Top Washington Capitals forward prospect Ivan Miroshnichenko is back on a KHL scoresheet.
The 18-year-old winger tallied his first career goal in Russia’s top professional league a day after Christmas and now has his first-ever assist. And, it’s an absolutely gorgeous one.
🤤 This is why 18-year-old Ivan Miroshnichenko is in Avangard’s first line. Kid is good. pic.twitter.com/5bcAQuSYWz
— KHL (@khl_eng) January 8, 2023
To grab the milestone apple, Miroshnichenko beat a defender to gather his own rebound off of the endboards and in one swift spinning motion fired it back into the slot directly onto Corban Knight’s tape. Knight made no mistake after receiving the beautiful, no-look pass and put Avangard up 1-0 just 17 seconds into the first period.
Sunday’s game for Avangard was a big one for Miroshnichenko for another reason outside of the assist. It was his first after being promoted to the team’s top line with Knight, who has played NHL games with four separate clubs in his career, and former Los Angeles Kings winger Vladimir Tkachev. The 14:16 of ice time he received in the eventual 2-1 win over Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg was by far a career-high. The youngster has struggled to get a consistent look in the KHL as he’s mainly skated on the team’s fourth line or as their thirteenth forward. He is averaging 7:40 of ice time per game and in his previous three games played just 18:02 combined.
Avangard handed Avto 9th straight L thanks to Arseny Gritsyuk’s GWG! pic.twitter.com/v1wlnqWOyo
— KHL (@khl_eng) January 8, 2023
So far this season, Miroshnichenko in his first action back post-treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma has tallied points in three levels of Russian hockey. He started by tearing up the junior MHL with 11 points (8g, 3a) in eight games, moved to the professional second-tier VHL where he recorded three assists in four games, and now has two points after his twelfth career KHL game.
The Capitals selected the talented Russian with the 20th overall selection in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Screenshot via @avangard_inside/Instagram
