Radulov returns, but Ak Bars loses. November 1 round-up
Ak Bars finds itself outside of the playoff places after CSKA recorded its 11th consecutive victory. A 3-2 success in Kazan keeps the pressure on Oleg Znarok’s team. Elsewhere, victories for Barys and Avangard pushed Ak Bars out of the top eight. Dynamo Moscow enjoyed a convincing 4-1 win over Eastern Conference leader Metallurg, while Torpedo’s fast start helped it past Vityaz. The Far East teams both went into overtime: Amur moved off the foot of the Eastern Conference thanks to Yaroslav Likhachyov’s shoot-out winner in Ufa, but Traktor defeated Admiral in the extras.
Much-needed win for Barys
Barys Astana 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (1-0, 0-1, 2-0)
Barys snapped a five-game losing streak after two late goals shot down Sibir. The visitor arrived on the back of four successive wins but lost out here to a 58th-minute power play goal.
Following Barys’ defeat in Ufa, head coach Andrei Skabelka spoke of many ‘passengers’ on his team. The big change that followed was the departure of defenseman Chris Bigras, whose form since joining the Kazakhs in the summer has been underwhelming. Other changes, though, were limited to rearranging the lines.
Sibir, meanwhile, promoted the Korotkov-Osnovin-Butuzov trio to the starting line-up. That group won a power play on its second shift, and Barys killed that one only to find itself a man down once again almost immediately. However, the visitor could not take advantage and Barys responded by converting its first opportunity on the PP. Jeremy Bracco was credited with the goal, stuffing the puck home from close range. Late in the frame, both teams had chances. However, nobody could turn an Anthony Louis pass into an open net to extend the home lead, then Julius Hudacek made a big save to deny Vyacheslav Litovchenko a tying goal.
Midway through the second, though, Sibir did draw level. Trevor Murphy launched a counterattack and Vyacheslav Osnovin had the clinical finish.
For a long time, the scores were locked at 1-1. However, when overtime beckoned, a home power play settled the game. The home team had chances earlier in the final frame, but got in front on 57:20 when Linden Vey got his team’s second power play goal of the night. Then Kirill Savitsky scored into an empty net to wrap up the win.
Shabanov leads Traktor to victory again
Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 1 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
After edging Amur 1-0 in its previous outing, Traktor continued its home stand with another tight game against Far Eastern opposition. Nikita Tertyshny returned to the team for this one while Admiral was unchanged after winning its previous three games.
The early exchanges were tight, with the teams more interested in making hits than making plays. There were few shots on goal and little sign of the scoreboard being troubled.
Traktor started to change that in the second period, livening up its offense and taking play into the Admiral zone. There were some presentable chances, but Alexander Lazushin kept the door closed. Gradually Admiral got back into the game, only to give up a goal against the run of play in the 38th minute. Maxim Shabanov picked his moment and beat Lazushin after breaking clear of the visiting defense.
The play remained defensive in the third period with Traktor happy to protect its lead and Admiral struggling to unlock the home D. Five minutes from the end, with Sergei Telegin in the box, the Sailors withdrew goalie Lazushin and, playing 6-on-4, tied the game at last. Libor Sulak, the leading scorer on the team, got the vital goal and sent the game to overtime.
The extras lasted less than a minute before Traktor got the win. Shabanov settled the outcome with another solo rush to collect his second GWG in successive games.
Amur stuns Salavat Yulaev
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 Amur Khabarovsk 2 SO (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Yaroslav Likhachyov potted a shoot-out winner to lift Amur off the foot of the Eastern Conference table. He snapped a 1-1 tie in Ufa, ending Salavat Yulaev’s six-game winning streak.
Amur is still without new signing Jan Drozg. The Slovenian forward is expected to join up with the team when it returns to Khabarovsk. Evgeny Alikin replaced Janis Kalnins in goal, and experienced defenseman Rafael Batyrshin was rested. Salavat Yulaev welcomed back power forward Evgeny Timkin after injury.
Generally this season, Salavat Yulaev has done well in the first periods of its games. Today, though, the home team was not at the races. Amur was faster and more determined, thoroughly deserving its opening goal from Sergei Dubakin midway through the starting stanza.
The contest warmed up in the second period. Timkin went close when he got clear of the Tigers’ defense, then Vladislav Barulin responded with an effort against piping. The balance of power was beginning to shift, though, and Salavat Yulaev confirmed its recovery when long-serving defenseman Evgeny Biryukov’s wrister was diverted past Alikin by Danil Alalykin.
In the final third, Ufa stepped up its game and looked capable of winning it in regulation. Only some fine saves from Alikin – most notably to deny Alexander Chmelevski four seconds before the hooter – kept the scores level and took the action into the extras.
In overtime, Amur was closer to finding a way through. And the Tigers went on to win it in the shoot-out, with Likhachyov’s goal securing his team’s first victory in Ufa for five years.
Fedorov adds to Znarok’s worries
Ak Bars Kazan 2 CSKA Moscow 3 (1-0, 0-1, 1-2)
Ak Bars snapped its losing streak with a Tatarstan derby success against Neftekhimik on Sunday. However, for a team looking to rebuild its form, CSKA was hardly a welcome visitor. The defending champion rolled into town on the back of 10 successive victories – not exactly the kind of opponent to help a struggling team breed greater confidence.
The big news before the game was Alexander Radulov’s return. The talismanic forward has been outspoken in his criticisms of life in Kazan and missed the Neftekhimik game. Today he went onto the third line with Artyom Galimov and Ilya Safonov.
Sergei Fedorov, meanwhile, enjoyed a 6-0 victory in CSKA’s previous game while giving several youngsters a chance. Today he brought back Sergei Plotnikov, Darren Dietz and Mikhail Grigorenko, while Adam Reideborn got the start in goal against his former club.
From the start, both teams played at a good tempo but struggled to translate that into scoring chances. The first real moment of danger saw Stanislav Galiyev hit the CSKA post on a quick breakaway. Later, Galiyev won the first power play of the game and Dmitry Kagarlitsky put Ak Bars in front moments before the intermission.
In the second period, there was a similar pattern. This time, though, CSKA got a late penalty and turned it into a tying goal 12 seconds before the buzzer. Andrei Svetlakov got the puck in the net, ending the home team’s good fortune. Not long before, both Vladislav Provolnev and Anton Slepyshev were denied by the ironwork.
Early in the third period, Nikita Nesterov put CSKA in front. The Muscovites continued to enjoy the better of the game and it was far from clear how Ak Bars could salvage the game. However, a moment of individual flair from Radulov conjured an equalizer out of nothing. He stormed down the flank, skipped between two defensemen and fired in a shot that bounced kindly for Safonov to make it 2-2. After many words from the tempestuous forward, that was a fine way to let his hockey do the talking.
However, the final word went to Maxim Mamin and CSKA. Dmitry Voronkov’s foul gave the visitor one last chance on the power play. Dietz fired in the shot, Mamin got the touch and Amir Miftakhov was unable to react in time. Kirill Petrov had a chance to tie the scores late on, but Reideborn got behind his backhanded shot to secure his team’s 11th successive win.
Torpedo scores its fastest KHL goal
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (1-2, 0-1, 0-0)
Alexei Kruchinin scored Torpedo’s fastest KHL goal to set his team on the way to victory. It took him just nine seconds to beat Dmitry Shikin. Vityaz managed to tie the game in the first period, but could not escape a seventh loss in eight games.
It didn’t take long for Torpedo to get in front. The visitor won the starting face-off, Nikolai Kovalenko’s pass sent Kruchinin off to the races and he converted the chance to give his team the perfect start.
The response came midway through the first period thanks to Artyom Borodkin. He scored an impressive short-handed goal, beating three opponents on his way to Adam Huska’s net before finishing it off with a backhander. However, Torpedo went into the intermission with the lead thanks to Yegor Vinogradov’s well-worked goal.
Vityaz had good chances to tie the game in the second period but could not do so. Instead, late in the frame, Torpedo extended its lead when Alexander Daryin scored on his debut for the team. That gave Vityaz too much to do. The home team controlled the puck well in the third period but could not find a way past Huska.
Dzhioshvili at the double again
Dynamo Moscow 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 (1-0, 1-1, 2-0)
Maxim Dzhioshvili scored twice for the second game in a row as Dynamo collected its second win of the season against Metallurg. The Eastern Conference leader was unable to avenge its loss at the start of last month, despite enjoying rather better form since that game.
Ilya Vorobyov welcomed back fit again forwards Andrei Chibisov and Josh Currie. That enabled Nikita Korostelyov and Philippe Maillet to rest, while Vasily Koshechkin replaced Edward Pasquale.
Koshechkin came into the game on a 98-minute shut-out sequence. Dzhioshvili ended that eight minutes into the action. The Dynamo forward elegantly outwitted Kodie Curran before beating the goalie at the second attempt.
There was little Koshechkin could do about Dynamo’s second, early in the middle frame. He was set to stop Yegor Martynov’s point shot but Eric O’Dell’s redirect took the puck out of the goalie’s reach. Arkhip Nekolenko swiftly reduced the deficit, but Metallurg was never able to get back into the game.
The visitor did enjoy the better of the play in the third period, but despite outshooting Dynamo it never really managed to create a storm in front of Ilya Konovalov’s net. When the home team could get forward, it did so with some venom. Ultimately, that brought late goals from Dmitry Rashevsky and Dzhioshvili to seal the win.
Hawks hit an updraught
Spartak Moscow 2 Avangard Omsk 4 (0-2, 1-0, 1-2)
Avangard is starting to show signs of getting into form. Today’s win was its fourth in fifth games, and it lifts the Hawks up to sixth in the East. True, there is still just one point separating Mikhail Kravets’ team from ninth placed Ak Bars, but for the moment Avangard can point to an upward trajectory.
Spartak, meanwhile, suffered a third successive loss. That said, the previous game against table-topping SKA was an epic battle and the Red-and-Whites could argue that a similar level of performance would be enough to defeat most opposition.
The home team undermined its own prospects today. In the second minute, Spartak took a too many men call, and Avangard cashed in to take the lead through Corban Knight. That gave the visitor confidence and it went on to dictate much of the opening frame. Another power play goal, this time from Vladimir Tkachyov, underlined the Hawks’ advantage.
Both teams created a flurry of chances in the middle frame, but only Spartak found the net. The teams were playing four-on-four when Andrei Loktionov set up Roman Starchenko with an open goal to aim for. That ensured it was a one-goal game going into the third.
If Spartak had managed a quick goal in that final frame, we might have been poised for another thriller like the recent clash with SKA. Instead, though, Vladimir Zharkov extended Avangard’s lead. That was too much for the home team to contend with. Dmitry Vishnevsky pulled one back, but Pavel Dedunov scored into an empty net to seal Avangard’s win.
