On the preseason friendly front, Saturday seemed like a period of calm following the frenzied activity of the previous few days. Only two games featuring KHL clubs took place, but on the positive side (for the fans, at least, if not for defensemen, goaltenders and their coaches), neither encounter was lacking in goals.

In Moscow, CSKA once again got to grips with Admiral, a day after a rather stale 2-1 shootout win for the capital’s Army Men. We can only imagine what head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov said to his side before this rematch, but his words obviously had the desired effect. The Muscovites won 5-0, with Ivan Telegin, Vadim Khlopotov, Artyom Blazhiyevsky, Dmitry Kugryshev and Canadian forward Greg Scott grabbing the goals on what must have been an uncomfortable first outing for Vladivostok netminder Maxim Tretyak.

There was an even more torrid time in store for the rearguard of Czech team MHC Mountfield of Hradec Kralove, who took on Avtomobilist of Yekaterinburg in Plzen. The Czechs made a lively start and opened the scoring in only the second minute, but it seems this merely stung the visitors into action. Andrei Razin’s men hit back to win 7-1, thanks to doubles from Timur Shingareyev and Denis Mingaleyev (his second brace in successive games) plus a goal each from Nikolai Timashyov, Evgeny Mityakin and Dmitry Megalinsky.