Dynamo blanks Ak Bars on high scoring day. September 3 round-up
Saturday’s action was dominant by forwards – except at Dynamo. Ilya Konovalov was the home team’s star, blanking the likes of Radulov and Shipachyov in his new club’s 2-0 win over Ak Bars. Elsewhere, Metallurg won by the odd goal in nine, CSKA had the same 5-4 scoreline against Neftekhimik, but in overtime, and Dinamo Minsk tied 3-3 with Barys before prevailing in a shoot-out. SKA needed the extras to halt Salavat Yulaev’s fightback, while Avangard lost to Vityaz on its return to Balashikha.
Konovalov silences offensive powerhouse
Dynamo Moscow 2 Ak Bars Kazan 0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)
It was supposed to be the first look at an Ak Bars team assembled with the Gagarin Cup in mind. Instead, we saw the Dynamo debut of Ilya Konovalov and the 24-year-old goalie blanked a powerhouse offense to secure the first shock win of the season.
Incoming Kazan head coach Oleg Znarok raided his former club in the summer, acquiring Vadim Shipachyov and Slava Voynov, among others. Shipachyov wore the ‘C’ for his new club and was partnered by Dmitry Kagarlitsky (another former Dynamo player) and Alexander Radulov, one of the big signings of the summer. In response to that threat, Dynamo deployed a spoiler line led by Ilya Kablukov and Alexei Kudashov saw his tactics work perfectly.
His team provided great protection for Konovalov, who finished his first game in Blue-and-White with 24 saves to frustrate the visitor. At the other end, Timur Bilyalov matched him save for save until the end of the second period, when Ivan Igumnov opened the scoring two seconds before the intermission.
In the third, the game was tense. Dynamo continued to frustrate Ak Bars’ efforts to establish play in the home zone and such chance as the visitor could create tended to come from individual creativity rather than team play, something that Znarok grumbled about after the game. Dynamo left it late before sealing the win: Ivan Muranov scored into the empty net to finish it off.
No happy return for Avangard
Vityaz Moscow Region 3 Avangard Omsk 2 (0-0, 1-2, 2-0)
Avangard made a quick return to its former Balashikha home to take on the arena’s new tenant, Vityaz. However, an inspired goaltending performance from Dmitry Shikin sent Dmitry Ryabykin spinning to defeat in his first game as Hawks’ head coach.
Shikin’s 37 saves were crucial in keeping the home team in contention and they played every bit as big a role as Roman Abrosimov’s winning goal 10 seconds before the hooter. Prior to that, Vityaz never led in the game and came from behind twice.
Memories of a goalless first period were quickly banished at the start of the second. Nail Yakupov struck after just 11 seconds, converting a power play to give Avangard the lead. Vityaz responded fast and Ivan Zinchenko tied it up on 22:53. Late in the middle stanza, though, Arseny Gritsyuk restored Avangard’s lead.
Kirill Rasskazov tied the game five minutes into the third, and overtime seemed to be inevitable when an inexplicable defensive error presented Abrosimov with a gilt-edged chance in the final seconds. Abrosimov spent much of the summer on a try-out at Dynamo before Vityaz swooped to sign him; today he made an early downpayment on Vyacheslav Butsayev’s faith in him.
For Avangard, this was the first of a 12-game road trip before its new arena in Omsk opens for business on October 1.
Dinamo opens with shoot-out win
Dinamo Minsk 4 Barys Nur-Sultan 3 SO (1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 0-0, 1-0)
Dinamo claimed a shoot-out verdict – the first in the KHL this season – to win a topsy-turvy game against Barys. Despite leading 2-0, the Bison needed a late tying goal to salvage this one before Vladimir Alistrov potted the winner in the extras.
In front of a 13,000+ crowd, the early stages went well for Dinamo. Dmitry Sokolov, 24, marked his debut with the opening goal in the ninth minute. The winger is on loan from Avangard, where he had one goal in four appearances in last season’s KHL. Early in the second, another debut goal extended that lead when Nick Merkley, who previously played for Arizona, New Jersey and San Jose in the NHL, found the net.
But Barys battled back. Two goals from Anton Sagadeyev had the scores level in the third and Adil Beketayev made it 3-2 in the 47th minute. Defenseman Beketayev, 25, was playing only his second KHL game after making his debut in last year’s playoffs.
However, he was not destined to leave with the game-winner on his record. Craig Woodcroft withdrew goalie Alexei Kolosov with two minutes to play and 69 seconds before the hooter, Brandon Kozun got the tying goal. Overtime could not separate the teams, but Alistrov settled the shoot-out in Minsk’s favor.
Neftekhimik gives defending champ a scare
CSKA Moscow 5 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 OT (1-1, 0-1, 3-2, 1-0)
It looks like there will be no shortage of scoring in CSKA’s games this season. After sharing eight goals with Metallurg in the Opening Cup, the defending champion did the same against Neftekhimik before grabbing an overtime win thanks to Vladislav Kamenev.
Unheralded Neftekhimik gave the Muscovites a severe test on Saturday. The visitor led 3-1 and 4-2 but could not carry that advantage to the end and paid the price in the extras.
CSKA got a warning in the first period. Vitaly Abramov broke the deadlock on 17:18, converting his team’s second power play of the game. However, within a minute Neftekhimik was level thanks to Mikhail Nazarov. The video judge reviewed his redirect on Vladislav Leontyev’s point shot, but found nothing wrong with the 26-year-old’s first KHL tally.
Neftekhimik was good value for its 1-1 scoreline at the first intermission and went into the second break with a 2-1 lead thanks to Ansel Galimov’s strike. When the visitor added a third on the power play at the start of the third period, there was a real sense that a shock was in the offing.
CSKA, though, is not champion for nothing. Sergei Fedorov’s team rallied, but Anton Slepyshev’s marker was immediately cancelled out by Pavel Poryadin. A swift response from Artyom Sergeyev kept the game bubbling over, but it took a 5-on-3 power play to exhaust the Neftekhimik defense. Mikhail Grigorenko eventually grabbed the tying goal shortly after the fourth skater emerged from the box and that sent the action into overtime.
In those extras, Fedorov deployed his trademark tactic of pulling the goalie and playing 4-on-3. He got his reward on 63:38 when Kamenev fired home from between the hashmarks to seal a tougher win that most would have expected.
Ufa’s fightback falls just short
SKA St. Petersburg 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 OT (1-0, 0-0, 1-2, 1-0)
Salavat Yulaev pulled off a big fightback in the closing minutes in Petersburg, but ultimately lost out in overtime. That was better than the visitor might have expected when it trailed 0-2 in the 55th minute, but after a dramatic recovery there may be frustration that Viktor Kozlov’s team could not finish the job in the extras.
SKA got ahead in the seventh minute when Artyom Fyodorov converted a 5-on-3 power play. The home team had the better of the opening frame but could not extend its early lead. The second period was far more even, but there was no change to the scoreline until late in the third. That’s when Valentin Zykov’s break down the left saw Andrei Kareyev cough up the puck for Alexander Volkov to double the lead.
Game over? Not at all. Ufa responded quickly through Sergei Shmelyov, and tied the scores with 68 seconds to play when Alexander Chmelevski marked his KHL debut with a goal. That spoiled Dmitry Nikolayev’s day: the SKA goalie had looked a good bet for his first shut-out until that late show.
He did at least finish with the ‘W’, though. Damir Zhafyarov, one of SKA’s summer signings, potted the decisive goal in overtime to settle a clash between two teams with high hopes for the coming season.
Yakovlev grabs last-gasp winner
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 (3-2, 1-2, 0-1)
Torpedo’s head coach Igor Larionov promises that his team wants to score lots of goals. Game one showed that the Professor is as good as his word. Unfortunately, this nine-goal thriller also showed that his players are capable of allowing plenty at the other end. Yegor Yakovlev’s strike three seconds before the hooter tipped the balance in Magnitka’s favor as the visitor rehabilitated itself after a 2-6 drubbing at CSKA on opening day.
The early evidence suggested that the Steelmen were still sore after that defeat. Less than four minutes in, Denis Yan scored on the power play. Ilya Khokhlov, signed from Severstal in the summer, responded with a PP goal at the other end minutes later, but Torpedo opened a 3-1 lead on markers from Yegor Vinogradov and Igor Larionov Jr. After opening the season with a 2-0 lead in the first period in Moscow, Metallurg got to intermission here having allowed nine goals in 60 minutes.
However, late in that opening frame there was a lifeline in the form of a goal from Maxim Karpov. More followed. Early in the second, Pavel Akolzin struck twice in three minutes to turn the game around. However, Torpedo’s all-out offense even works on the PK, and Mark Marin tied it up again with a short-handed goal after 26 minutes.
Eight goals in less than half a game made for a great spectacle, even if defensive coaches watched on in despair. But after an unbelievable goal rush to start, there was an equally unexplained drought after that. The score remained locked at 4-4 until the final seconds when captain Yakovlev stole a winner for Metallurg. The experienced defenseman secured his team’s first win of the season with just three seconds left, following up to score off Brendan Leipsic’s rush to the net.
