Avto maintains Ak Bars hoodoo, Severstal beats Kunlun. October 14 round-up
Friday’s card had two games. In the East, Avtomobilist extended its lead at the top of the standings thanks to a shoot-out win over Ak Bars. That’s the fourth time this season that the Motormen have been their rival from Kazan. Then, in the West, Severstal ended Kunlun Red Star’s winning streak with a 5-3 verdict in Mytishchi.
Four out of four for Avto
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Ak Bars Kazan 1 SO (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Avtomobilist clearly has the measure of Ak Bars this season. Today’s game was the fourth meeting between the two Eastern Conference big-hitters, and the Motormen came out on top for the fourth time. It all adds up to something of a crisis for Oleg Znarok’s team, now on a five-game losing streak and facing awkward questions about the performance of Vadim Shipachyov.
Shipachyov kept his place on the team today, with Dmitry Kagarlitsky scratched. Teenage defenseman Nikita Yevseyev was paired with Slava Voynov, reflecting the increasing faith the Ak Bars coaching staff have in the youngster. Timur Bilyalov started in goal ahead of Amir Miftakhov.
Avtomobilist, meanwhile, has a horrendous injury crisis. Georgy Belousov became the latest player unavailable for selection as Nikolai Zavarukhin gloomily joked that he needed a priest to exorcise the locker room. Andrei Obidin took Belousov’s place on the first line, Pavel Kulikov centered the second and three players called up from the VHL comprised the third line.
It was no surprise that Ak Bars made the livelier start as the visitor looked to bounce back from its recent problems. Despite this, Avto carved out the best chance of the early exchanges, only for a defenseman to intervene when Obidin was poised to score into an open net. At the other end, Ak Bars managed to convert a far less clear opening when Mikhail Glukhov battled to the slot and squeezed a backhander past Igor Bobkov.
Avtomobilist began the second period on the power play, but could not make the most of that opportunity. The next major incident was a fight between Patrice Cormier and young Yevseyev. The 18-year-old put up a decent show, but nonetheless ended up on the ice.
Midway through the session, Avtomobilist managed to pin Ak Bars into its zone for the first time. The visitor was forced to ice the puck, and the next face-off led to the tying goal. Danil Romantsev won the draw, Yefim Gurkin fed Denis Barantsev and the defenseman’s powerful shot did the rest.
Barantsev’s goal gave his colleagues a lift and much of the rest of the frame saw the home team on the attack. However, while they boldly challenged the Ak Bars defense, there was little subtlety on display and Bilyalov was seldom seriously tested. The action was intense and competitive, leading to another fight as Vasily Filyayev and Nikita Lyamkin traded blows.
That brawl was inconclusive, and so was regulation time. The third period was fast-paced but, again, the teams displayed greater energy than imagination in their play and clear cut chances were hard to find.
In overtime, Ak Bars created the better chances. Shipachyov, anonymous for much of the game, might have won it but he fluffed a great chance. Ahead of the shoot-out, Avtomobilist put understudy goalie Johan Mattsson into the game and he stopped two attempts. For the home team, Viktor Neuchev and Anatoly Golyshev were on target to claim the win.
Severstal halts Dragons’ winning run
Kunlun Red Star 3 Severstal Cherepovets 5 (1-2, 1-2, 1-1)
Severstal ended Red Star’s three-game winning streak, collecting its second victory in Mytishchi in the space of 10 days. The home team had two power play goals from Devin Brosseau, and Brandon Yip stretched his goal streak to six games, but came up just short.
Full of confidence of back-to-back road wins brought nine unanswered goals, the Dragons made a bright start. Brosseau opened the scoring after seven minutes, converting the first PP of the game. Severstal, which was missing head coach Andrei Razin through suspension, hit back. Ruslan Abrosimov quickly tied the scores, then Yegor Morozov’s power play tally gave the visitor the lead at the first intermission.
The second period followed a similar pattern. Brosseau scored first on the power play, but Severstal responded twice. This time Kirill Pilipenko and Nikolai Timashov were on target.
In the final frame, Red Star pushed hard for a way back into contention. Home goalie Jeremy Smith first came out of his net with more than four minutes to play as Greg Ireland tried to force the issue on a power play. He had barely returned to the game when Yip scored to make it 3-4 and boost hopes of saving the game. This time, though, Severstal held on and Dmitry Moiseyev’s empty net goal gave the Steelmen a verdict that steers them into the top eight.
