Shirokov stars in Avangard win. February 6 round-up

Avangard picked up its first win in six to bring an 11-game run of home fixtures to a winning conclusion. The game was also a personal triumph for Sergei Shirokov as the forward scored twice to get his first goals since December 6. Since then Shirokov, who began the season as one of the league’s leading scorers, has featured in just seven games due to injury problems but today his contribution was decisive. The early exchanges saw Sergei Kalinin and Ryan Gunderson swap power play goals in the first period before Shirokov and Maxim Goncharov led Avangard to a 3-1 advantage at the second intermission. But Jokerit refused to roll over: Steve Moses hit two in the final stanza only to taste defeat thanks to Shirokov’s second of the night. Torpedo into the top 8 Third period goals from Torpedo’s Finnish contingent lifted the Nizhny Novgorod team to a 2-1 victory over Barys and put it back on track for the play-offs. Sakari Salminen, Torpedo’s leading scorer this seaso ...