Metallurg Magnitogorsk make it seven straight wins

After suffering a 3-2 loss to Ak Bars on September 12th, the club have been playing dominant hockey as they now sit third in the East and tied for the fifth best record in the KHL.

Over their seven game win streak they have scored 30 goals while conceding only 11 times. highlight of the winning streak would be the 3-2 overtime victory over Sibir, where Danis Zaripov scored the game-winner.

Goaltender Vasily Koshechkin also posted two shutouts against divisional rival Traktor in 5-0 and 3-0 Metallurg victories.

The offensive output has seen Metallurg captain Sergei Mozyakin move into the overall points lead in the KHL with 17, six of which are goals. Second place in scoring belongs to Jan Kovar who also has six goals and a total of 16 points.

Danis Zaripov is third in scoring as the Metallurg forward has 15 points with seven goals, eight assists. Canadian defenseman Chris Lee leads the league in points for defensemen with 12 with four of them being goals.

The team is coached by former NHL boss Mike Keenan, who has done a tremendous job of turning the club around after a slow start and has the club competing with Barys and Ak Bars atop the East standings. Metallurg have 25 points from their 12 games.

KHL League News:

For the October 1st- 7th period, the following players were named players of the week:

Best goaltender was Barry Brust (Medvescak), with shutouts in his both games;

Best defenseman was Peter Podhradsky (Donbass), who played in three games, all wins, earning 3 points (2+1) and a +8;

Best forward was Vaclav Nedorost (Donbass), with 4 points (3+1) and a +5 from three victorious outings;

Best rookie was Yaroslav Dyblenko (Atlant), who scored twice in two appearances and finished with a +2 after spending 8:40 on the ice per game on average.

A memorial for former CSKA Moscow and USSR legend Vladimir Krutov has been established at the Novoluzhinsky ceremony in Khimki, Moscow region. The star player passed away June 6th, at the age of 52. He had 503 points (288 goals) in 438 career games with CSKA, while playing one season in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks. He also won two Olympic Game gold’s, two World Junior gold’s and five World Championship gold’s in his illustrious career.

Severstal forward, Kirill Sviyazov has been suspended for 10 games after a dirty hit on Dynamo Moscow forward Maxim Pestushko. Sviyazov checked Pestushko in the head and received the maximum suspension under KHL regulations. Sviyazov is eligible to return October 26th against Slovan Bratislava. Pestushko hasn’t played since the hit.

Alexander Kitov has become the fourth coaching casualty of the season as he has been fired by Metallurg Novokuznetsk following the team’s nine-game losing streak. Kitov’s assistant, former Calgary, Pittsburgh, Edmonton and Anaheim center German Titov, has been appointed as the new head coach.

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