Ak Bars starts home tourney with win

The TANECO Cup got underway in Kazan and Ak Bars delivered a shut-out win over Lokomotiv in its first home game of the summer. There was a shoot-out win for Neftekhimik in the same competition, with Kunlun Red Star defeating Spartak in similar fashion in Moscow. Petersburg was the place for goals: SKA score five on Sochi, then Severstal put four past Avangard in the first nine minutes of their Puchkov Trophy encounter.

TANECO Cup: Opening day of the last pre-season tournament

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 SO (1-0, 1-0, 1-3, 0-0, 0-1)

The final tournament of the summer got underway in Kazan and the action began with a thriller. Salavat and Neftekhimik served up a topsy-turvy affair that ended with Yohann Auvito grabbing a shoot-out winner for the underdog.

Earlier, Ufa appeared to be in cruise control. Goals from Artyom Pimenov and Gleb Kuzmin gave Salavat at 2-0 lead and the team’s youngsters were looking impressive.

However, the third period brought a big fightback as Neftekhimik turned the game upside down. Anthony Camara finished off a 3-on-1 rush to halve the deficit then Ansel Galimov tied the scores. Camara put his team in front for the first time in the 53^rd minute, but that lead was short-lived. Josh Ho-Sang, one of Salavat Yulaev’s star signings, redirected a Danil Bashkirov shot to tie the game.

Neftekhimik still had the momentum, though. In overtime, Pavel Poryadin dinged the piping before Auvito claimed the shoot-out winner.

Ak Bars Kazan 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 (0-0, 2-0, 0-0)

Much has been made of the stellar signings arriving in Kazan throughout the summer. All of the big names were present and correct for Friday’s home opener as Oleg Znarok’s team played at the Tatneft Arena for the first time this summer. Only Maxim Chudinov, who signed a permanent contract a couple of days earlier, was absent from the team.

However, it proved to be two representatives of the ‘old guard’ who steered this game in Ak Bars’ favor. For long periods, the two teams cancelled one another out. Lokomotiv, despite a patchy pre-season to date, produced a spirited performance and posed some questions on the power play.

It wasn’t until midway through the game that the deadlock was broken. Danis Zaripov, the grand old man of the KHL, was the scorer. Despite his advanced years, the 41-year-old had the pace to break clear on a solo rush and beat young Daniil Isayev in the Lokomotiv net. A couple of minutes later, Kazan doubled its lead thanks to Kirill Petrov, another senior member of the team in recent seasons. He got on the end of a well-worked play and had a simple task to guide the puck home.

Two goals in two minutes proved to be all the scoring required in this game. Amir Miftakhov, the young Ak Bars goalie looking to challenge Timur Bilyalov for the starting role this season, produced a shut-out to seal a good day for his team.

Mayor of Moscow Cup: Yurtaikin shoots down Amur, Dragons win shoot-out

CSKA Moscow 4 Amur Khabarovsk 1 (3-0, 0-1, 1-0)

Danil Yurtaikin produced a fantastic individual effort to set CSKA on the way to victory over Amur in Friday’s opening game in Moscow. The 25-year-old forward spiralled his way through the Tigers’ defense before tucking away a backhand finish from close range.

Modestly, Yurtaikin later insisted that he didn’t do anything special, just responded to the situation as it unfolded. The highlight reel, though, tells another story.

That early goal was just what Sergei Fedorov’s team needed. Defeated by Dynamo last night, a strong showing was needed here. Late in the first period, two quick goals took the game away from Amur, with Mikhail Grigorenko and Pavel Karnaukhov extending the lead.

The Tigers pulled one back in the middle stanza thanks to Andrew Calof, back in the KHL this summer. But CSKA would not be seriously troubled and Vladislav Kamenev sealed a comfortable win midway through the third.

Spartak Moscow 2 Kunlun Red Star 3 SO (1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Little has been seen of Red Star this summer, although a 4-1 win over Vityaz suggested a brighter future for the team under new head coach Greg Ireland. And the Canadian got his second victory here, despite a late leveller from Spartak to force the game into overtime.

The Dragons made a bright start and took the lead on the power play midway through the first period through Kyle Wood. Spartak quickly responded, and Dmitry Zlodeyev’s marker tied the game.

It remained level until late on. Cliff Pu thought he’d won it for Kunlun when he angled a shot past Alexei Krasikov in the 56^th minute, but Spartak saved itself with 25 seconds left on the clock. Fyodor Svechkov was the architect, Pavel Kukshtel applied the finishing touch.

Kukshtel then completed a Spartak fightback in the shoot-out, but in sudden death his clutch touch deserted him. Brett Pollock, who joined Red Star this week, potted the winner.

Puchkov Tournament: SKA thumps Sochi, Severstal blasts a fast four

SKA St. Petersburg 5 HC Sochi 1 (1-1, 2-0, 2-0)

SKA returned to action after a day’s rest and sent Sochi spinning to a third successive loss. Neither team made big changes from its earlier endeavors and the game started a high tempo.

The first period brought two power play goals, one at each end. Dmitrij Jaskin, one of the highest-profile signings of the summer, opened the scoring for SKA but Andrei Altybarmakyan tied it up in the 15^th minute.

Frequent penalties dominated much of the second period, but this time the two goalies were equal to the task. However, in the final minutes of the frame Alexander Nikishin, the 20-year-old defenseman whose trade from Spartak involved nine players going the other way, demonstrated his value. First, he scored the go-ahead goal. Then, 67 seconds later, he had an assist as Jaskin got his second power play tally of the night.

Sochi had a chance to get back into the game early in the third when Dmitry Buchelnikov took a double minor. However, SKA’s defense was rock solid and, adding insult to injury, Buchelnikov himself scored a power play goal at the other end midway through the session. Valentin Zykov finished it off with a well-placed effort to the top corner as SKA remains unbeaten at its home tournament.

Avangard Omsk 2 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (0-4, 2-0, 0-0)

This game was effectively decided by a blistering start from Severstal. The Steelmen tore into Avangard from the off and scored four goals inside nine minutes to take a thorough grip on proceedings.

True, the Hawks did not help themselves. The opening two markers came on the power play, with David Dumbadze and Daniil Vovchenko giving Severstal the early initiative. Then came two goals in a minute, with Semyon Lugovyak, a summer signing from CSKA, and Cherepovets native Igor Geraskin stretching the lead to four.

Was there any way back for Dmitry Ryabykin’s team? To some extent, yes. The second period saw Avangard get two power play goals of its own: Alex Broadhurst set up Nail Yakupov, then Ivan Telegin forced home a second late in the frame.

However, that was as close as Avangard got. The third period brought no further scoring; Severstal’s fast start proved good enough for the win.