Photo credit: Salavat Yulaev

After starting the 2012-13 season on fire with goals in his first four games, Caps top prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov cooled off a bit. By that we mean that he had one lonely point in the two games following the streak. On Monday, Kuznetsov had his biggest game yet as Traktor Cheylabinsk took on Salavat Yulaev at Ufa Arena. In 14:59 TOI, Kuznetsov scored a shorthanded goal and collected two assists. It was Kuznetsov’s first three-point game since January 28th of last season.

Highlights of Traktor’s 4-1 drubbing of Salavat, including Kuznetsov’s goal that broke his stunningly-long two-game goalless streak, are under the jump.

Kuznetsov’s goal is at the beginning of the video. His first assist is at the 3:45 mark. The second is at 5:00.

In the middle of the first period, Kuznetsov turned on the jets and skated into Salavat’s offensive zone with two defenders draped around him. With no choice other than to shoot, Kuzya fired what seemed to be an innocent shot from the perimeter. Salavat goaltender Iiro Tarkki could not corral the shot, leaving Kuznetsov a juicy rebound. Kuznetsov buried the sharp-angled rebound home for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

Traktor’s 1-0 lead would quickly vanish 34 seconds later as Alexander Pankov tied the game.

In the third period, Kuznetsov unleashed the fury with two assists. First, he found former Cap Jan Bulis with a pass in front of the net to make it 2-1. Then, Kuznetsov assisted on a shorthanded goal by Petri Kontiola on a 2-on-1 break to extend the lead to 4-1, also the game’s final score.

Traktor plays Thursday at home against CSKA and their superstars Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Alex Radulov.

Notes: Three of Traktor’s four goals were scored shorthanded (Kuznetsov, Kontiola, and Konstantin Panov). Kuznetsov had four shots on net and picked up a minor penalty in the third period.

Kuznetsov during warm-ups. Photo credit: 74hockey.ru

Coming into Sunday’s game, Traktor Cheylabinsk’s fourth of the season, Caps top prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov had scored in every game he played in. Sunday kept that streak going.

Against the KHL’s defending Gagarin Cup champions Dynamo Moscow, Kuznetsov had his second straight two-point game, scoring a goal and recording an assist in the victory.

In the middle of the second period, Kuzya scored his fourth goal of the season, taking a tremendous pass from Stanislav Chistov and scoring on a breakaway to put his team up by two, 3-1.

Just six minutes later, the Caps 2010 first-round pick perfectly laid out a pass for Dmitry Ryabykin, who blasted a puck that was deflected by Jan Bulis to make it 4-1 Traktor. That ended up being the final score.

Kuznetsov’s goal is at the 3:00 mark, his assist at 4:10.

It also was a special game for Valery Belousov as Traktor’s head coach participated in his career 1175th game (International Hockey League, Russian Superleague, KHL). He broke the record of the great Viktor Tikhonov. Only four coaches have passed the 1000-game mark, and only two of them are active – Belousov and Barys’ Vladimir Krikunov. Belousov has coached Russia’s “Big Eastern Three” teams – Traktor, Avangard Omsk, and Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He also has three championships under his belt – two with Metallurg, one with Avangard.

Notes: Belousov told the media after the game that newly-signed Andrei Kostitsyn (formerly of the Predators and Canadiens) will play on Traktor’s upcoming road trip. However, he didn’t disclose who the former NHLer will play with. It is rumored he will join Jan Bulis and Kuznetsov on the first line.

Photo credit: Valery Zvonarev / KP.ru Chelyabinsk

In their third game of the 2012-13 KHL season, Traktor met Western Conference powerhouse SKA at home in Chelyabinsk. Evgeny Kuznetsov entered the game with two goals. He left with three.

Kuznetsov also tallied his first two-point performance of the year. His first point came very early in the game, as he got credit for a secondary assist on Jan Bulis‘ goal less than three minutes into the game. That goal tied the game at one. Things quickly unraveled for Traktor however, as SKA scored twice more to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

The score remained unchanged for the next 39 minutes, despite both teams trading chances (one of the biggest opportunities was a Kuznetsov breakaway denied by goaltender Ilya Yezhov). With about a minute to go in the third period, Kuznetsov finally broke through, skating the puck into SKA’s offensive zone guarded by two men. After his initial shot was blocked from the slot, Kuznetsov, out-battled three other defenders and got to the rebound first, snapping a shot past Yezhov. Kuznetsov celebrated by jumping high into the boards near center ice. Despite a late flurry, SKA, led by their netminder, managed to keep their one-goal lead and win 3-2. The game’s highlights can be seen under the jump.

Kuznetsov’s assist is at 0:50 mark, his breakaway is at 3:55 mark, and his goal is at the 6:00 mark.

The game also featured double goalie change for Traktor – something you don’t see very often in the KHL. After a bad first period, Michael Garnett was replaced by Vladislav Fokin coming out for the second. But with four minutes to go in the second, Fokin, who made a spectacular flashy save a few minutes before, was replaced by Garnett. This seemed irrational, but in the interview during the second intermission (you can watch part of it at 5:35 in the video) Kuznetsov told KHL-TV that he “saw Fokin limping” and that was confirmed by coach Valery Belousov in a post-game presser.

Traktor is now 2-1 on the year and will next play Dynamo Moscow on Sunday.

Kuznetsov during the game against Kolner Haie. (Photo credit: Vitaly Gubin/HC Traktor)

Washington Capitals top prospect/prodigal son Evgeny Kuznetsov kicked off his season last week at the Chelyabinsk Region Governor’s Cup, a 4-game preseason tournament which featured two local teams (Traktor Chelyabinsk, Metallurg Chelyabinsk), two KHL teams (Avangard Omsk, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk), and one foreign team – Kolner Haie of the German DEL.

On Saturday, Kuznetsov showed why he’s one of the best players not currently in the NHL, tallying a shorthanded goal and an assist in Traktor’s 5-1 victory over Kolner Haie, a team coached by former Colorado Avalanche defenseman Uwe Krupp.

Video of Kuzya’s highlight-reel plays are below the jump.

At the 0:24 mark, Kuznetsov, using his high hockey IQ to complete a fancy give-and-go with former Capital Jan Bulis. At the 1:36 mark, after playing some keepaway with his defensemen shorthanded, Kuzya takes a pass, skates into the offensive zone, and blasts a wristshot past Kolner’s goalie high and stickside.

Despite Saturday’s impressive win, Traktor struggled in the tournament, finishing with the worst overall record, 1-3. Kuznetsov played in three of the team’s four games and was held scoreless against Neftekhimik and Metallurg.

On Sunday, Kuznetsov missed Traktor’s final game against Avangard, as he was traveling to Moscow to join the Russian National Team before flying to Switzerland for a week-long training camp. Other notable players participating in the camp include the Capitals’ Dmitry Orlov, the Blue Jackets’ Sergei Bobrovsky and Artem Anisimov, the Panthers’ Dmitry Kulikov, and the Kings’ Andrei Loktionov.

Below, check out two practice shootout attempts that Kuznetsov scored on during the tournament. At least we know he’s still good at these.

Kuznetsov is stopped on a breakaway at 1:55. His two shootout goals can be seen at 3:45.

Taking a tenuous 2-0 lead into the third period, Traktor Cheylabinsk unraveled in the final minutes against host Avangard Omsk on Sunday. First, 4:31 into the final frame, the KHL’s leading goal-scorer, Roman Cervenka, scored on a cross-crease pass to bring Avangard within one. Then ten minutes later, Omsk’s Yegor Averin scored on a broken play in front of Traktor’s net to force overtime.

With neither team able to rally in the extra session, the game went to a shootout. And that’s when Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov did his thing. The 19-year-old right wing, who’s clutch play this season has given him the KHL lead in game-winning goals (five), scored not once, but twice. How is that possible you ask? In Russia, after the first three rounds of a shootout, if there is a tie, you are allowed to send out the same shooters again.

Kuznetsov scored in the sudden death round (using the same exact move he did the first time – what stones he has!) while Cervenka was stopped. With the victory, Traktor now owns the best record in the league and leads the Eastern Conference’s second-place team Amur by 12 standings points.

Notes: With first-line center (and former Capital) Jan Bulis out with injury, Kuznetsov has been playing center instead of his customary right wing. This was Evgeny’s second game-winning shootout goal of the year. His other came in Traktor’s 4-3 win over Neftekhimik on September 21st.

Additional reporting by Fedor Fedin.

We Miss You, Sergei.

Anyways, below the fold is a huge table full of stats and information on all the Former Caps in the KHL.