Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Ak Bars had contrasting fortunes on their respective journeys to the Far East – and the final day of the voyage proved an abrupt reversal for both teams.
Ak Bars, with three comfortable wins on the road, suffered a 6-1 hammering at Sibir while Magnitka got its first points of the trip in a 4-2 win at Admiral.
Denis Platonov opened the scoring for Metallurg late in the first period in Vladivostok and the second period had a familiar feel to it as Magnitka’s potent first line delivered two more goals. First Chris Lee and Sergei Mozyakin combined for Jan Kovar’s goal, then Kovar turned provider with an assist on Evgeny Biryukov’s effort.
Admiral got on the scoresheet in the final session; Denis Kuzmin and Enver Lisin scored on Alexander Pechursky either side of Oskar Osala’s goal for the visitors, but there was no denying Magnitka a win in the east at last.
In Novosibirsk Jarno Koskiranta was the star, scoring a hat-trick as Ak Bars’ air miles caught up with it at last. After Dmitry Kugryshev opened the scoring Koskiranta got the next two for Sibir – both assisted by Kugryshev – as the home side took the game out of Ak Bars’ reach. Koskiranta completed his treble in the third, seconds after Vladimir Tkachyov got the visitor on the scoreboard with a short-handed strike.
It took almost half an hour before Mike Lundin opened the scoring for Barys on the power play, but after that the goals came thick and fast. Denis Tolpeko and Kirill Koltsov edged Salavat in front only for two goals from Nigel Dawes to reinstate Barys’ advantage.
Dmitry Makarov tied it up almost immediately, and the home side went on to snatch a dramatic victory in the final minute. Alexei Kaigorodov got the game-winner with 31 seconds left, and Teemu Hartikainen’s empty-netter wrapped things up.
Slovan won 2-1 at Atlant after Vaclav Nedorost opened the scoring in the second minute. Stefan Ruzicka doubled that lead early in the second and Maxim Potapov’s consolation goal wasn’t enough for the hosts.
Torpedo beat Vityaz 4-1 to make it two wins in a row and banish a long losing streak. After a scoreless opening period the teams traded goals in the first minute after the intermission, but once Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev put Torpedo ahead the home side was able to ease to victory with two further goals in the final session.
