In his second career KHL game, Ruslan Iskhakov put on the dangles for his first goal of the season as CSKA Moscow defeated the Admiral Vladisvostok 6-2.
While over on this side of the pond, New York Islanders prospect Ruslan Iskhakov was a skating highlight reel.
Now, he is playing in the KHL after signing a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow this summer.
After not getting much of an opportunity on Long Island, it was just a matter of time before he put on the moves to dazzle the KHL fans like he did the AHL fans on a nightly basis
With CSKA up 2-1 with 9:50 to play in the second period against Admiral Vladivostok, Iskhakov got fed in transition with speed over their blue line.
A defenseman tried to take away the slot, but Iskhakov put on a beauty of a dangle to put the Admiral player in a blender for this silky goal:
Here's a slo-mo:
Iskhakov's creativity in a 1-on-1 situation (1-on-2/3ish, given who was back there) is vital because if he is ever going to return to the NHL, creating time and space, especially with being a smaller player, isn't a want but a need.
CSKA came away with a 6-2 win for their first "W" of the season, with Iskhakov's goal serving as the game-winner.
His goal also came in at No. 1 on the KHL’s Top 10 Goals of the Week:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqljvPutW2o[/embed]
They fell 4-2 to Spartak Moscow in their opener.
Iskhakov only got one shot on goal, that being his goal, adding two takeaways, going 1-6 in the face-off dot in game one.
Iskhakov went 3-for-9 (33.3%) in game one.
For the second straight game, he played between former NHLer Denis Gurianov and seven-year KHL vet Ivan Drozdov on the team's third line.
Even though Iskhakov's game fits the KHL more than the NHL, he's still had to adjust to the new ice and new style.
"The rinks are bigger. In the KHL they give you a little more time to think, to make a decision," Iskhakov told Match TV after the first game of the season. "Of course, I wouldn’t say that this is the case in all zones. In the middle zone, the teams play very tightly. In the opponent’s zone, you have a lot of space, and if you don’t panic, you can use it well."
In two games, Iskhakov has scored a goal on one shot, won 26.7% of his face-offs, and averaged 11:59 minutes per game.
CSKA Moscow is back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 12:30 PM ET, against Novosibirsk, which has lost both of its games this season.
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