Best players of November

The Kontinental Hockey League’s commission has determined the best players of the Regular Season’s third month in four categories. 

In November, the League’s teams played 138 games, with 666 players (56 goalies, 221 defensemen, and 389 forwards) taking part in the action. The scoring was at 5.22 goals per game. 

- Best goalie for the first time in his career was Alexander Samonov (Salavat Yulaev), who won seven games from eleven last month. The Ufa goalie faced 272 shots, or 24.7 per night, posting a saves percentage of 93.75% and a goals-against average of 1.68. Samonov posted shutouts in Salavat Yulaev’s victories over Ak Bars (1:0) and Traktor (4:0). Samonov is the fourth Salavat Yulaev’s goalie to be awarded the Best of month honors following Alexander Yeryomenko, Erik Ersberg, and Juha Metsola (three times). 

- Best defenseman for the first time in his career was Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard), who scored 13 (5+8) points in eleven November games. Only once did Sharipzyanov end a match with a negative rating, ending the month with a plus-13 differential. He also posted the game-winning goal against SKA – a game where he netted a hat-trick – four hits, 32 blocked shots, and one takeaway. Sharipzyanov is the fifth Avangard defenseman to be awarded the Best of month honors following Martin Skoula, Anton Belov, Yegor Martynov, and Alexei Emelin. 

- Best forward for the first time in his career was Reid Boucher (Avangard), who scored 23 (13+10) points in 11 games. Only twice did Boucher end a match with a negative rating, ending the month with a plus-16 differential. Boucher posted game-winners in Avangard’s victories over Vityaz (4:1) and Traktor (2:1 OT), had two doubles and one hat-trick, blocked four shots, and posted three takeaways. Boucher is the third Avangard forward to be awarded the Best of month honors following Sergei Shirokov and Roman Cervenka. 

- Best rookie for the first time in his career was goalie Ilya Nabokov (Metallurg), who had five wins in seven games last month. His team also achieved a SO win. Nabokov faced 194 shots, or 27.7 per night, posting a 93.81% save percentage and a goals-against average of 1.81. Nabokov posted a shutout in Metallurg’s win over Barys (2:0). Nabokov is the first Metallurg rookie goalie to be awarded the Best of month honors.