Knight gets the game-winner. September 27 round-up

Two teams on winning streaks continued their good form in Friday’s action. Barys made it four in a row with victory at Traktor, before CSKA blanked Torpedo to post its sixth successive triumph.

Knight gets the game-winner

Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Barys Nur-Sultan 2 (1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Goals: 1-0 Virtanen (Sergiyenko, Calof 9:27); 1-1 Dietz (Mikhailis, Starchenko 11:21); 1-2 Knight (Blacker, Pakarinen 51:50)

Goalies: Fedotov – Karlsson

Traktor’s frustrations continued as Peteris Skudra’s team went down to a third successive home loss in an even battle against Barys. There was little to separate the teams throughout the 60 minutes, but the host came up short on offense to leave head coach Skudra bemoaning the fact that his forwards were not getting the bounces at the moment.

Photo: 27.09.19. KHL Championship 2019-2020. Traktor (Chelyabinsk) - Barys (Nur-Sultan)

The first period saw two defensemen on the scoresheet. Jesse Virtanen fired home from the point to give Traktor the lead but it took less than two minutes for Darren Dietz to respond in kind. The middle frame was cautious and goalless but Barys got the verdict midway through the third thanks to one of those bounces Skudra mentioned. Iiro Pakarinen fired in a shot and Corban Knight was well placed to redirect the puck beyond Ivan Fedotov in the home net.

Johansson shuts out Torpedo as CSKA gets revenge

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 0 CSKA Moscow 3 (0-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Goals: 0-1 Telegin (Karnaukhov 23:20); 0-2 Slepyshev (Blazhievsky, Okulov 36:06 PP); 0-3 Slepyshev (Telegin 59:01 empty net)

Goalies: Lindbak – Johansson

CSKA got revenge for a defeat here a couple of weeks ago and extended its winning streak to six games after blanking Torpedo.

Photo: 27.09.19. KHL Championship 2019-2020. Torpedo (Nizhny Novgorod) - CSKA (Moscow)

The host had its chances in the first period, with Anton Shenfeld going close on an early power play and the Army Men surviving a dangerous odd-man rush late in the frame. But neither team was able to establish a significant advantage in the opening exchanges.

After such an even game in the first period, CSKA opened the scoring in the second when Pavel Karnaukhov won an attacking face-off and Ivan Telegin fired home the puck from the top of the circle before Torpedo’s defense could respond to the danger. The home team came close to a quick response when Mikhail Varnakov flashed a shot narrowly wide and Damir Zhafyarov threatened to push the rebound beyond Lars Johansson in the visitor’s net.

Paul Szczechura also went close in the second period, but the action was disrupted by penalties and CSKA doubled its lead on the power play. This time Konstantin Okulov fired the puck into the danger zone and Anton Slepyshev got the vital touch to beat Anders Lindbak. Slepyshev added an empty-net goal to wrap up the win; Johansson made 32 saves for his second shut-out of the season.