Overtime win puts Avto in front. August 6 round-up
For the third game in a row, Avtomobilist went to overtime. And, for the third time running, the Motormen got the win to take an undisputed lead in the tournament table in Sochi.
Parimatch Sochi Hockey Open
Overtime win puts Avto in front
Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 OT (1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 0-1)
Friday’s early game pitted Bill Peters’ team against a Traktor side with two regulation wins from two games.
Photo: 06.08.21. Sochi Hockey Open. Traktor (Chelyabinsk) - Avtomobilist (Yekaterinburg)
In-form Traktor made a good start here and led 2-0 early in the second period on goals from Andrei Stas and Vladimir Tkachyov. Avtomobilist hit back with markers either side of the second intermission, Brooks Macek and Shane Prince finding the net. However, midway through the final frame Traktor regained the lead when Lukas Sedlak’s impressive line combined for another goal. This time Nikita Tertyshny was the scorer. Avto, which had trailed in the third in its previous two games here, found the answer once again and Alexander Shchemerov tied it up at 3-3 just 38 seconds later. Overtime was brief, with the Motormen getting a power play and Macek potting the winner.
Traktor head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin
We’ll keep preparing for our season. We’re playing against good teams, we’re adding to our game. There are positives, but there are things we need to work on. We’ll have a look at our partnerships, we have some other options and there is still plenty of time and plenty of practice ahead, plus our home ice tournament, to help us decide on our team.
Avtomobilist head coach Bill Peters
We had a quick turnaround between the games and we were sluggish at the start, but then we got better and we took our chances. Winning this tournament isn’t so important, we just needed to give the guys a chance to show where they’re at. Sergei Shumakov couldn’t finish the game and we don’t know how serious his problem is. We’re happy that Stephane da Costa played for the first time today and he’s healthy now.
Sochi hits back to get first win
HC Sochi 3 Russia U20 2 (0-2, 1-0, 2-0)
Sochi picked up its first win of its home tournament, but had to come from 0-2 down to defeat Russia’s Juniors on day four of the competition.
Photo: 06.08.21. Sochi Hockey Open. HC Sochi (Sochi) - Russia Olympic team U20
The youngsters took control of the game in the first period with goals from Fyodor Svechkov and Nikita Chibrikov, two of the top Russian picks at the recent NHL draft. For a team that had suffered 1-5 and 0-4 losses in its previous games, this was a leap forward.
Sochi had fared little better up to now, taking a solitary point from an overtime loss to Avtomobilist before losing 0-3 against SKA. But a battling response gave head coach Evgeny Stavrovsky something to build on. Artyom Nikolayev pulled a goal back in the second period, and the Leopards turned it around late in the game. Kirill Petkov tied it up in the 57th minute and Vasily Glotov made it 3-2 with a power play goal on 57:59 to give Sochi the verdict.
Warm-up games
Foo’s double in vain for the Dragons
Vityaz Moscow Region 4 Kunlun Red Star 3 SO (2-1, 1-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Kunlun played its first game of the summer with a roster full of players who are returning to the Chinese franchise ahead of this Olympic season. One of them, Brandon Yip, is likely to captain Team China at the Beijing Games and he showed just why after 26 seconds of the game when he won the puck behind the net and set up Josh Nicholls for the opening goal.
Vityaz responded with a power play goal from former Dragon Vyacheslav Leshchenko and a tally from Miro Aaltonen to lead at the first intermission, but Red Star went back in front early in the second when Spencer Foo grabbed a quick double. However, Danil Zinovyev tied the scores in the second period and that was the end of the scoring in regulation. The game went to a shoot-out, largely due to a great save from Jeremy Smith to deny Niko Ojamaki a winner for Vityaz early in overtime. But the American goalie was unable to stop the Finn in the shoot-out and Miks Indrasis went on to win it for the home team.
Dinamo Minsk 3 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (1-0, 1-1, 1-1)
Dinamo managed to stay one step ahead of Severstal throughout this entertaining encounter. The Steelmen are among a clutch of teams that came to Minsk for a pre-season camp and both teams were playing their third game of the summer here.
The host made the brighter start, enjoying the better of the first period. However, only a power play goal from Vitaly Pinchuk separated the teams at the intermission. Another power play tally from Vladislav Yeryomenko extended that advantage in the second stanza, but Severstal was improving and battled its way back into the game.
A new top line for Dynamo?
Dynamo Moscow 3 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (1-1, 1-0, 1-1)
Back in Vladivostok, the regional authorities are busy finding a solution to an unwelcome reprise of Admiral’s financial problems, but in Moscow the Sailors continued their preparations for the new season with a game against Dynamo. The Blue-and-Whites, meanwhile, are still searching for a strike force to replace the Shipachyov-Kagarlitsky-Jaskin combination that performed so well last season.
The early evidence suggests that Vadim Shipachyov might be joined by Alexander Petunin and Stanislav Galiyev. They played together in the first game, with Petunin scoring twice, and lined up again here. Petunin made his mark once more, with a smart pass from behind the net to set up Shipachyov for the opening goal.
Admiral already set out its stall with the Ushenin brothers at the heart of the team’s offense. And they combined on the power play to tie the scores. Midway through the second, Dynamo restored its lead when some great work by Dmitry Rashevsky presented Nikolai Chebykin with a straightforward finish.
The Sailors hit back once more in the third with the Ushenins combining to set up Dinar Khamidullin. But the home power play delivered a winner as Shipachyov and Slava Voynov set up Galiyev for the decisive goal.
