SKA suffers rare loss, Kravets wins with Avangard. October 13 round-up
SKA went down to only its second defeat of the season, falling 1-3 at Lokomotiv. It’s the first time the leader has been beaten in regulation this term. Earlier, it was a day for rehabilitation as Avangard bounced back from a heavy defeat to win 4-1 at home to Amur. That was Mikhail Kravets’ first game in charge following the departure of head coach Dmitry Ryabykin. Barys, too, responded to a heavy home loss with victory, 3-1 over Admiral. Sibir added to Traktor’s problems, coming from behind to win in overtime, and Torpedo edged Salavat Yulaev in a shoot-out. Two games in the West also went to overtime, with Spartak edging Dinamo Minsk and Neftekhimik striking late to deny HC Sochi.
Avangard wins in first game without Ryabykin
Avangard Omsk 4 Amur Khabarovsk 1 (1-0, 1-1, 2-0)
Avangard dispensed with the services of head coach Dmitry Ryabykin after its 0-4 loss to Kunlun Red Star and Mikhail Kravets was installed as interim boss ahead of the visit of Amur. Kravets may not be the long-term replacement, but he did his prospects no harm with a winning start here.
Today’s game also marked the anniversary of the death of Avangard prospect Alexei Cherepanov, who passed away after collapsing during a road game at Vityaz in 2008. To commemorate the occasion, the Hawks raised a banner bearing Cherepanov’s name and jersey number.
The home team began the game at a fast tempo and visiting goalie Janis Kalnins was busy from the opening shift. Midway through the first period, Arseny Gritsyuk opened the scoring on the power play. For last season’s top rookie, it was a welcome return to the scoresheet; his only previous tally this season came in Avangard’s first game back on Sep. 3.
In the second period, Vladimir Tkachyov’s terrific pass set up Reid Boucher for the second goal. Tkachyov would go on to have a greater say in the game after assisting on the first two markers, but before that Ivan Nikolishin reduced the deficit late in the middle frame. The 2-1 scoreline was far closer than the balance of play: Avangard had 33 shots on goal to Amur’s seven after 40 minutes’ play.
That pattern of play did not significantly change in the third period. Avangard kept pressing, Amur produced some brave resistance. However, in the last five minutes, Tkachyov scored twice to put the game out of reach for the visitor. That’s the forward’s second four-point haul in the KHL, and his first in a regular season game.
Barys bounces back
Barys Astana 3 Admiral Vladivostok 1 (2-0, 0-0, 1-1)
After a crushing 0-5 loss to Kunlun, Barys needed to rehabilitate itself fast. Head coach Andrei Skabelka responded, but did not make sweeping changes: import defenseman Christopher Bigras was replaced with Yury Sergiyenko, although Julius Hudacek’s glaring error for the third Red Star goal was forgiven and the Slovak continued between the piping. Nikita Mikhailis was dropped to the third line, with the strike force being entrusted entirely to the team’s foreign players.
Ultimately, those seemingly minor changes had a major impact on the Admiral game. The two opening goals went to players who did not feature on Tuesday. Defenseman Yegor Shalapov got the first, surprising Nikita Serebryakov with a shot from the blue line. Then Alikhan Asetov took advantage after a flurry of deflections left Serebryakov and his defense bewildered.
Both goals stemmed from the Barys offense looking far more active than against Red Star. More pucks to the net lead to more goals, and the home team demonstrated the truth of that theory here. Admiral was sufficiently beleaguered for Leonids Tambijevs to call a time-out in the first period.
The second period was an even game, but full of incident. Half of the frame saw one or other team on the power play, with Rudolf Cerveny looking the likeliest source of a goal for the visitor as Admiral tried to get back into the game. Barys, meanwhile, twice defended three-on-five PKs. The first, a mere 20 seconds, was painlessly seen off. The second, though, crossed over into the third period and caused far greater problems.
Linden Vey played a big role on that PK, and then took part in the play that brought a third home goal. Anthony Louis was the scorer, converting a power play. In between those incidents, Admiral finally got itself on the scoresheet when Evgeny Lisovets saw his shot deflected into the net by Nikolajs Jelisejevs.
Sibir rallies to win in OT
Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (1-0, 0-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Two days ago, Traktor snapped its losing streak with a tight victory over Neftekhimik. That wasn’t enough to stop Anvar Gatiyatulin making extensive changes to his team, with only the first line left untouched. Sibir, meanwhile, looked to bounce back from a 2-4 loss to Admiral and also made widespread changes to the line-up.
The first period was dominated by frequent penalties. Sibir was more often the guilty party, and punishment followed in the 17th minute when Alexei Byvaltsev’s power play tally opened the scoring.
The second stanza was more cautious. Traktor looked to preserve its slender lead, although Anton Burdasov was notable throughout. For Sibir, Nikita Korotkov was the stand-out player as the visitor looked for a way back into the game.
Despite the visitor’s efforts, Ilya Proskuryakov was not often troubled in the home net. His personal shut-out streak passed 150 minutes before Vyacheslav Osnovin beat him to tie the game. Then a late penalty on Sergei Shumakov offered Sibir a chance to snatch the win in regulation, but the home PK did enough to take the game to overtime. However, that merely delayed the Sibir celebrations: Taylor Beck found the winning goal and Traktor’s problems continue.
Young Konyushkov shoots down Salavat Yulaev
Salavat Yulaev 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 SO (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Torpedo’s young defenseman Bogdan Konyushkov is turning into one of the revelations of the season. The 19-year-old is not piling up the points – three assists in 17 games to date – but he’s playing more than 20 minutes a night in his rookie season and the smart puck stats highlight a youngster with a precise pass and a willingness to block shots.
Today, though Konyushkov showed another side to his game, holding his nerve to pot a shoot-out winner in Ufa. The youngster was nominated to take the 10th shot and stepped up with the scores tied at 1-1. Given the chance to win it, he needed no second invitation, beating Andrei Kareyev to settle the outcome.
Salavat Yulaev, meanwhile, will feel it should never have got to a shoot-out. The home team had a great chance to get ahead in the first period, but Alexander Kadeikin and Sergei Shmelyov could not wrap up a two-on-one breakaway. Torpedo applied the punishment for that miss early in the second period when the visitor got the first power play of the day. Alexander Chmelevski and Ryan Murphy almost carved out a short-handed goal, but play went straight back down the ice for Maxim Fedotov to open the scoring in the visitor’s favor.
Ufa did respond, tying the game on a power play goal from Nikolai Kulemin. However, Ivan Kulbakov was in impressive form in the Torpedo net and prevented any further damage. He finished with 36 saves; Torpedo left with both points.
Loko halts SKA’s winning run
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 SKA St. Petersburg 1 (0-0, 2-0, 1-1)
Two goals from Georgy Ivanov and 25 saves from Daniil Isayev saw Lokomotiv inflict defeat on league leader SKA. The visitor was beaten for only the second time this season and lost in regulation for the first time in 2022-2023.
Lokomotiv set up to take the game to the leader from the start. In the first period the home period had the better of the possession and outshot the visitor 10-5 without converting that advantage into a goal. SKA, pushed onto the back foot, was unable to create much offense at the other end.
The pattern began to change early in the middle frame. SKA got its first power play of the night and Emil Galimov twice went close to opening the scoring. The Railwaymen had to kill another penalty, then goalie Daniil Isayev produced a double save to deny Alexander Volkov and Vladislav Tsitsyura.
After surviving those scares, though, Loko regrouped and took a grip of the game in the final minutes of the second period. A quick break saw Stepan Nikulin fire the puck to the slot where Ivanov had the technique to steer it past Dmitry Nikolayev in the 36th minute. Then, with the intermission looming, Sergei Andronov’s work behind the net created a chance for Yegor Korshkov to double the lead.
Down 0-2, and with the opposition playing well, SKA had to dig deep to demonstrate why it is a comfortable leader in this season’s standings. And the visitor did exactly that. Dmitrij Jaskin’s redirect from Mikhail Vorobyov’s shot clipped the post, then Igor Ozhiganov pulled one back. Almost immediately, Vorobyov was close to tying the scores, but Isayev got behind his initial redirect and then dealt with the rebound.
Lokomotiv was hanging on, and a penalty on Jaskin was a huge relief to the home team. The power play produced little, but eased some of the pressure on the defense. Shortly after Jaskin returned to the game, a tripping call on Maxim Beryozkin invited the league leader to set up on the power play. Lokomotiv was prepared, though, and the Railwaymen saw out the two minutes with little danger.
SKA continued to push for a tying goal but was unable to finish the job. Instead, after Nikolayev went to the bench, a mistake from Ozhiganov presented Ivanov with the chance to break clear and score into the empty net. That sealed the win for Loko and handed SKA only its second loss of the season.
Zaseda’s double undoes Dinamo
Spartak Moscow 3 Dinamo Minsk 2 OT (0-0, 1-2, 1-0, 1-0)
Spartak twice came from behind to defeat Dinamo. Matvei Zaseda continued his hot streak with two more goals, moving to 6 (5+1) points from his six games this season.
However, Dinamo’s bid to end a three-game skid saw the Belarusians get in front twice in the second period. In the 28th minute, home goalie Alexei Krasikov’s eagerness to freeze the puck saw him throw his stick away. That prompted a penalty shot, converted by Pavel Varfolomeyev to open the scoring. Zaseda tied it up on the power play a couple of minutes later, but Dinamo responded with a PP marker of its own to take the lead into the intermission. Nick Merkley was the scorer, assisted by Varfolomeyev.
Throughout the game, there was little to choose between the teams. Spartak tied it up on 43 minutes when Zaseda got his second of the game and there was no further scorer in regulation. In the extras, the home team replaced goalie Krasikov with a fourth skater and immediately got a reward when Andrei Loktionov potted the winning goal.
Late blows sink Sochi
HC Sochi 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 OT (2-3, 1-0, 1-1, 0-1)
Neftekhimik left it late to snatch victory in an entertaining game at basement club Sochi. The home team thought it was poised to grab a rare win until Vyacheslav Leshchenko’s last-gasp power play goal tied it up. The winner came just 10 seconds into the extras.
The action got off to a breathless start. Artyom Nikolayev and Andrei Altybarmakyan put Sochi 2-0 up inside three minutes as the home team looked to seize the early initiative. However, Neftekhimik recovered. Evgeny Kashnikov pulled one back quickly, with in-form Mikhail Nazarov collecting another assist. Then a 5-on-3 power play helped Leshchenko tie the game on 6:35.
Sochi’s early success was fading into memory midway through the first period when Neftekhimik added a third. Andrei Chivilyov found the net to complete a remarkable turnaround.
After that, things slowed a little. Both goalies regained a measure of control, although Neftekhimik continued to press hard until the end of the first period.
In the second period, Sochi tied it up again at 3-3 thanks to Nikita Popugayev. Once again, though, there was an element of drama. The play was not initially given, but a video review confirmed that the puck did cross the line and the scores were level.
Midway through the third period, the home team had the puck in the net once more. Artur Tyanulin restored Sochi’s lead on the power play. However, that was not enough to win the game as Sochi got a sharp reminder of how life at the foot of the table can kick you at any time. Late in the third, a penalty for Nikita Feoktistov handed Neftekhimik with one last chance to save the game. Playing 6-on-4, the visitor did just that as Leshchenko potted his second of the game.
Then, a shellshocked home team found itself unable to get into the extras and lost out after just 10 seconds. Kirill Vorobyov applied the killer blow to leave the Leopards marooned at the foot of the standings.
Fourth straight win for CSKA
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 CSKA Moscow 2 (1-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Defending champion CSKA came from behind to win at Vityaz, recording a fourth successive victory. There are signs that, after some indifferent form, Sergei Fedorov’s team is beginning to recreate the kind of consistency that helped it to last season’s triumph.
Vityaz, meanwhile, had just one loss in six ahead of this game. However, the home team was under pressure throughout its encounter with the Muscovites. In the first period, CSKA outshot Vityaz 12-6, enjoying almost twice as much attacking possession. However, the visitor also took the only penalty of the frame, and that proved crucial. Vladislav Kamenev sat for high sticks, Vityaz at last got a chance to deploy some offense, and Alexander Yaremchuk opened the scoring.
Buoyed by that lead, Vityaz had more of the game in the second period. There was another power play chance for the home team when Sergei Plotnikov’s attempted breakaway ended with him fouling Roman Abrosimov, but CSKA killed that penalty safely. Then Maxim Sorkin missed a great chance to tie the scores and, seconds later, the visitor found a way past Maxim Dorozhko in the home net. The goalie lost site of a Kamenev shot and the puck squeezed beyond his defenses for Vitaly Abramov to tap into an open net.
The home team played with impressive discipline throughout the game, but midway through the third period Vladimir Galuzin’s foul gave CSKA a power play at last. And that led to the winning goal, scored by Mikhail Grigorenko with an emphatic finish. After that, the Muscovites were able to control the closing stages and not even a final power play chance for Vityaz could get the host back into the game.
