Tough times for Eastern leaders. October 8 round-up
Saturday saw the top three in the Eastern Conference suffer defeats. Leader Avtomobilist went down 3-4 at fast-improving Neftekhimik, second placed Metallurg was thumped 5-1 at Avangard, and Ak Bars lost out to Barys. Salavat Yulaev took advantage, taking a shoot-out verdict against Dynamo to move into third ahead of its old rival from Kazan. Sibir got back on track with a 3-0 win over Sochi and, earlier in the day, CSKA and Lokomotiv picked up wins on the road in the Far East.
CSKA power play sinks Admiral
Admiral Vladivostok 1 CSKA Moscow 4 (1-2, 0-1, 0-1)
Buoyed by a 3-0 win and a first shut-out of the season, CSKA used an unchanged line-up in Vladivostok. The same time produced a similar result, despite the return of Admiral forward Michal Kristof after injury.
The Sailors made a bright start but fell behind against the run of play. With six minutes gone, an error in center ice presented Prokhor Poltapov with the chance to open the scoring; he gleefully converted. Shortly after, Konstantin Okulov doubled the lead on the power play.
Admiral managed to get one back before the first intermission. A 5-on-3 power play put the pressure on the visitor, and Kristof celebrated his return to action with a goal.
The pace dropped a little in the second period, although CSKA always held a slight advantage. That was partly down to a strong performance on the draw. Admiral was able to keep up when the teams were at full strength, but another penalty saw Mikhail Grigorenko make it 3-1 with a power play snipe.
Danil Yurtaikin’s goal at the start of the third gave the Muscovites a commanding lead. For all Admiral’s efforts, there was no way back. Adam Reideborn dealt with everything that came his way as his team-mates calmly played out the win.
300 wins for Nikitin
Amur Khabarovsk 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (0-0, 0-2, 1-1)
Igor Nikitin secured his 300th victory as a head coach in the KHL as Lokomotiv bounced back from defeat at Admiral in its previous game.
Nikitin put Daniil Isayev back in goal. Isayev has some of the strongest goaltending stats in the league and further embellished them today. Youngster Stepan Nikulin replaced Alexander Volkov on the third line. For Amur, all attention was on Yaroslav Likhachyov. Last season he played for Loko’s juniors and was the MVP in that league. Now he’s on loan in Khabarovsk and today he was up against his ‘native’ club.
It was clear from the start that Likhachyov wanted to make an impression on Lokomotiv. The youngster had a couple of shots on goal and led two swift counterattacks. At the other end, Lokomotiv also posed a threat and almost took the lead when the post denied Yegor Averin. The visitor also got a big power play after Viktor Komarov was ejected from the game, but could not turn that into a goal.
Loko got in front midway through the second period when Alexander Polunin scored on his former team. That inspired the Railwaymen, and it wasn’t long before Artur Kayumov doubled the lead with his first goal of the season.
In the third, Amur got itself back in contention with a power play goal from Ivan Nikolishin. After that, the Tigers seized the initiative, only for Ivan Chekhovich to grab a third marker for Loko and put the game out of reach.
Sibir bounces back
Sibir Novosibirsk 3 HC Sochi 0 (1-0, 2-0, 0-0)
Sochi responded to its defeat in Khabarovsk by scratching Canadian defensemen Brandon Gormley and Joe Morrow. That paved the way for Nikita Ushnev to make his KHL debut for the Leopards. The 28-year-old featured in pre-season but waited more than a month for Andrei Nazarov to call on him in a competitive game.
Sibir was in need of a win after a tough week and the home team got a boost with the return of Nikita Shashkov from injury. That allowed Andrei Martemyanov to ice three more-or-less equal attacking lines, with Korotkov-Osnovin-Butuzov deployed first.
That trio duly delivered the opening goal after five minutes, with Vyacheslav Osnovin setting up Michal Cajkovsky for a shot and Vladimir Butuzov converted the rebound. That was a fair reward for Sibir’s enterprising start to the game, and there could have been more in the first period.
However, Sochi managed to hold on, killing two penalties along the way. Early in the second, a penalty on Alexander Sharov even invited the visitor to tie the game, but the chance went begging. Soon afterwards, Sibir showed how a power play should be done when Butuzov scored his second of the game to punish Nikita Feoktistov’s indiscretion. A few minutes later, Dmitry Ovchinnikov extended the home lead with his first of the season, shooting from almost exactly the same spot as Butuzov and profiting from a misjudgement by goalie Maxim Tretyak.
Down 0-3, Sochi had chances to revive its hopes. Nikita Tochitsky and Kirill Petkov had great chances in the second period and in the third it took a goalline clearance from home D-man Anton Novikov to preserve a shut-out for Anton Krasotkin in the Sibir net.
Avangard enjoys big win
Avangard Omsk 5 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 (1-0, 1-0, 3-1)
A week ago, Avangard opened the doors to its new arena and edged a nervy win over Sibir. Today, having got the ceremonial duties out of the way, the Hawks felt far more at home and delivered a convincing win over high-flying Metallurg.
Dmitry Ryabykin made big changes to his line-up for this game, with only a couple of positions on the roster going unchanged from the 0-5 loss in Ufa in midweek. The new starting five featured forwards Vladimir Tkachyov, Alex Broadhurst and Reid Boucher with d-men Anton Belov and Kristian Jaros. Ilya Vorobyov scratched Nikolai Goldobin again, with Josh Currie returning to the team.
The game got off to an energetic start. From the first seconds the teams moved at pace and repeatedly created chances. Midway through the game, the iron rang at both ends of the ice: Kodie Curran fired against Avangard’s crossbar, then Boucher went to the other end and dinged Metallurg’s post.
Late in the opening frame, Avangard broke the deadlock. Vladimir Zharkov fired the puck to the slot, where a deflection off a Metallurg player set up Pavel Dedunov for his first of the season.
Metallurg came out in the middle frame and started to get on top. Avangard was forced onto the back foot for long periods, but Magnitka could not find a way to tie the game. Then came the sucker punch. As the second period moved into its closing moments, Ivan Telegin’s one-timer extended the home lead.
Inspired, the home team extended its lead in the third on goals from Fyodor Malykhin and Sergei Tolchinsky. Danila Yurov grabbed a consolation goal for the visitor, but Avangard had the final say when Zharkov scored into an empty net.
Dynamo fightback falls short
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Dynamo Moscow 2 SO (1-0, 0-0, 1-2, 0-0, 1-0)
Dynamo clawed back a 0-2 deficit but ultimately fell in a shoot-out in Ufa. Nikolai Kulemin decided the game after a 2-2 tie in regulation.
Salavat Yulaev welcomed back center Vladislav Kartayev following an injury. He marked his 500th KHL game with an assist on the second goal. In addition, young defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin escaped a suspension after his major penalty against Metallurg and continued.
The home team took control of the first period, heavily outshooting the Muscovites and dominating matters on the face-off spot. Dynamo was forced to rely heavily on its defensive nous and almost succeeded. However, Ryan Murphy’s point shot evaded all opposition to open the scoring. That was the Canadian blue-liner’s first of the season.
In the second period, the visitor visibly stepped up its attacking game. However, the experienced Ilya Ezhov preserved Ufa’s lead with big saves to deny Vladislav Yefremov and Ivan Muranov.
Early in the third, Kartayev’s line engineered an opening for Alexei Pustozyorov to double the lead. However, there was a late sting in the tail. Pavel Kudryavtsev made a game of it when he reduced the arrears, then Maxim Dzhioshvili snatched a sensational tying goal with 1.9 seconds left to play.
Overtime could not separate the teams, but in the shoot-out Kulemin and Alexander Chmelevski were successful to give Ufa the edge.
Vey helps Barys edge past Ak Bars
Ak Bars Kazan 2 Barys Nur-Sultan 3 (0-1, 2-2, 0-0)
Barys picked up a surprise win in Kazan, edging a five-goal thriller against Ak Bars. Linden Vey potted his eighth goal of the season to separate the teams.
The first period saw few clear scoring chances. The teams traded eight shots on goal apiece, with the Barys defense working hard to subdue a busy home forward line. However, although the visitor rarely got into enemy territory, a raid late in the opening frame saw Samat Daniyar grab the opening goal.
Ak Bars had reason to feel aggrieved that it trailed at the first intermission. The home team spent more time on the attack and just about shaded the play in a session that might justifiably have finished level. Early in the second, though, the first home power play of the game saw Kirill Petrov tie the scores.
If the home crowd hoped that its favorites would now ease to victory, it was due for a disappointment. Adil Beketayev put Barys back in front with his second goal of the season, and the defenseman’s effort was soon followed by Vey making it 3-1 on the power play.
Artyom Galimov pulled one back before the intermission, but Ak Bars was still behind despite enjoying more than twice as much attacking possession.
In the third period, Barys played the situation well. Effective game management stifled the home offense, and breakaways kept Timur Bilyalov honest in the home net. The net result was a goalless final frame, good enough to secure a win for Barys and hand Ak Bars a third successive loss on home ice.
Table-topping Avto stalls in Nizhnekamsk
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (1-1, 1-1, 2-1)
The Neftekhimik revival claimed another high-profile scalp with a battling victory over Eastern Conference leader Avtomobilist. On a day when fellow high-flyers Metallurg and Ak Bars also suffered defeats, the Motormen missed a chance to strengthen their position at the top of the standings. Neftkehimik, meanwhile, jumps to ninth in the standings, level with Avangard in the top eight.
The home team is no longer short of confidence and Neftekhimik began this game with a swagger. That enterprise was rewarded when Anthony Camara opened the scoring on the power play in the ninth minute.
However, Avto is not a table-topping team for nothing. The visitor tied the scores with a PP effort of its own, then moved in front late in the second thanks to Georgy Belousov. Neftekhimik hit back almost immediately, though, with Mikhail Sidorov sending the game to the second intermission with the scores locked at 2-2.
Two goals in 22 seconds put Neftekhimik clear midway through the third period. Andrei Belozyorov restored the home lead, then Camara flashed again to make it 4-2 on 48 minutes. Nikolai Zavarukhin called a time-out, looking to calm his Avto players. His plan worked. The visitor earned a power play and Nick Ebert converted it to help retrieve the situation. Then a fight between Evgeny Kashnikov and Patrice Cormier disrupted the closing stages. Avto may have hoped for an adrenaline rush to help it tie the game; instead Neftekhimik was able to close out the win - its sixth success in a row.
