Record falls after 17 years, millennium milestone achieved
Last week saw one of the oldest records in the KHL tumble amid a hot streak for a SKA defenseman. We saw a referee take charge of his 1,000th game, while a forward approaches 1,000 points. And the All-Star uniforms were unveiled in Yekaterinburg ahead of next year’s hockey spectacular.
Murphy sets KHL record
SKA defenseman Trevor Murphy needed just three seconds to score the overtime winner against Shanghai on Thursday, setting a KHL record for the quickest goal in OT. That record was one of the longest-standing in the league’s history: the previous fastest, on six seconds, came on Oct. 8, 2008 when Pavel Boichenko gave Vityaz the verdict over Khimik. The Canadian’s goal completed his team’s fightback from 0-2 to win 3-2 and Murphy was involved in all three. He continued his personal hot streak with a late winner on Saturday as SKA won 3-2 at Dynamo Moscow.
Shipachyov closes on 1,000 points
Vadim Shipachyov potted the winner in Dinamo Minsk’s 4-3 victory over Ak Bars on Thursday, moving to 990 career points in the KHL. That leaves him just 10 shy of becoming the first man to reach 1,000 points in the league. This season, the 38-year-old has 10 (4+6) points from 22 games. His goal on Ak Bars also secured Minsk’s sixth successive win, a run that was halted two days later when Lada snatched a 1-0 verdict in Belarus. Alexander Trushkov made 49 saves as the Motormen celebrated a first ever shut-out in Minsk.
Tkachyov first to 30
Metallurg forward Vladimir Tkachyov is the first to reach 30 points this season. He got there with two assists in Sunday’s 4-1 win at Barys and currently has four goals and 26 helpers in 25 games. Tkachyov is picking up the pace, as well: 15 (4+11) of those came in his last nine games. Roman Kantserov is proving to be a big beneficiary of Tkachyov’s work, leading the league with 16 goals.
Sulak equals club record
Czech defenseman Libor Sulak got his 125th point for Admiral with an assist in Sunday’s 1-3 loss against Traktor. That puts him level with the Sailors’ club record, set by Alexander Gorshkov. Leonids Tambijevs’ team also snapped an eight-game skid during the week when Dmitry Zavgorodny grabbed an overtime winner against Avangard. That was the club’s 300th KHL victory.
Belov’s 1,000th game
Referee Alexei Belov took charge of his 1,000th game on Monday when Sochi played Spartak. He’s only the second official to reach that milestone in the KHL era.
Kravtsov in, Dube moves on
Traktor is expected to confirm the return of forward Vitaly Kravtsov from the Canucks organization this week and has traded Pierrick Dube to SKA to make room for him. Kravtsov, 25, has played all eight of his KHL seasons in Chelyabinsk but took up an offer in Vancouver over the summer. However, his second attempt to the crack the NHL did not work out, and he was a guest in Traktor’s locker room in his hometown of Vladivostok ahead of Sunday’s game. Kravtsov’s imminent arrival means French international Dube is joining SKA. The 24-year-old, who came to the KHL in the summer, had 14 (7+7) points in 21 games for Traktor. Young defenseman Nikita Smirnov joins Traktor as part of the deal.
Kostin back in Omsk
Forward Klim Kostin is back in the KHL after six years and 200+ games in the NHL. The 26-year-old, who captained Russia at the World Juniors in 2019 and was first-round draft pick the previous year, returns to Avangard. Previously, he spent the 2020/2021 season on loan with Bob Hartley’s Hawks, helping to win the club’s first Gagarin Cup. The power forward left San Jose in the summer, and might have joined Avangard sooner but wanted to maximize his opportunities of another NHL gig. That did not transpire, and he made his debut against Amur last week.
Goalie switch at CSKA
After an inconsistent start to the season, goalie Spencer Martin was placed on waivers by CSKA and later reassigned to the VHL. The Muscovites then moved to sign Alexander Samonov from Salavat Yulaev to form a new goaltending tandem with Dmitry Gamzin. Samonov hasn’t enjoyed the best of seasons himself, falling behind young Semyon Vyazovoi in the pecking order in Ufa. However, CSKA goalie coach Rashit Davydov knows the new man well from their time together with Team Russia, which included the 2022 Olympics.
Duszak to Neftekhimik
Canadian defenseman Joey Duszak is on the move – swapping Shanghai Dragons for Neftekhimik. The 28-year-old is a noted two-way D-man with 75 (13+62) points in his 131 KHL games for Dinamo Minsk, Severstal and Kunlun / Shanghai. This season he had eight assists in 16 games before parting ways with head coach Gerard Gallant late last month.
All-Star Jerseys unveiled
Last week saw the four jerseys for this season’s Fonbet KHL All-Star Game announced. The color scheme has been chosen to reflect the host city, Yekaterinburg, and the wider Ural region. Thus the green jerseys reflect the local emerald mining industry, copper represents both the UGMK Arena and the Urals’ copper reserves, while graphite black and grey uniforms give a nod to the area’s industrial heritage. The 2026 All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 6-8.
