Ufa up to third, Minsk halts the slide. October 18 round-up
Salavat Yulaev was the big winner in Tuesday’s play, taking a 5-2 verdict at Spartak to move up to third in the Eastern Conference. Dinamo Minsk also hit five to shoot down Sochi and snap its losing streak. Earlier, Admiral edged Vityaz in overtime and Lokomotiv got past Severstal by the odd goal in seven.
Admiral rallies to sink Vityaz
Admiral Vladivostok 3 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 SO (1-1, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Admiral set up a ‘Foreign Five’ for the visit of Vityaz, keeping Libor Sulak and Colby Williams together as the first defensive pair, and putting a strike trio of Nikolajs Jelisejevs, Michal Kristof and Rudolf Cerveny into the first line.
Ultimately, that group would underline its leading status on the team, but the opening goal came from Ruslan Ibatullin, a home-grown defenseman on the third line. Alexander Gorshkov stripped Artyom Borodkin of the puck behind the net as Ibatullin made his way to the slot. A simple feed presented the defenseman with the perfect opportunity to score his first KHL goal.
For a long time, though, that was the end of any good news for the Sailors. The home team killed a penalty late in the first, but allowed a goal at equal strength almost immediately. Nikita Goncharov was the scorer, claiming his first of the season.
Admiral spent almost half of the second period on the PK. Vityaz managed to take advantage, getting in front thanks to a Stepan Starkov power play goal. However, things were not quite that straightforward. First, there was a review for offside. Then came a query about two possible high sticks, one when Jeremy Roy stopped the puck flying out of the zone and the second when Starkov redirected the puck on the slot. All that debate did not change the on-ice verdict. The goal stood, and Admiral took a delay of game penalty for its unsuccessful challenge.
Despite taking so many penalties, and draining the strength of its penalty killing teams, Admiral nonetheless opted to play three-line hockey in the third period and the guys on the first line got through an incredible amount of ice time. The home team comprehensively outshot Vityaz in the frame, with Sulak alone getting five shots on target.
As the hooter approached, Leonids Tambijevs called a time-out, benched his goalie and added forward Nikolai Chebykin and Danil Faizullin to his first line, with Sulak as the lone defenseman. With 35 seconds left, the attacking overload got the desired result: Faizullin squeezed a shot inside Maxim Dorozhko’ near post to take the game to overtime.
Alexander Lazushin pulled off a great save in the extras to deny Roman Abrosimov a winning goal for Vityaz. Then the home goalie came out on top in the shoot-out, with Cerveny potting the decisive attempt for Admiral.
OT winner for Lokomotiv
Severstal Cherepovets 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 OT (0-0, 2-2, 1-1, 0-1)
An overtime winner from Alexander Polunin helped Lokomotiv consolidate its hold on third place in the West after a battling performance in Cherepovets. The home team was hoping to build on back-to-back road wins and improve tighten its grip on eighth place but had to be content with a single point.
Both teams will feel they could have won it in regulation. Lokomotiv let a two-goal lead slip, but then needed a tying goal with five minutes to play after Severstal produced a rousing comeback.
After a goalless opening session, the visitor jumped to a 2-0 lead with a quickfire salvo at the start of the second period. Pavel Kraskovsky and Georgy Ivanov found the net within a minute of one another to put the Railwaymen in control. Severstal responded to level the game before the second break. Alexander Petunin halved the deficit midway through, then Adam Liska snatched a tying goal in the final second of play.
At the start of the third period, Loko got on the power play and threatened to take control of the game. However, a counter strike from the Steelmen saw Nikolai Timashov put the home team ahead for the first time. With just over 11 minutes to play, could Andrei Razin’s men hold on?
The answer was ‘no’. Artur Kayumov’s solo effort made it 3-3 in the 55th minute, attacking on the wraparound and refusing to give up as he repeatedly attempted to stuff the puck into the net. That goal effectively ushered in sudden death play with five minutes left on the clock, but it wasn’t until we entered official overtime that Loko got the winner. Alexander Polunin snapped the tie with 35 seconds left in the extras.
Dinamo snaps losing streak
Dinamo Minsk 5 HC Sochi 3 (2-1, 2-2, 1-0)
Dinamo ended a five-game skid with victory over rock-bottom Sochi. The Leopards, meanwhile, suffered a fifth consecutive reverse in Minsk, despite opening the scoring after just nine seconds.
That goal went to Kirill Petkov, but the visitor’s lead lasted 32 seconds. Valentin Demchenko tied the game almost immediately. Fans arriving late to the arena took their seats with the score already tied at 1-1.
The action continued apace. After eight minutes, Vladimir Alistrov went streaking clear of the Sochi defense, only for Yegor Sobolevsky to hook him back as he shaped to shoot. Pavel Varfolomeyev stepped up for the penalty shot and beat Maxim Tretiak to give Dinamo the lead.
After outshooting Sochi 15-6 in the first period, the home team may have felt it had weathered the storm and could look forward to a routine victory. The visitor had other ideas. A couple of power plays helped the Leopards, but the intensity with which Andrei Nazarov’s team started the second period was impressive for a group of players struggling for form at the foot of the table. Minsk killed both penalties, but Donat Stalnov tied the game when the teams were back at equal strength.
Dinamo responded with Roman Gorbunov restoring the lead, and then had a 5-on-3 power play. Sochi not only survived that danger, but grabbed a shorthanded goal after Amir Garayev returned to the ice and jumped onto a Stalnov feed to make it 3-3.
There were barely three minutes before the second intermission, and if Sochi had made to the locker room with the scores tied, the outcome of the game might have been very different. Instead, though, Nick Merkley grabbed an important goal in the 39th minute, lifting Minsk and giving Sochi an all-too-familiar feeling that nothing was going quite right.
In the third period, Dinamo had to deal with a 3-on-5 penalty kill but did a good job at closing down the remaining minutes. Alistrov’s empty-net goal sealed the win and gave the Bison a much-needed boost.
Clinical finishing makes the difference
Spartak Moscow 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 (0-3, 0-1, 1-2)
Salavat Yulaev enjoyed a comfortable win in Moscow after taking a three-goal lead in the first period. Victory lifts the visitor to third in the Eastern Conference, while Spartak remains seventh in the West.
Salavat displayed some clinical finishing in the first period to build a decisive advantage in a session when the balance of play was fairly even. The teams had 13 shots on goal apiece, and spent similar time on the attack. However, Ufa grabbed three goals while Ilya Ezhov kept the Red-and-Whites at bay.
Alexander Kadeikin opened the scoring with an eighth-minute snipe after good work from Yegor Suchkov behind the net. And late in the opening frame, two quick goals gave Spartak a mountain to climb. Ivan Drozdov finished off a quick breakaway when he converted Alexander Chmelevski’s feed to the far post, then Ryan Murphy thumped in a point shot a couple of minutes later.
Spartak had chances to reduce the arrears just before the hooter, but Danila Kvartalnov twice failed to beat Ezhov.
In the middle frame, the home team stepped up the pace in search of a lifeline. Spartak outshot Ufa 13-6 but could not find a goal. At the other end, Danil Bashkirov added a fourth late in the session.
When Alexander Khokhlachyov pulled one back early in the third, it gave Spartak a glimmer of hope. The rest of the game saw the home team trying to build on that foundation, but the Salavat defense was too streetwise to get knocked out of its gameplan. The teams traded goals in the 55th minute, with Khokhlachyov scoring his second moments after Vladislav Kartayev made it five for Ufa.
