilist, especially after losing top sniper Reid Boucher.
Canada
F, Traktor, 2 G, 3 (2+1) points, -1
Traktor’s week has been up and down, with a win and a loss. However, Leivo showed once again his ability to produce in any situation, scoring goals in Traktor’s both outings last week. First, Leivo had a two-point performance when Traktor lost 5:8 to Avangard on Tuesday. He first assisted Yegor Korshkov’s third tally of the season in the first period, then had a nice snipe himself from the right circle on the power play in the second frame. However, Leivo’s strong performance wasn’t enough for the Chelyabinsk side. Traktor collected a home win on Saturday, against Leivo’s former team Salavat Yulaev, with the forward netting the game-winner late in the closing stanza with the teams tied at one, once again with the man advantage. Traktor is currently the fifth seed in the East, and the team will try to take advantage of Leivo’s production to climb up even higher in the standings.
Slovakia
F, Spartak, 2 G, 3 (2+1) points, +1
The Slovak forward once again had a strong week for the Red-and-Whites, this time helping Spartak achieve one win in its Far East trip. In the first game, in Khabarovsk, Ruzicka scored the Red-and-Whites’ first goal in the game to tie things up at one in the middle frame. However, Ruzicka’s efforts weren’t enough to guarantee his team a win, with Amur celebrating a 4:3 home win. Two days later, Spartak collected an extra time victory in Vladivostok. Ruzicka opened the scoring after fewer than ten minutes, then assisted Joseph Keane’s powerplay tally in the third period, with Spartak taking the game after shootouts (4:3 SO). If Spartak wants to keep things going, they need Ruzicka’s points.
