Salavat wins home tournament, Kunlun beats Vityaz

The Republic of Bashkortostan Cup goes to Salavat Yulaev after a comfortable victory over Severstal in Saturday’s decisive game. Dynamo Moscow takes second place despite a shoot-out loss against Lokomotiv earlier in the day. The only warm-up game saw Kunlun Red Star begin its summer program with a 4-1 victory over Vityaz.

Republic of Bashkortostan Cup:

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Dynamo Moscow 0 SO (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

This game was a goaltending duel. Adding extra spice, both goalies were up against their former clubs. Dynamo’s Ilya Konovalov and Lokomotiv’s Ivan Bocharov demonstrated how well they knew the schemes of their previous colleagues as the scoresheet remained blank for 65 minutes.

Indeed, the goaltending was of such a high standard that even the shoot-out did not produce a flurry of scoring: Alexander Polunin was the only player to find the net, securing Lokomotiv its first win of the competition.

For Lokomotiv head coach Igor Nikitin, a first victory of pre-season was an encouraging sign. “It was a tough, even game with a lot of individual battles,” he said. “There were good moments, but we still have things to work on.”

His opposite number Alexei Kudashov was content that Dynamo had achieved its key targets at the tournament, despite managing just one victory in its three games.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (2-1, 1-0, 2-1)

Salavat Yulaev sealed victory in its home tournament with a convincing success over Severstal in the final game. Prior to Saturday’s match-up, the Steelmen were the only team able to stop Ufa from winning it all: victory in regulation would give Andrei Razin’s team the trophy due to a better head-to-head record against Salavat.

That might explain why Ufa started fast. Just 21 seconds into the game, Danil Alalykin put the home team ahead. Severstal got back on level terms thanks to Kirill Pilipenko on the first power play of the game but was unable to improve on that.

Instead, Salavat Yulaev regained the lead through Daniil Skorikov in the 12^th minute and held that lead to the first intermission.

After the break, Danil Bashkirov added a power play tally for the host, assisted by summer signings Josh Ho-Sang and Alexander Chmelevski. Then Alalykin started the final frame by scoring his second of the game. This one came 24 seconds into the action, suggesting that Alalykin is a player to watch in the early stages of any period.

Severstal found a way back into the game thanks to a power play goal from Robin Press, but there was no big fightback to follow. Instead, Sergei Shmelyov’s empty net effort completed a big win for Salavat Yulaev.

Warm-up game: winning start for Kunlun

Vityaz Moscow Region 1 Kunlun Red Star 4 (1-4, 0-0, 0-0)

The Dragons left it late to take their pre-season bow, but the opening game of the summer saw Red Star enjoy victory at Vityaz.

New head coach Greg Ireland selected a team that mixed experience and potential. Red Star iced a line comprised of youngsters from Atlant, and had several other players on try-out contracts. In addition, there were debuts for goalie Matt Jurusik (also known as Jurusik Puck), d-men Vincent LoVerde, Liam Ross and Doyle Somerby, plus forward Jack Rodewald.

Vityaz, meanwhile, played without imports and reshuffled its roster from the team that lost 1-3 to Ak Bars 24 hours earlier.

Kunlun made a fast start, scoring twice in the first five minutes. Atlant youngster Alexander Shcherbatov opened the scoring and Parker Foo doubled the advantage. Vityaz pulled a goal back in a 5-on-3 power play, but Luke Lockhart and Danila Sachkov, another Atlant prospect, extended the visitor’s lead.

However, there was no further scoring. Vityaz brought in goalie Dmitry Shikin, who stopped his former club from adding more goals. At the other end, Jurusik pulled off some big saves to preserve Red Star’s league. The teams will meet again at the end of August in the Mayor of Moscow Cup.