- Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his 100th career KHL goal in his Sibir Novosibirsk debut
- His coach said Kuznetsov played through rotavirus and finished on a teammate’s skate blades
- Read below for video of the goal and what Kuznetsov said about the milestone
Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up a career milestone Saturday while fighting a stomach virus and skating on somebody else’s blades.
The former Capitals center scored his 100th KHL goal in his Sibir Novosibirsk debut, a season opener in Kazan against Ak Bars. Egor Korshkov dug the puck out from behind the net and slid it to the near post, where Kuznetsov one-timed it past goaltender Maxim Arefyev for a 3-1 lead at 15:17 of the second period.
Then came the bird.
Watch Kuznetsov’s 100th:
Sibir coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov filled in the rest at his postgame press conference. Kuznetsov caught rotavirus before the team traveled to Kazan, then broke a skate blade in the first period and played the rest of the night on blades belonging to a teammate.
“He broke a blade in the first period and ended up playing between the blades of another player, so maybe that played a role. Kuznetsov is a master who adapts quickly. He’s completely part of the team, a team player, but we know he can be more productive.”
Kuznetsov was asked about reaching 100 and gave the number almost no credit.
“I think it’s more for my family. A goal is more important to my kids than it is to me,” Kuznetsov told Sports.ru, in comments translated from Russian. “I’m probably one of the few hockey players who doesn’t care about personal stats at all. I liked it more that Nikula (Stepan Nikulin) scored. It’s important to him.”
Number 100 came in his 338th KHL game and spans five clubs. Traktor Chelyabinsk accounts for 78 of them, with 13 for SKA St. Petersburg, seven for Salavat Yulaev, one for Metallurg Magnitogorsk and now one for Sibir, who signed him in July.
Opening day in the KHL produced another debut goal worth a look. Sergei Skvortsov, a projected top-five pick for the 2027 NHL Draft, scored in his first league game at 17 years old:
Ak Bars took the night back anyway. Alexander Ivanov and Semyon Terekhov scored 38 seconds apart to open the third, and Grigory Denisenko buried the decider in a 4-3 shootout win.
Lyuzenkov also left his new center out of the first two shootout slots. He got a question about that too, and kept the answer short.
“If he didn’t make it now, then he’ll make it next time. These guys were chosen, that was the order.”
