Alexander Radulov, twice a Nashville Predator and seemingly always a controversial hockey figure, is a KHL force and captain of CSKA.
His leadership, however, fell by the wayside Thursday after he was assessed a two-minute minor for slashing late in the third period of a close road game. Radulov then pushed an official as he was being escorted to the penalty box and was ejected.
“Not my problem anymore,” Predators GM David Poile said, making a hand-wiping motion. (We’re totally guessing he said that and have no proof.)
Alexander Radulov got a game misconduct penalty for shoving a referee in today’s CSKA game.
— Dmitry Chesnokov (@dchesnokov) September 27, 2012
Radulov’s ejection occurred shortly after Traktor scored to put them up 4-3 for good.
Philadelphia Flyers fans might recall what it looks like when Ilya Bryzgalov gets scored upon. Granted, CSKA’s Bryz gets scant defensive protection on this beauty by Alexander Popov:
KHL Evgeni Malkin is turning out to be a lot like NHL Evgeni Malkin. He’s now posted back-to-back three-point games. Who does this guy think he is, the 2008 Detroit Lions?
Geno Malkin – two 3 pts games in a row (1+2)! He plays like no lockout, like he is in Magnitogorsk Penguins with Gonch. Big hockey! #pens
— Pavel Lysenkov (@plysenkov) September 27, 2012
Watch Malkin’s first KHL goal, described beautifully by the KHL’s YouTube scribe thusly: “game number 4 for Magnitogorsk becomes happy to Evgeny Malkin.”
Toronto Maple Leafs fans might wistfully recall what it looks like when Mikhail Grabovski scores. Here’s his KHL first:
Despite the star power migrating overseas, autumn attendance is reportedly Glendale-like:
What will it take for the KHL to sell out a weeknight game? 6000 in Kazan to see Ovechkin, 5000 in Moscow for Datsyuk’s debut? Really?
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) September 27, 2012
The Devil’s Blues: Playmaker Ilya Kovalchuk assists on St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko’s first goal, which the 20-year-old phenom scores on his first shift of the season.
After an OT loss in his debut, St. Louis Blues forward Alex Steen put on a show in his second Swedish Elite League match, factoring in all three of Modo’s goals (one goal, two assists) in his club’s 3-1 win over HV71.
Tyler Seguin trades in the classic eight-spoked B for a getup with 37 pieces of flair:
Pretty cool uni. More colors then I’m used to twitter.com/tylerseguin92/…
— Tyler Seguin (@tylerseguin92) September 27, 2012
And Winnipeg Jets property Ondrej Pavelec, he of the DUI and $19.5-million contract, can’t get back to the NHL soon enough.
His stats through three games with the Czech Extraliga’s White Tigers Liberec: 0-3; 12 goals allowed; a league-worst 3.96 GAA (among goalies with minimum three starts); and a league-worst .876 save percentage.