Ufa on top in hometown tourney

Day two of the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup saw host team Salavat Yulaev move clear of the rest with a win over Lokomotiv. In the earlier game, Dynamo edged Severstal in a nine-goal thriller.

Petunin’s treble can’t save Severstal

Severstal Cherepovets 4 Dynamo Moscow 5 (1-2, 1-1, 2-2)

Alexander Petunin potted a hat-trick for Severstal, but Dynamo delivered its first pre-season win.

Despite Petunin’s heroics, the Steelmen were always chasing this game from the moment Dmitry Rashevsky opened the scoring on the power play midway through the first period. Ninety seconds later, Dynamo doubled that lead through Vladislav Mikhailov.

Petunin pulled one back late in the opening frame, but the Blue-and-Whites were never caught. Vladislav Yefremov made it 3-1 in the second before Daniil Vovchenko’s power play tally made it a one-goal game again.

In the third, Vladislav Kodola scored on his former club to extend Dynamo’s lead and Roman Abrosimov took the score to 5-2 with 10 minutes to play. Petunin led the fight back, scoring twice to complete his treble. However, he was unable to save the game for Severstal.

Ho-Sang wins on Ufa debut

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (0-0, 1-0, 1-1)

Josh Ho-Sang and Ryan Murphy made their Salavat Yulaev debuts as Viktor Kozlov’s team moved clear at the top of the standings in its hometown tournament. In addition to the two Canadians, young Russian Danil Alalykin made his first appearance of the summer.

Lokomotiv, which lost its opening game to Severstal, also tweaked its roster. However, last year’s Bashkortostan champion could not improve on yesterday’s result.

It took half an hour to find the opening goal, but Ivan Drozdov made the breakthrough for Ufa midway through the second period. As against Dynamo in its first game, though, Salavat Yulaev could not put the opposition away.

Lokomotiv responded with a power play goal early in the third period, and the result was in the balance until the end. Nikolai Kulemin’s goal in the 52nd minute ultimately proved decisive, but this was another close and testing game for both teams.