The Red-and-Whites thrash Dynamo
The first Moscow derby of the season ended in a resounding 5-2 victory for Spartak as they saw off their bitter foes Dynamo at Sokolniki - despite the visitors making a dream start with a goal after nine seconds. Marek Kvapil’s effort counted for little, however, once Alexander Komaristy and Anatoly Nikontsev got to work.
The pair combined for Nikontsev to level the scores, and Komaristy got an assist on his colleague’s second of the night before the roles were reversed as Spartak made it 4-1. Dynamo even managed to send the puck in their own empty net while playing 6-on-5 for a delayed penalty. Janne Jalasvaara pulled one back late on for them, but the game was already lost by then.
Armies clash
The showdown between the two army teams - SKA St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow - went the way of the northern capital with SKA winning 4-1 thanks to a powerful opening period. Evgeny Artyukhin, Denis Denisov and summer signing Patrik Thoresen had the hosts 3-0 up by 14:09, and Ilya Zubov’s reply on 19:59 could do little to stem the flow.
Mattias Weinhandl completed the scoring on 25:24 as SKA maintained a winning start to the season and a youthful CSKA line-up was left to contemplate back-to-back defeats after an opening day triumph.
A cure for travel sickness?
Amur Khabarovsk, the KHL’s most remote team, typically struggles on the road - but Saturday's 3-1 win at Metallurg Novokuznetsk was their second away win in three days. Goals from Dmitry Tarasov, Alexander Nikulin and Mikko Maenpaa gave the far eastern team victory.
