German Rubtsov ends his lengthy goal drought in the KHL

After going nearly three months without lighting the lamp, Philadelphia Flyers’ 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov recently ended his lengthy goal drought over in the KHL. The Russian forward found the goal column twice in HK Sochi’s 4-2 win over Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik on Friday for his first tallies since September 20th.

With his club down 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bulat Shafigullin (Los Angeles Kings) just 51 seconds prior, Rubtsov snapped his 11-game point drought and 22-game goal drought by putting the puck past former St. Louis Blues’ prospect Konstantin Barulin early in the second frame.

Rubtsov provided the insurance marker later in the period with a blast from the slot off a great pair of passes from Jere Karjalainen and Igor Rudenkov for his first two-goal outing in 44 appearances in the span of two KHL seasons. It also marks the first time Rubtsov has had a multi-point performance in the KHL.

The Flyers’ prospect has been struggling to produce over in Europe, as highlighted by his point and goal droughts. While in the midst of his 22-game goal drought Rubtsov had 16 shots on goal that were denied as well as four assists. The former first-round pick is up to seven points, 29 shots on net, and six penalty minutes with a 42.6 faceoff percentage while averaging 15:42 of ice time a game in 29 contests so far in 2020-21.

It’s been an underwhelming campaign for Ron Hextall’s selection, but it’s hard to imagine what’s going on mentally for any young player at the moment when most hockey leagues around the globe are cancelling games left and right due to the pandemic. That being said it would be nice to see a little more from a guy who went 22nd overall over four years ago.