Vitali Kravtsov played, Vitali Kravtsov scored…again

Only one New York Rangers prospect was in action over the weekend and the Vitali Kravtsov show keeps going

As we said, this is getting ridiculous.  Vitali Kravtsov had a goal and an assist in Traktor Chelyabink’s 5-0 win over Amur Khabarovsk on Sunday.   He scored an even strength goal 17 minutes into the second period and added an assist on Nick Bailen’s power play goal at 13:20 of the third period.

Kravtsov got free after circling behind the net and buried the pass from Bailen.

For Kravtsov that means he has scored goals in four straight games, has six goals in seven games and is averaging  a point a game.   He had three shots on goal and added one hit and he drew one penalty. Kravtsov played 14:57 minutes as Traktor improved their record to 4-2-1, good for fourth place in the Kharlamov Division.

Kravtsov is tied for second in goals in the KHL and is averaging 15:41 TOI per game.  He is playing substantially fewer minutes than the other players with similar numbers.   He is second in the league with 32 shots on goal though the league leader has 33 shots in one more game. He is averaging 4.6 shots per game.  He’s leading Traktor in most offensive categories.

Traktor’s next game is on Tuesday against Severstal.

Adam Edstrom suspended

Swedish forward Adam Edstrom has been suspended for five games due to his hit on  Linköping’s Jarno Kärki in Rögle’s 4-3 win.   The Swedish Hockey League Disciplinary Committee found that the hit was illegal  as it was at high speed, Edstrom wasn’t involved in the original play and he led with his left arm and could have caused serious injury.

Here is video of the check with Edstrom (#34) hitting Kärki.  The injured player was able tot return to the game.

As a result he will be suspended until October 5 and is fined $763.   That means he will miss five games.

Edstrom turns 20 in three weeks and stands 6’6″ and weighs 212 pounds. He is the biggest player in the Rangers’ prospect pipeline and if he continues to use his big body, he could have a future in North America. He was a sixth round draft choice a year ago.

Other players

There was no action in the SHL with games resuming on Tuesday.  Defense prospect Calle Sjallin will be suiting up for Leksand against Malmo.

The Czech Extraliga began play, but defenseman Libor Hajek did not play in the first two games of the season for  HC Olomouc.   He signed to play with them just before the start of the season so he is probably not ready for game action yet.