Thursday was a good day for Canucks prospects.
Vasili Podkolzin found himself on SKAβs first line as he made his return from the Karjala Cup.
He made the most of his opportunity and had his second multi point game of the KHL season. The extra ice time and added confidence from the Karjala Cup looked to spark Podkolzin as he was excellent in all three parts of the ice. He drew a penalty, had a breakaway attempt, had an assist and scored a goal in the 12:55 of ice time he received.
Podkolzin had a secondary assist early on in the game.
Later in the second period he did what everyone has been screaming for and SCORED A GOAL.
Hereβs another look at the goal.
His confidence was sky high throughout this game as he made some beautiful dekes, executed some excellent passes and kept up his aggressive nature on the forecheck. He even mixed it up with the opposing teamβs captain and former Washington Capital Alexander Semin after the whistle just seconds after taking a high stick from Semin.
It is nice to see Podkolzin be given the ice time he deserves and though he didnβt have any time on the power play or penalty kill, he was one of the more noticeable players in the game for SKA. This game was their biggest win of the season as they ran through their opponents to the tune of a 8-1 victory.
SKAβs coach Valeri Bragin should not go away from the lineup that just laid a beatdown on their opponent. Podkolzinβs line consisted of Kirill Marchenko, who Podkolzin has had a lot of chemistry with this season, and former Canuck turned KHL all-star Lindey Vey.
We should see Podkolzin get a decent run on the first line.
Who knows though, this is the KHL.
There were more Canucks prospects in action on Thursday and Podkolzin wasnβt the only one with a multi point game.
The Canucks 6th round pick in the 2020 draft Dmitri Zlodeyev has two assists in a 4-3 win earlier in the day. He was back in the MHL and is now up to 12 points in 14 MHL games with an added four goals in eight VHL matches.
Overall, it was an excellent day for Canucks prospects overseas.
We will continue to follow the Canucks prospects as their seasons go on here at CanucksArmy.
