Two more bite the dust
Highlights of the day
Day of sackings
Two more coaches were fired on Friday. Milos Riha had been at Spartak for nearly three years, had twice taken the team to the play-offs and progressed past the first round. Andrei Sidorenko was appointed coach on the April 23rd of this year, after Traktor’s season had already finished. Under his leadership the club played 10 official games and enjoyed three victories: two in regulation time plus one in overtime. At the time of the dismissals Spartak were languishing in 17th place in the overall table, while Traktor were down in 22nd, with only Vityaz below them.
Four-star Novokuznetsk
Metallurg Novokuznetsk’s 4-2 win over Amur leaves only two clubs yet to score more than three goals in a game this season, the toothless twosome being Vityaz and Atlant.
We should remind ourselves that Novokuznetsk’s scoring problems had been far from temporary. In the previous championship they were the lowest-scoring team of all 24, and in the first championship they fared little better on this score, finishing 21st.
Battle of Tatarstan
Neftekhimik’s third goal against Ak Bars was their first empty net goal of the new season, and also the first this season scored against the Gagarin Cup holders. It is also the first Tatarstan derby in KHL history to be won without allowing a goal in reply. The last derby to finish this way was when the Nizhnekamsk men celebrated a 1:0 victory back in 2007.
It was also the first time in this championship that Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s men have left the ice without once breaching the opposition’s defenses.
Figure of the day
-4. Amur defenseman Brett Skinner finished today’s game with this efficiency rating – the worst of the current championship so far.
Key players
Vitaly Yeremeyev (Barys). Saved 37 shots in Novosibirsk, bringing his team their second straight victory.
Alexander Yerofeyev (Metallurg Novokuznetsk). Finished at a +3.
Nikolai Belov (Neftekhimik). Scored one goal and made the decisive pass for another.
Alexei Kosourov (Metallurg Novokuznetsk). Scored a goal, helped set up two more, and merited a rating of +3.
Mark Bomersback (Metallurg Novokuznetsk). Collected 3 points: two goals and one assist.
Brandon Bochenski (Barys). In just over 20 minutes on the ice he struck 6 shots at the target, and claimed a goal and an assist.
Quotes of the day
“Was the Sibir game a big one for me? No, for me there are no big games, we fight to win in every one,” Barys head coach Andrei Khomutov.
“Our foreigners cost us three decisive goals,” Amur head coach Sergei Svetlov.
Alexei Shevchenko, special to khl.ru
