Amur edges a seven-goal thriller

Amur and Spartak met for the second time this summer and the Tigers came out on top once again. Both teams went with line-ups that were close to full strength. Spartak made several changes from the youthful roster that lost 4-7 to Ak Bars last time out, while Amur’s only obvious understudy was goalie Dmitry Lozebnikov who started in place of Evgeny Alikin.

Spartak Moscow 3 Amur Khabarovsk 4 (0-1, 2-3, 1-0)

In the opening frame, Spartak’s power play got plenty of practice. However, despite creating some dangerous moments in front of Dmitry Lozebnikov’s net, the home team could not convert any of the three penalties taken by Amur. Late in the frame, the Tigers punished that wastefulness with Andrei Alexeyev breaking the deadlock.

Goals came quickly in the second stanza. Alexander Khokhlachyov tied the scores early on, but Amur jumped to a 3-1 lead on goals from Vladislav Gretsky and Artyom Antipov. The latter scored on the power play, with Amur demonstrating how to take advantage of the extra man while Spartak continued to struggle. Artyom Demkov quickly reduced the deficit for the home team, but Ivan Nikolishin’s penalty shot restored a two-goal lead for Amur before the second intermission. The incident that led to that penalty saw starting goalie Alexei Krasikov leave the game injured; replacement Andrei Skovronsky’s first task was to retrieve the puck from his net after Nikolishin’s finish.

In the third period, Spartak quickly reduced the deficit thanks to a goal from Danila Kvartalnov. An equalizer seemed likely when the Red-and-Whites got a 5-on-3 power play for a full minute, but once again the Amur PK was on top form. Skovronsky made some big saves in the closing stages to keep his team in front and seal a second win over Spartak this summer.