Metallurg Novokuznetsk finally picked up its first win in six games, getting the verdict over Admiral in a shoot-out in Vladivostok.
The game was won by Ryan Stoa after the team’s tied 1-1 in regulation but the real hero was Metallurg goalie Rafael Khakimov. He faced a storm of home attacks after Nikita Popov put the visitor ahead in the 17th minute, and stood tall in the face of the onslaught.
It took almost half an hour of game time before Andrei Sigaryov finally managed to level the scores and by then Khakimov was well on the way to completing 45 saves on a busy evening. At the other end his team-mates managed just 17 attempts on Ivan Nalimov’s net.
In the shoot-out Khakimov remained a tough opponent, saving attempts from Vyacheslav Ushenin and Ilya Zubov to lead his team to victory. For Admiral, a second successive defeat puts serious question marks over the team’s play-off bid.
