SKA bounces back, Avto loses again. September 26 round-up

Vladimir Tkachyov scored after 18 seconds against his former club, setting SKA on the way to a 4-1 win over Salavat Yulaev. Another forward against former team-mates was Andre Petersson, who had 1+1 in Dyanmo’s 4-3 win at Sochi. Avtomobilist slipped to a third successive loss as Julius Hudacek returned to help Spartak to a 1-0 win. There were shoot-out wins for Kunlun and Severstal, and Shawn Lalonde got his first goal for Admiral to win the Far East derby in Khabarovsk.

Lalonde opens his account for Admiral

Amur Khabarovsk 1 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (1-0, 0-2, 0-0)

Goals: 1-0 Vitacek (H. Zohorna, Faizullin 10:51 PP); 1-1 V. Streltsov (Ostrovsky, Lomako 22:36); 1-2 Lalonde (Almqvist, Vikharev 37:21 PP)

Goalies: Langhamer – Olkinuora

Admiral gained instant revenge for Wednesday’s loss in Khabarovsk when it came from behind to defeat Amur in the second of these back-to-back games in the Far East.

The home team ended its losing start to the season with a 3-2 verdict 24 hours earlier and made a bright start to this game. Amur shaded the play in the opening frame and went in front midway through the session when Ondrej Vitasek scored on the power play. It was the Czech blue liner’s first goal for the club he joined in the summer.

However, there was to be no follow-up victory for the host. Vasily Streltsov tied the game early in the second period before Shawn Lalonde arrived on the power play to pot his first goal in the KHL and give Admiral the verdict. Amur remains bottom of the Eastern Conference, Admiral moves into the playoff places.

Shoot-out success for Red Star

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 Kunlun Red Star 4 SO (1-1, 0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 0-1)

Goals: 0-1 Lockhart (Cracknell, Wong 2:50); 1-1 Kulikov (Zakharchuk 3:56 PP); 2-1 Zakharchuk (Ryasensky 41:53 PP); 2-2 Yip (Wolski, Miller 49:40); 2-3 Miller (Wolski 51:08); 3-3 Poryadin (Mitchell, White 52:57); 3-4 Wong (65:00 penalty shot)

Goalies: Barulin – Smith

Red Star snapped a three-game losing streak to record its first win of the season after a shoot-out success at Neftekhimik. Goalie Jeremy Smith won all five of his post-game duels to deny the host, while Tyler Wong deked his way past Konstantin Barulin at the other end to win it for the Dragons.

It was a game that could have gone either way. The teams traded early goals, with Luke Lockhart putting Red Star ahead in the third minute only for renowned enforcer Garet Hunt to pick up a minor penalty and watch as Pavel Kulikov tied it up barely a minute later. In the second period there was no further scoring, but the Dragons showed plenty of attacking intent only to find Konstantin Barulin in solid form.

However, Kunlun’s weakness this season has been a propensity to take too many penalties and early in the third period that problem struck again. Stepan Zakharchuk smashed home a slap shot from the top of the circle off a pass from Evgeny Ryasensky. However, at even strength the visitor was more than contributing to the game and turned the scoreline around with a pair of quick goals from the Wolski-Miller-Yip line. Captain Brandon Yip got the first then, within a minute, he was the target as Wojtek Wolski slung another pass from the right channel. That time, the puck bounced free for Andrew Miller to shoot home between the hash marks.

The lead was short-lived; Pavel Poryadin’s sixth of the season made it 3-3 and took us to overtime. Neftekhimik enjoyed another power play during the extras and Poryadin could have won it when he fanned a great chance out in front, but the shoot-out saw Smith at his unflappable best to get the win.

Galimov gives Severstal the edge

Severstal Cherepovets 3 Dinamo Minsk 2 SO (0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Goals: 0-1 Prince (Shaw, Pulkkinen 28:02); 1-1 Alexeyev (Khabarov, Yakovlev 33:28); 1-2 Shaw (Prince 35:58); 2-2 Trubachyov (Kudako, Vovchenko 38:07 PP)

Goalies: Podyapolsky – Enroth

There was another shoot-out in Cherepovets, with Severstal edging past Dinamo Minsk after trailing twice during the game. Ansel Galimov was the only scorer in the post-game series, converting the 10^th attempt of the sequence to give the home team the verdict.

All of the scoring came in the second period. Shane Prince continued his good form to give Minsk the lead midway through the game. The American now has 7 (3+4) points in six games since arriving in Belarus. He also assisted on Drew Shore’s goal, but in between Severstal drew level through Andrei Alexeyev.

Severstal was always fully in the game, though, and when Yury Trubachyov got a chance on the power play late in the second, he tied the scores. The third frame saw the home team get ahead on the shot count for the first time but fail to beat Jhonas Enroth again until Galimov’s success in the shoot-out.

SKA halts losing run

SKA St. Petersburg 4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 (1-0, 1-1, 2-0)

Goals: 1-0 Tkachyov (Plotnikov 0:18); 1-1 Hartikainen (Omark, Manninen 23:10); 2-1 Plotnikov (37:22); 3-1 Yakupov (Kagarlitsky, Rukavishnikov 53:20); 4-1 Ketov (Lehtera, Kemppainen 58:19 empty net)

Goalies: Melnichuk – Metsola

The big match-up of the day pitted last season’s beaten Conference finalists against one another in Petersburg. The teams arrived with similar records – both on 13 points, SKA having played one game more – but contrasting recent results after Salavat Yulaev won its last two as the Army Men suffered back-to-back losses.

Photo: 26.09.19. KHL Championship 2019-2020. SKA (St.Petersburg) - Salavat Yulaev (Ufa)

Determined to put that record straight, SKA started fast and Vladimir Tkachyov needed just 18 seconds to open the scoring. Sergei Plotnikov’s feed from the right was placed invitingly and the forward shot home from the circle to quickly register against his former club.

SKA went on to dominate the first period but was unable to build on that early lead. Instead, the next goal came in the second stanza and saw Teemu Hartikainen tie the scores off a Linus Omark pass. However, the visitor’s hopes took a serious knock late in the frame when Plotnikov intercepted the puck and advanced to put the Army Men back in front.

This time, there was no way back. Late goals from Nail Yakupov and Evgeny Ketov took the game away from Salavat Yulaev; SKA tightens its grip on the leadership of the Bobrov division.

Hudacek returns with a shut-out

Spartak Moscow 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 0 (0-0, 1-0, 0-0)

Goal: 1-0 Karsums (Yunkov, Grishin 38:06)

Goalies: Hudacek – Kovar

Avtomobilist’s winning start to the season is fading fast. A single, contentious goal at Spartak condemned the Eastern Conference leader to a third straight loss and ensured that the Vityaz fairy tale would remain at the top of the KHL table for at least another night.

Photo: 26.09.19. KHL Championship 2019-2020. Spartak (Moscow) - Avtomobilist (Yekaterinburg)

Spartak handed a first start of the season to goalie Julius Hudacek, giving a break to young Pavel Khomchenko after his error cost the team in its previous game. The Slovak international didn’t have much to deal with in a first period of few chances, but was the busier of the two goalies in the second. However, it was his opposite number Jakub Kovar who was beaten late in the middle frame. Avto spent a long time in the Spartak zone without having a shot and when play broke down, Alexei Grishin went to the other end and fired in a shot from the left-hand boards. The puck flew into the body of Mikhail Yunkov on the slot and dropped for Martins Karsums to tap into an open net.

However, that wasn’t the end of the matter. Avtomobilist believed that Yunkov had used his hand to get the puck to the goalscorer and a long video review followed before the score could be awarded. The goal separated the teams until the final hooter, with Hudacek standing up well in the face of a late surge from Avtomobilist and setting the stage for his first victory dance of the season.

Petersson impresses for Dynamo at Sochi

HC Sochi 3 Dynamo Moscow 4 (1-2, 1-2, 1-0)

Goals: 0-1 Petersson (Jaskin, Shipachyov 5:42); 0-2 Kulyomin (Yefremov 13:55); 1-2 Collins (Stromvall, Rosen 18:31 PP); 1-3 Shipachyov (Hietanen, Cajkovsky 29:37 PP); 2-3 Stromvall (Bertilsson 35:09 PP); 2-4 Hietanen (Cajkovsky, Petersson 35:51); 3-4 Shmelyov (54:58)

Goalies: Shikin – Bocharov

Andre Petersson enjoyed his return to Sochi, picking up a goal and an assist as Dynamo defeated his former club by the odd goal in seven.

The Swede opened the scoring in the sixth minute, firing home a wrister as the first line combined effectively. The visitor doubled that lead midway through the session when a shot bounced off the boards and back to the slot, prompting a scramble that ended when Vyacheslav Kulyomin shot home.

Sochi hit back with a power play goal from Sean Collins but could not get on level terms. Instead Vadim Shipachyov restored that two-goal advantage with a power play effort of his own midway through the second period. Then the teams traded tallies in the 36^th minute with Malte Stromvall reducing the deficit only for Petersson to assist on Juuso Hietanen’s riposte 42 seconds later.

The home team rallied in the third period and took the game to Dynamo. The only reward came when Sergei Shmelyov intercepted the puck on the blue line and advanced to beat Ivan Bocharov in a one-on-one, making it a tense one-goal game for the last five minutes as the Blue-and-Whites held on for the win.