Vitali Kravtsov’s season is getting ridiculous

Another game for the top New  York Rangers prospect and two more goals

This is getting ridiculous.  We try to keep on top of the various New York Rangers prospects playing around the world, but Vitali Kravtsov keeps forcing us to update his progress. He did it again on Thursday, scoring two unassisted goals in Traktor Chelyabinsk’s 3-1 win over Vityaz.

For Kravtsov, that means he has scored five goals in six games and has scored in three straight.  He again led the team in shots on goal with six.  He played 15:26 minutes and had one blocked shot.  He scored the first two goals for Traktor and this was his first game winning goal of the season.

The win improved Traktor’s record to 3-2-1.

Take a look at his first goal.  He steals the puck, splits the defense and beats the goalie.

His second and game winning goal was opportunistic as he jumped in to grab a loose puck off a  Vityaz player and put the puck past goalie Pyotr Kochetkov.

With his five goals, Kravtsov moved into a tie for third place in the entire KHL. His 29 shots on goal is tops in the league and he is averaging 4.8 shots per game.  His plus/minus mark of +4 is good for a tie for 13th overall.

The 20 year old Kravtsov is going to blow his previous KHL goal scoring records out of the water.  In 2018-19, his last full year in the KHL, he scored eight goals in 50 games.   While he has been a decent goal scorer, Kravtsov is highly regarded for his passing and playmaking, so his scoring prowess is a departure.

This is incredibly great news for the Rangers.  If he can keep this production up and it translates to the NHL, the Rangers’ offense will be bolstered greatly, from within as early as the 2020-21 season.

We get a few days break from Kravtsov highlights as Traktor doesn’t play again until Sunday when they take on Amur Khabarovsk at Chelyabinsk.