Salavat shut out

Highlights of the day

Ufa finally misfires
Until Monday, Salavat Yulaev was the only team in the KHL that had never left the ice without at least one goal, but today’s shutout in Nizhny Novgorod brought to an end their 126-game scoring run. During this spell the two time winners of the regular championship struck the puck into the opposing net no less than 483 times. The Bashkiria outfit was the only team to score in every game of the first KHL championship, but in the second season they shared the distinction with Spartak. In the current campaign there are eight teams remaining that have still scored in every match.

Another coach sacked
On Monday Avtomobilist announced they are to part company with Evgeny Popikhin. He was appointed by the Yekaterinburg club in the offseason, and under his command the team from the Urals enjoyed two victories in regulation time plus three more in overtime, but suffered eight regulation time losses and another defeat in the shoot-out.

And on Sunday Spartak’s players had their first training session under Igor Pavlov. The new man had been working on the coaching staff at Sibir but this is his first appointment as a head coach in the KHL. The Pavlov era began today with a defeat, and it is worth mentioning that of all the coaches who have moved clubs this season, only Milos Riha at Atlant managed to start his reign with a win, albeit in overtime.

Lokomotiv’s first shoot-out
Lokomotiv today experienced their first shoot-out of the season, and it ended in defeat, although at least the Yaroslavl men were beaten by a formidable opponent - for Metallurg Magnitogorsk it was their third shoot-out victory already this season, a record bettered only by SKA. Despite boasting an abundance of technically gifted players, Lokomotiv have a poor record in shoot-outs, winning just two from six in each of the previous two seasons.

Figure of the day

3 times Magnitogorsk attacker Stanislav Chistov has been called up for shoot-out duty this season, and he has hit the target every time. And two of those three shots clinched victory for his team.

Key players

Bernd Bruckler (Torpedo, pictured). Saved 38 shots to keep a clean sheet against Salavat Yulaev.

Timmy Pettersson (Severstal). Set up two goals and finished at a +2.

Janne Niskala (Metallurg Magnitogorsk). Also claimed two assists and a +2.

Alexei Glukhov (Atlant). Made two assists, earned a rating of +2, and won 8 out of 9 face-offs.

Tomas Rolinek (Metallurg Magnitogorsk). Scored two goals.

Vyacheslav Kozlov (CSKA). Took part in all three of his team’s goals, scoring the first then turning provider for two more.

Quotes of the day

“When the score reached 2-1 we should have stopped and held on,” SKA head coach Ivan Zanatta.

“When SKA got their second goal I thought we were in for a bad evening,” Dinamo Minsk head coach Marek Sykora.

“It was as if the team was scared of scoring,” Atlant head coach Milos Riha.

“I won’t say we defended badly, but I don’t see where we can make improvements to our defensive play,” Salavat Yulaev head coach Vyacheslav Bykov.

Alexei Shevchenko, special to khl.ru