The end of pre-season brings wins for Vityaz, Amur and Loko. August 29

The last day of pre-season action brought wins for Vityaz, Lokomotiv and Amur. Two of them were routine exhibition games, but Amur’s win over Motor Ceske Budejovice also secured top spot in a summer tournament in the Czech Republic. Next time all these teams take to the ice, it will be for points in the regular season.

Motor Cup

Amur collects the honors

Unlike most teams in the KHL, who finished their tournament programs at the weekend, Amur entered one last competition in Ceske Budejovice – and came away with the Motor Cup. The campaign started with victory over Linz Red Wings from Austria, setting up a gold-medal decider against the host club, Motor.

Amur sent out a strong roster once again, with the only change coming in goal where Evgeny Alikin was replaced by Marek Langhamer. And the line-up was too strong for the host as Amur eased to a 4-0 victory. Maxim Kapiturov did most of the damage with two goals and an assist.

Motor Ceske Budejovice 0 Amur Khabarovsk 4 (0-0, 0-2, 0-2)

Goals: 0-1 Kapiturov (Gorshkov 24:36); 0-2 Rudenkov (Kapiturov 37:01); 0-3 Vitacek (H Zohorna, T Zohorna 50:39); Kapiturov (Rudenkov, Vitacek 57:23)

Goalies: Kloucek - Langhamer

Exhibition games

Vityaz gets revenge

The last day of summer action began in Podolsk where Vityaz entertained Dynamo Moscow. Last week, Dynamo defeated Vityaz 4-1 on its way to winning the Mayor of Moscow Cup and both were at full strength as the host plotted a revenge mission. Dynamo saw the return of Andre Petersson, with the Swede joining Dmitrij Jaskin and Vadim Shipachyov on the top line.

The home team jumped into a 3-0 lead by the 23^rd minute with two goals from Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov leading the charge. But the Blue-and-Whites fought back and trailed by a single marker at the end of the middle frame thanks to tallies from Petersson and Dmitry Moiseyev. However, Vityaz was not to be denied: in the third period the teams traded two goals apiece as Mikhail Kravets’ men ended with an entertaining victory.

Vityaz Moscow Region 5 Dynamo Moscow 4 (1-0, 2-2, 2-2)

Goals: 1-0 Grebenshchikov (Moiseyev 10:28); Jerabek (Makeyev 21:42 PP); 3-0 Grebenshchikov (22:59); 3-1 D. Moiseyev (Kulemin 23:48); 3-2 Petersson (Shipachyov, 27:30); 4-2 Mons (Golovkov, Chernov 44:21); 4-3 Cajkovsky (Shipachyov 46:26); 5-3 Chernov (Vyglazov, Makeyev 50:08 PP); 5-4 Grigoriev (58:34)

Goalies: Ezhov – Bocharov

Loko’s festival stays on track

Lokomotiv took on Severstal in a game where both teams put out strong rosters, but the players, anxious to escape injury on the eve of the season, played a low-intensity encounter.

However, the game was also the centrepiece of Loko’s annual opportunity for the fans to meet their team and, as such, the home team needed a win to set the right tone for the season. Thus, two goals in two second-period minutes from Artur Kayumov and Artyom Ilyenko set up a winning position for the Railwaymen and that comfortable two-goal margin endured until the end.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Severstal Cherepovets 1 (0-0, 2-0, 1-1)

Goals: 1-0 Kayumov (Lander, Rattie 24:06 PP); 2-0 Ilyenko (Cherepanov 26:01); 2-1 Zhirnov (Markov 43:18); 3-1 Svitov (Ilyenko, Afanasyev 46:04)

Goalies: Konovalov – Khakimov