Denis Platonov is a nine year veteran of the KHL/RSL who averages about 15 goals and 27 points a year. He was drafted by the Nashville Predators back in 2001, and played 3 games in the AHL in 2003-04 before heading back to more lucrative money in Russia as a role player. His resumé isn't all that shining, but this first week of the 2010-11 KHL season, he's off to a tremendous start for Metallurg Magnitogorsk. And on the road against perennial powerhouses Salavat Yulaev Ufa, he had a career night, beating Alexander Yeremenko four times for the only hat trick through the first 27 games of the KHL season. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough.
Ufa, a team that is loaded with several former NHLers (Alexander Radulov, Robert Nilsson, Jakub Klepis, Oleg Tverdovsky, Alexander Svitov, Petr Schastlivy, Dmitri Kalinin, Kirill Koltsov, Konstantin Koltsov, Oleg Saprykin, Viktor Kozlov, and Patrick Thoreson), answered Platonov's one man challenge in a game in which both goaltenders weren't too happy by the end of the game. Ufa won 6-5 in overtime on Klepis' winner, and Radulov's tying goal late. Here are the highlights of the wildest KHL game this year to date:
Magnitogorsk isn't too bad of a team themselves, with Fedor and Sergei Fedorov, Janne Niskala, Oleg Kvasha, Petri Kontiola, Alexei Kaygorodov and Stanislav Chistov, but it was all Platonov for them on Monday.
There's a lot of action to recap so far in this young season, so we'll try and be quick, especially with the start of the Elitserien, SM-Liiga and Czech Tipsport Extraliga from Wednesday to Friday. Here are the scores in the KHL action to date:
| Date |
Home Team |
Score |
Visitors |
Attendance |
| Sept. 8/10 |
Ak Bars Kazan |
1 : 3 |
UHC Dynamo Moscow |
8050 |
| Sept. 9/10 |
Amur Khabarovsk |
2 : 5 |
Sibir Novosibirsk | 7100 |
| Sept. 9/10 |
Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 2 : 0 |
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 5115 |
| Sept. 9/10 |
Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 7 : 2 |
Traktor Chelyabinsk | 8250 |
| Sept. 9/10 |
SKA St. Petersburg |
4 : 5 (OT) |
Dinamo Riga |
11920 |
| Sept. 9/10 |
CSKA Moscow |
1 : 5 |
Spartak Moscow |
4231 |
| Sept. 9/10 |
Dinamo Minsk |
1 : 3 |
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 10833 |
| Sept. 10/10 |
Amur Khabarovsk | 2 : 3 |
Sibir Novosibirsk | 7100 |
| Sept. 10/10 |
Ak Bars Kazan |
5 : 3 |
Vityaz Chekhov | 3634 |
| Sept. 10/10 |
HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 4 : 3 |
UHC Dynamo Moscow |
5500 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
Avangard Omsk |
4 : 3 |
Spartak Moscow |
10318 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
Barys Astana |
2 : 5 |
Severstal Cherepovets | 4500 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
Metallurg Novokuznetsk | 0 : 3 |
Dinamo Riga |
4800 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 3 : 4 (OT) |
Traktor Chelyabinsk | 4836 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
HC Yurga |
2 : 6 |
SKA St. Petersburg |
5050 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
Atlant Moscow Oblast | 0 : 1 (SO) |
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | 6000 |
| Sept. 11/10 |
Dinamo Minsk |
3 : 0 |
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl |
10200 |
| Sept. 12/10 |
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | 5 : 4 (OT) |
UHC Dynamo Moscow |
5000 |
| Sept. 12/10 |
HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 2 : 1 (OT) |
Vityaz Chekhov |
5500 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Amur Khabarovsk | 4 : 3 (OT) |
CSKA Moscow |
7100 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Avangard Omsk |
5 : 1 |
Severstal Cherepovets |
7148 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Metallurg Novokuznetsk | 2 : 5 |
Dinamo Minsk |
2900 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Sibir Novosibirsk | 3 : 2 |
Dinamo Riga |
7100 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Barys Astana |
4 : 3 |
SKA St. Petersburg |
4100 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 6 : 5 (OT) |
Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 8250 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
HC Yurga |
4 : 1 |
Spartak Moscow |
1310 |
| Sept. 13/10 |
Atlant Moscow Oblast | 0 : 2 |
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | 5600 |
Hat Tricks: Denis Platonov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk (4 goals vs. Ufa)
OT Winners: Alexanders Nizivijs, Dinamo Riga; Viktor Alexandrov, Traktor Chelyabinsk; Andrei Shepelenko, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg; Sergei Bernatsky, HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk; Andrei Plekhanov, Amur Khabarovsk; Jakub Klepis, Salavat Yulaev Ufa.
Leading Scorer: Denis Platonov, Metallurg Magnitogorsk (6 goals, 0 assists in 3 games)
Shutouts: Georgy Gelashvilli, Mettalurg Magnitogorsk (27 saves); Chris Holt, Dinamo Riga (18 saves); Konstantin Barulin, Atlant Moscow Oblast (30 saves); Bernd Bruckler, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (27 saves); Andrei Mezin, Dinamo Minsk (28 saves); Dimitrij Kotschnew, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (25 saves).
First Goals: Igor Skorokhodov, HC Yurga; Sergei Lesnukhin, Vityaz Chekhov; Egor Dugin, Traktor Chelyabinsk; Stepan Sannikov, Sibir Novosbirsk.
All game data from the KHL's website. Video courtesy of the videoKHL channel on YouTube.
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