FINALLY!!!

It may have taken eight games. It may have taken a powerplay opportunity. It may have taken a screened goaltender and shot that somehow found its way through a crowd of bodies, but the goose egg has finally been cracked. The man in the image to left, Evander Kane, is no longer without a goal in the KHL. While his goal would prove to be a non-factor in a game long salted away, Evander Kane officially can point to his statistics and say, "I did it."

Again, the game was long over already when he scored, but Kane scored the second goal for Dinamo Minsk with 11:27 to play in the third period to pull Minsk within four goals of the Evgeni Malkin-led Metallurg Magnitogorsk. It wasn't a pretty dangle and it probably won't make too many highlight reels, but Evander Kane's shot from the high slot finally ended his goal-scoring drought.

The final score would be a convincing 7-2 win for Magnitogorsk, but I'll no longer be able to speak of Evander Kane's lack of scoring on a team that needs him to contribute more than penalty minutes.

Also featured in this game was a spectacular case of horrific puck-handling by a goaltender when Pekka Rinne decided to handle the puck like he was poking a dead animal with a stick. In other words, it ended badly.

Rinne didn't get past the fourth Magnitogorsk goal, leaving the paint for Ari Ahonen with the score at 4-1. Some players just have bad nights, and Rinne was certainly making a case for him being human last night. Thankfully, there was no booing and no taunting after that goal... that was caught on camera.

The KHL: where stardom is earned, not given.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!