The best of times, the worst of times — the KHL week in review

The first full week of KHL action brought new club records – both wanted and unwanted – as the early standings take shape. And one team managed a unique scoring feat, potting three goals while playing with an empty net.

Vityaz off to a flyer

Vityaz, one of the teams with the smallest budgets in the league, is celebrating its best ever start in the KHL era. Vyacheslav Butsayev’s men won their first four games to take a share in the leadership of the fledgling league table. Summer signing Jeremy Roy leads the scoring with 4 (2+2) points, another new arrival, Vladislav Kara, has three goals including two game-winners. Those four victories were all on home ice at Arena Balashikha, a new base for Vityaz after its move this summer. The home stand continues until Monday’s meeting with Dynamo Moscow, while the first road trip promises to be a test as Vityaz travels to defending champion CSKA.

Top two stay unbeaten. September 9 round-up

Avangard suffers worst start

Ironically, while Vityaz keeps winning in Balashikha, the arena’s previous tenant, Avangard, is enduring its worst start in the KHL. The Hawks have lost all four games and are the only team yet to muster a point this season. New head coach Dmitry Ryabykin is already under pressure and acknowledged that things need to improve. 

“We’ve had a poor start to the season, we’ve lost four games,” Ryabykin said. “I think it’s the first time in history, but we need to find a way out of this. We’d like reinforcements on defense and in goal, but it all depends on the budget.” 

It’s worth noting that Avangard has yet to play at home, and will not until Oct. 1 when its new G-Drive Arena opens in Omsk.

Avangard suffers fourth straight loss, CSKA back on track. September 11

Severstal sets record

When Severstal won 4-3 at Metallurg, the overtime success wrote an unlikely chapter in KHL history. It wasn’t just that the visitor rallied from 0-3 to win. It was all about head coach Andrei Razin’s willingness to force the issue. Three of the four goals came with Severstal’s goalie off the ice, replaced by an extra skater. A power play midway through the third period saw Vladislav Podyapolsky benched as Ivan Yemets made it 2-3. Then, as is traditional in the final minutes, Alexander Petunin scored the tying goal during a spell of 6-on-5 play. Finally, adopting the ‘Fedorov’ tactic of pulling the goalie during overtime, Severstal grabbed the winner with Petunin getting his second of the game. It’s the first time any team has scored three goals with its netminder off the ice.

Severstal stuns Magnitka. September 6 round-up

‘Peacemaker’ Hunt tops the penalty count

Garet Hunt returned to Kunlun Red Star with a job description of ‘enforcer’ for Greg Ireland’s team. So far, he hasn’t disappointed. At the end of the second period of Tuesday’s home game against Sibir, he got into a fracas as the teams left the ice. Ejected from the game, then banned for the next one, he returned at Admiral on Sunday and stepped into fight the home team’s Mark Verba. With 36 penalty minutes already, he’s the early-season leader in that category. Nonetheless, Ireland is standing by his man. Commenting on the fight against Sibir, he described the Canadian as a ‘peacemaker’.

Dynamo Neva wins women’s tourney

The major Women’s Hockey League pre-season tournament concluded on Saturday with Dynamo Neva winning the Dmitry Solunsky Cup. Dynamo faced Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the final and edged the gold in a shoot-out. Dynamo led 2-0, but Torpedo rallied to lead 3-2 early in the third. Alexandra Vafina tied the game, and Kristina Glukharyova settled it in the shoot-out.

Women start on Saturday

The women’s season gets underway on Saturday. The opening game is a repeat of last season’s grand final with KRS Shenzhen hosting Tornado Moscow Region. Shenzhen is the rebranded name for the KRS Vanke Rays. The Chinese franchise, which will continue to play out of Mytishchi this season, brought in Scott Spencer as the new head coach following the departure of Brian Idalski. Idalski won two Russian championships in three seasons, missing out on a third in a shoot-out in the decisive game of the 2021 playoff final.