Chasing Lokomotiv

Glinkin makes history
21-year-old Anton Glinkin (pictured) celebrated the first hat-trick of his career today. He had never even taken more than two points in a game before, but against Lokomotiv he scored four: three goals and one assist.

Anton’s triple strike took just 17 minutes and 43 seconds, the fastest hat-trick of the current championship. And thanks to Glinkin’s one-man onslaught, Traktor almost saved the game against Lokomotiv, who were winning by a five-goal margin going into the third period. As well as a personal best and a record for the season, Glinkin also set a new club record as the first Traktor player to score a hat-trick in the KHL.

Spartak’s unwanted record
The Muscovite Red-and-Whites have failed to score in three games already this season. The club had only suffered two goalless games in all previous KHL championships and both of those came in the first season, against Salavat Yulaev and SKA. The Red-and-Whites scored in every game of the last campaign, but now in just a month and a half they have been shut out by Barys, Atlant and today CSKA. The latter, incidentally, had not won at Spartak’s Sokolniki home since 2007.

Return ticket
Attacker Mikhail Zhukov has become the first player to change clubs twice during the current championship. In the first season of the KHL Alexei Simakov appeared for SKA, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and CSKA, while last season Igor Mirnov played in the colors of Atlant, HC MVD, and Sibir, and defenseman Artem Ternavsky moved from Metallurg Novokuznetsk to Dinamo Minsk and then on to Vityaz.

Zhukov is unique in that he left Cherepovets for Saint Petersburg, and was then transferred back to Cherepovets.

Figure of the day
22 minutes 11 seconds was all Lokomotiv needed to hit six goals against Traktor, the fastest six goals not just in this season, but in KHL history. The Yaroslavl club’s goal blitz was 38 seconds faster than the previous best, set in the first championship by Barys against Vityaz.

Key players
Konstantin Barulin (Atlant). Saved 41 shots to shut out the most formidable attack in the League. Helped his team to its first outright victory at home this season.

Karel Rachunek (Lokomotiv). Set up one goal and finished at a +3.

Vladimir Malenkikh (Metallurg Magnitogorsk). Spent over 20 minutes on the ice, in which time he made an assist and earned a +3.

Anton Glinkin (Traktor). Made an assist and then struck three goals, helping his team to almost claw back a 1-6 deficit against Lokomotiv.

Tony Martensson (SKA). Collected four points - one goal and three assists - in a performance which merited a +4.

Mattias Weinhandl (SKA). Scored two goals, including the game-winner, and earned a +2.

Quotes of the day
“We created a heck of a lot of chances, but Barulin made some stunning saves,” Salavat Yulaev head coach Vyacheslav Bykov.

“We tried to play as a team, and I’m very happy we succeeded,” Atlant head coach Milos Riha.

“The outcome was decided by a freak goal, which we allowed while we were short-handed,” Spartak head coach Igor Pavlov.

“It’s comforting that our goalie Gayduchenko kept saving us, as I’d entrusted him as our number one straight after the Petersburg game, – CSKA head coach Sergei Nemchinov.

“It’s significant that our liveliest five minutes came near the end of the game, when we scored three goals,” Metallurg Magnitogorsk head coach Kai Suikkanen.

“We made the dumbest tactical mistakes you could make, and these contributed to the result,” Torpedo head coach Vladimir Golubovich.

Alexei Shevchenko, special to khl.ru