High scoring, low scoring

The big news from the KHL last week was an all-time scoring record for Vadim Shipachyov. He reached 929 career points, overtaking Sergei Mozyakin’s total. Elsewhere, goals proved harder to come by – with one team setting an unwanted record for the most consecutive games without finding the net.

Shipachyov’s record

It’s been on the agenda all season and now Vadim Shipachyov has established a new KHL scoring record. Fittingly, the 38-year-old forward got his 929th career point in Cherepovets, the town where it all began for him as a rookie with Severstal. His assist in Dinamo Minsk’s game there on Tuesday came in a losing cause, but it moved him ahead of Sergei Mozyakin in the league’s all-time scoring chart. Vadim’s mother, Lyudmila, was in the crowd at the game, as was his first coach Vyacheslav Dubrovin.

Shipachyov sets record on home ice

Mozyakin leads tributes

After seeing his record overtaken, Sergei Mozyakin was quick to congratulate Shipachyov. 

“Vadim, congratulations on this achievement,” Mozyakin told KHL.ru. “It’s your record now! I’m happy that in every sport there is never an unbreakable record. Now, working with kids, I hope that our records for goals, assists and points will one day be broken. Once again, my congratulations, you’ve done a great job!”

Amur’s goal drought

While Shipachyov set a scoring record, Amur was doing the opposite. A 0-1 loss at Dynamo Moscow on the same night formed part of a nightmare run of five consecutive games without a goal for the Tigers. It’s the first time any KHL team has fired blanks in five games in a row. However, at 3:07:17 since the team’s last goal, scored by Ignat Korotkikh at home to Spartak on Oct. 19, it’s not the longest dry spell in the league’s history. That unwanted record belongs to Fyodor Kanareikin’s Spartak team of 2012-2013, which went 3:17:02 Without scoring. Amur can avoid another unwanted piece of history if it can score on Avangard in the first 10 minutes of the teams’ meeting on Tuesday.

Martemyanov fired

In the middle of that miserable run, it’s hardly surprising that Amur decided to replace head coach Andrei Martemyanov. He was dismissed following a 0-3 loss at Severstal, the third game in the goalless sequence. 

GM Evgeny Lugin said: 

“Martemyanov is a highly qualified specialist who has twice taken us to the playoffs. However, in the current situation it became clear that we had reached a dead end. With strong players on the roster, and no problems providing the team with everything it needs, Amur finds itself second-to-last in the standings. Moreover, there were no signs of improvement in the last three games, we saw no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Viktor Konyuchyonok, who joined Amur as an assistant in the summer after working in the Belarusian championship, was appointed interim head coach ahead of the 0-1 loss at Dynamo Moscow. No announcement about a permanent appointed has yet been made.

Is Lokomotiv the real deal?

Last season’s beaten finalist has started the 2024-2025 campaign like an express train. This week saw Lokomotiv face two stern tests of its credentials – and it passed them both. First, Igor Nikitin’s team grabbed a 3-2 win at SKA, halting the KHL’s form team with a typically resolute defensive performance once it got in front on Maxim Shalunov’s 17th-minute goal. Then, on Sunday, a trip to Eastern Conference leader Traktor ended in a 5-3 win with Shalunov potting his 200th KHL goal and Alexander Radulov scoring twice. It adds up to an eight-point lead for the Railwaymen in the overall standings, and an 11 point gap to SKA in the Western Conference. There’s a long way to go this season, but Loko looks tough to beat.

Loko steams past Traktor. November 3 round-up

Barys moves out of the basement

For much of this season, Barys has been a watchword for chaos. Three head coaches already, a humiliating 1-10 loss on home ice and a complete reshaping of the roster have ensured that the Kazakh capital gets plenty of attention. Now, for the first time, some of that attention is looking positive. Under Galym Mambetaliyev, Barys has won three of its last four games. That’s been enough to move it off the foot of the Eastern Conference. Ironically, the only loss in that time was against Kunlun Red Star – and that result saw the Dragons escape the basement in the West.