Ufa wins another Green Derby, Metallurg tops Avtomobilist. October 26
The day’s big games were in the East. Metallurg won the clash of the leaders, while Salavat Yulaev showed no mercy to struggling Ak Bars with a 4-1 Green Derby success. Elsewhere, Traktor moved back into the top eight after edging Sochi, and SKA dispatched Neftekhimik. Two Western Conference match-ups brought home wins for Torpedo and Vityaz over Dynamo Moscow and Kunlun Red Star respectively.
Magnitka consolidates Eastern lead
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 0 (1-0, 2-0, 0-0)
There was plenty riding on this game. A Ural derby, and leadership of the Eastern Conference were all at stake in Magnitogorsk on Wednesday. Even at this early stage of the season, the players were talking about this one being a four-pointer.
Avtomobilist has struggled with injuries in recent weeks. Thus, while Ilya Vorobyov enjoyed the luxury of icing the same team that defeated Barys and Ak Bars, Nikolai Zavarukhin had to be more creative in his selection. His options were further limited by a suspension to Patrice Cormier.
There was much to admire in the first period. Neither side took a penalty, Avtomobilist tried to bring the game to Magnitka’s net, and the home team looked dangerous on the counter. Perhaps the only disappointment was that we saw just one goal, scored by Philippe Maillet early in the session on a lightning counterattack. Although the Motormen fired in twice as many shots, arguably the home team created the more dangerous chances in the rest of the session.
After the break, Metallurg started to make more of those opportunities. Yegor Korobkin went close, Magnitka kept pushing, and Nikolai Goldobin doubled the lead in the 27th minute. Two minutes later, Nikita Korostelyov added a third, redirecting Artyom Zemchyonok’s point shot and sending Igor Bobkov to the bench.
His replacement, Johan Mattsson, prevented any further scoring. However, at the other end, Eddie Pasquale was in perfect form. He finished the game with 37 saves to claim a third shut-out of the season.
Green derby loss adds to Ak Bars’ woes
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Ak Bars Kazan 1 (2-0, 1-1, 1-0)
The third edition of the Green Derby this season brought a convincing win for Salavat Yulaev. The last time these rivals met in Ufa, Ak Bars enjoyed a 3-0 success. Today, that result was emphatically avenged.
Viktor Kozlov’s team won in Kazan a few days ago to level this series. Since then, Salavat Yulaev enjoyed a few days’ rest while its opponent faced a tricky trip to Magnitogorsk. That game brought Oleg Znarok an eighth loss from nine and the coach reshuffled his lines once again. Kirill Petrov returned to the team and played alongside Dmitry Kagarlitsky and Vadim Shipachyov. Kozlov, meanwhile, went with the same players that won in Kazan last time out.
He was rewarded with a strong performance in the first period. Ak Bars was unable to get its game going, and Ufa was always dangerous when it attacked with pace. The home team earned the first power play of the evening in the third minute, and then got ahead in the seventh. Not surprisingly, the goal came from a counterattack: Nikolai Kulemin found Alexander Chmelevski, who steered the puck into the path of Ivan Drozdov for the opening marker.
Ak Bars fluffed a power play chance of its own, and ended up giving away a second goal late in the stanza after Dmitry Kagarlitsky went to the box. Sergei Shmelyov got his first of the game, a one-timer off Alexander Kadeikin’s feed.
Ak Bars needed a response in the second period, and Mikhail Glukhov supplied it. For much of the middle frame, the visitor looked capable of forcing its way back into the game. However, late in the session another penalty undid all that progress when Shmelyov grabbed his second.
In the third, Ak Bars continued to dominate the play, but was unable to add to its tally. Instead, Salavat Yulaev potted a fourth on a rare foray into enemy territory. Vladislav Kartayev applied the finishing touch to a result that keeps the pressure on Znarok’s expensively assembled yet under-performing team.
Voronkov’s fortuitous effort gives verdict to Vityaz
Vityaz Moscow Region 5 Kunlun Red Star 3 (1-2, 2-1, 2-0)
A freakish goal midway through the second period gave Vityaz a hard-fought victory over Kunlun Red Star. The game was locked at 3-3, and the home team was on a delayed penalty, when Yegor Voronkov thumped in a point shot that flew wildly off target. However, the defenseman’s luck was in. The puck bounced treacherously back to the slot where the usually dependable Jeremy Smith failed to gather the disk. Instead, he watched in horror as it skipped out of his grasp and into the net.
It proved to be the gamewinner. Red Star tried to battle back once again, but ended up allowing an empty net goal. That meant defeat in a game where the visitors led 2-0, albeit briefly.
The Dragons grabbed those two opening goals in 30 seconds. Brandon Yip scored the first, helped by a delicious no-look feed from Jack Rodewald. Then came Devin Brosseau, profiting from battling work behind the net by Cory Kane and Ethan Werek.
However, Vityaz responded right away. Stanislav Yarovoi halved the deficit just 90 seconds later, than Alexander Yaremchuk tied it up at the start of the second period. When the first power play of the game saw the home team take the lead thanks to Jeremy Roy, it was tempting to assume that Vityaz had completely turned this one around.
Red Star had other ideas. Pu tied it up late in the second, and the game was very much alive going into the final stanza. However, Voronkov’s good fortune tilted the verdict in favor of the home team.
No winning start for Sochi’s Svetlov
HC Sochi 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (3-2, 0-1, 0-1)
Sochi dismissed head coach Andrei Nazarov at the start of the week and the visit of Traktor marked Sergei Svetlov’s first game in charge. The incoming boss has previously worked with Admiral, Amur, Lada and Atlant in the KHL, and is well accustomed to the challenges of producing a competitive team on an uncompetitive budget.
Traktor, meanwhile, has the budget and roster to battle for the top spots in the Eastern Conference but, so far, has lacked consistency this season. Anvar Gatiyatullin’s team went into the game looking for a win that could lift it into the top eight once again. After twice coming from behind, the visitor did just enough to get there.
Sochi made a bright start under its new coach. The game was three minutes old when Dmitry Zavgorodny opened the scoring. He beat Alexei Melnichuk, who started the season beside the Black Sea but lost his place following the arrival of Mikhail Berdin. The former SKA netminder, back from North America, made his first start for his new team today.
Berdin, too, was soon beaten. Maxim Shabanov tied the game on 9:20 and, within a minute, Alexei Byvaltsev had Traktor in front. Sochi, however, hit back. Nikita Feoktistov tied the scores, then Danila Galenyuk restored the lead right on the hooter.
That was the end of Melnichuk’s evening. He allowed three goals from 10 shots in the first period and Ilya Proskuryakov took his place after the intermission. Almost immediately, Traktor drew level. Teemu Pulkkinen’s power play goal punished Artyom Nikolayev’s high stick. After that, the visitor dominated possession for long periods but was unable to get back in front.
Midway through the third, Sergei Shumakov broke that 3-3 tie, giving Traktor the lead for the second time in the game. Shortly after, though, the forward went to the box: Sochi had a great chance to tie it up on the power play, but could not find a way past Proskuryakov.
League leader too strong for Neftekhimik
SKA St. Petersburg 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 (0-0, 2-0, 1-1)
Despite Neftekhimik’s improved form of late, this game still had all the hallmarks of a mismatch. SKA remains imperious at the top of the table, while the latest visitor to Petersburg is unable to fight its way into the Eastern playoff places.
Ultimately, the game lived up to expectations. It took the home team some time to solve a hard-working and stubborn opponent, but there was little indication that a shock might be in the offing at any stage.
The first period did offer some encouragement to Neftekhimik. It finished goalless, and the times shared eight shots apiece. However, SKA had far more puck possession and territory, suggesting that a breakthrough was only a matter of time.
That time arrived early in the second. Alexander Nikishin’s pass from the left-hand channel picked out Emil Galimov in the right-hand circle. The forward made no mistake with his shot, and SKA had its lead. Midway through the session, Alexander Volkov made it two with a close range finish, and the outcome was effectively settled.
True, Neftekhimik managed to ruffle some feathers with a power play goal in the 55th minute. However, Andrei Belozyorov’s effort would have little impact on the final score. A home PP saw Stepan Falkovsky make it 3-1 for SKA, with Nikishin getting his second assist of the night. That was how it finished.
Stuttering Dynamo blanked by Torpedo
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Dynamo Moscow 0 (1-0, 0-0, 2-0)
With a decisive win over Dynamo, Torpedo served notice of its ambitions to break into the top four in the West. The Blue-and-Whites, meanwhile, are in danger of seeing a bright start to the season unravel: this was a fourth loss in five games for Alexei Kudashov’s team.
Torpedo got the lead in the seventh minute thanks to Danil Veryayev. That was a rare highlight in a first period short of scoring chances at either end.
Later, Dynamo found its hopes of salvaging the game hamstrung by frequent penalties. In the second period, the visitor twice saw its players in the box while Torpedo stayed out of trouble. Then, at the start of the third, Eric O’Dell was ejected from the game after recklessly slamming into Denis Yan as the home forward looked to break into Dynamo’s zone.
The visitor got some help in killing that major penalty when Torpedo was called for too many men. However, the fact remained that Dynamo never had a power play in this game, and lost valuable time on the PK even if Torpedo was unable to score when it had a numerical advantage.
If the home PP did not deliver, a couple of shifts in the 55th minute certainly did. Sergei Goncharuk, who got his team’s late winner last time out, doubled the lead on 54:20. Then, 17 seconds, later, Yan set up Nikolai Kovalenko to make it 3-0 and put the game out of reach. Goalie Ivan Kulbakov stopped 26 saves for his shut-out.
