To mark the end of the twenty-third* week’s play of the ninth season of the Championship, the Kontinental Hockey League has named the best players of the week in four categories.

– Best goaltender was Juha Metsola (Amur), who helped the Far East men secure three victories in three matches on the road, recording one shutout, a save percentage of 97.27% and a goals against average of 1.00;

Metsola the Magnificent - Best Moments of Weeks 21

– Best defenseman was Chris Lee (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), who finished both his games on the winning side and with a positive efficiency rating, earning a +4 for the week. Magnitka’s 36-year-old Canadian scored 7 points (2+5) – more than any other defenseman - and fired off 9 shots at the opposition goal,

– Best forward was Brandon Kozun (Lokomotiv), who featured in two road games and celebrated two victories, thanks in no small part to his scoring a double in each match. As with Lee, his fellow Canadian, Kozun’s 6 points (4+2) was the best result of the week in the League for players in his position;

– Best rookie was (Admiral) Denis Alexeyev, who was given three appearances on the road and added two goals to his account – the first of which, against Metallurg Novokuznetsk, was his debut goal in the KHL. The 19-year-old forward averaged 11 minutes 13 seconds on the ice

*Monday’s HC Sochi - Torpedo and Tuesday’s Dinamo Minsk - Vityaz matches were included in the calculations for week 23.