10-goal special in Nizhny, SKA loses again. November 10 round-up
The most exciting game of the day saw Torpedo beat Ak Bars 6-4 in a barn-burner of a clash in Nizhny Novgorod. Avtomobilist was also in good scoring form in a 5-1 win at Kunlun Red Star. SKA’s Far East tour brought another loss when Michal Jordan’s overtime game handed Admiral a 2-1 verdict against the league leader. Amur also enjoyed a home win, beating Traktor 3-0, and Severstal beat Neftekhimik by the same scoreline. Sibir got a 5-3 result against Dynamo Moscow.
Jordan inflicts second successive loss on SKA
Amur Khabarovsk 2 SKA St. Petersburg 1 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
League leader SKA suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season. After going down 1-3 at Admiral on Tuesday, the Petersburg club lost out in overtime at Amur on Thursday.
The home team was without goalie Janis Kalnins, who was injured in his previous game. That meant Evgeny Alikin returned to the starting line-up. Although the Tigers had just two KHL victories over SKA up to now, Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team could derive some confidence from the fact that it won the last game between the two here in December 2021.
The opening frame did not linger long in the memory. SKA had the better of the game and looked the more likely to carve out scoring opportunities, but neither goalie had much danger to contend with. At the start of the second period, referee Maxim Sidorenko was hit in the face with a puck, prompting a short delay.
Late in that session, Amur opened the scoring. SKA failed to clear its lines and the Tigers pounced on a turnover in center ice. Artur Gizdatullin took advantage to score his first of the season with a long-range effort past Alexander Samonov.
Early in the third, SKA started to show signs of its ‘A’ game. A slick passing interchange between Mikhail Vorobyov and Marat Khairullin saw the latter tie the game. It wasn’t long before the crossbar saved Amur from falling behind. That proved to be as close as SKA got to winning it in regulation, with the Tigers steadily managing to move play away from its net.
The game went into overtime, with home captain Michal Jordan coming to the fore. He dictated play in the extras and deservedly potted the game-winning goal.
Sailors keep up impressive form
Admiral Vladivostok 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
Much of the talk in the Eastern Conference this season has concerned the under-performance of Ak Bars, Avangard and Traktor. Less prominent, but equally deserving of attention, Admiral finds itself on the crest of a wave. Generally, the Vladivostok club is an outsider when it comes to contesting for a playoff spot. This season, though, the Sailors are pushing not for the top eight, but the top four.
Traktor, by contrast, has struggled for consistency all season. After impressing in the regular season last time, Anvar Gatiyatullin’s players are left bumping around the battle to get into the top eight. Last year’s productive partnership between Tomas Hyka and Lukas Sedlak has not been replaced and a shortage of goals leads to a shortage of points.However, his team did pick up an overtime win against Admiral on home ice 10 days earlier, and the head coach went with the same line-up again here.
Neither of these teams is noted for its free-scoring play, but it took just 47 seconds to produce the opening goal here. Alexander Gorshkov gave Admiral an early lead, and Dmitry Sayustov’s assist extended his productive run to four games. Traktor had more shots on goal in the first period (11-7) but could not find a way past Alexander Lazushin in the home net.
The second period began like the first, with Admiral finding the net. Nikolajs Jelisejevs and Rudolf Cerveny orchestrated a two-on-zero breakout and the Czech forward produced a clinical finish. After doubling the lead, the home team was not content to simply close out the game and engaged Traktor blow-for-blow. Once again, Lazushin was busy but he again kept Traktor at bay when the visitor carved out a couple of genuine scoring chances.
At the start of the third, Traktor managed to beat Alexander Lazushin at last, only to see the puck bounce back off the post. That was almost the last chance Admiral allowed its visitor as Leonids Tambijevs instructed his players to protect their lead. The visitor could do little to break through a well-drilled back line and when it went with an empty net, Gorshkov quickly potted his second of the game to put the result beyond doubt. Lazushin, called into the team today to give Nikita Serebryakov a rest, recorded his first shut-out of the season.
Dynamo still struggling on the road
Sibir Novosibirsk 5 Dynamo Moscow 3 (2-1, 1-1, 2-1)
SKA isn’t the only team having a tough time on its Far East tour. Dynamo suffered a first ever loss in Vladivostok, then went down to Amur for the first time since 2010. Today, Alexei Kudashov’s problems continued in Novosibirsk where Sibir won 5-3.
Kudashov made changes for this game. Ilya Konovalov replaced Konstantin Volkov in goal, Yegor Zaitsev took over from Sergei Boikov on defense and three of his four attacking lines were reshuffled.
One of those changes saw Alexander Skorenov promoted to the second line, partnered by two imports. He rewarded Kudashov’s faith with his first point in the KHL, firing in a shot that Anton Krasotkin could only push into the path of Jakob Lilja, who cancelled out Denis Golubev’s early opener.
Sibir regained its lead in the 14th minute as Golubev’s line got into the action again. This time, Dmitry Ovchinnikov was the scorer off a play that closely resembled the opener. The home advantage remained intact until the first intermission.
Although the home team finished the first period on top, Sibir did not have a clear advantage on the balance of play. In the middle frame, Andrei Martemyanov’s team stepped up the tempo and posed a greater threat to Konovalov’s net. That helped Ilya Morozov extend the lead midway through the session.
Dynamo tried to find a swift response, but neither Ilya Kablukov nor Eric O’Dell could find a way past Krasotkin. However, once on the power play the visitor managed to pull one back through Dmitry Rashevsky after Maxim Dzhioshvili slalomed his way through the shorthanded defense.
There was no sign of either team slowing down in the third period. As passions ran high, there was a flurry of penalties and it was the experienced imports who bore the brunt of the officials’ displeasure. Taylor Beck, Trevor Murphy and Eric O’Dell all headed to the box, and Dynamo managed to tie the game when Kablukov finished off Andrei Mironov’s feed for another power play goal.
However, parity did not last long. Michal Cajkovsky, a former Dynamo player, scored his first goal for two months to restore Sibir’s lead and, ultimately settle the outcome. The Slovak international’s effort turned out to be the game winner, while Sibir made the game safe late on when Vladimir Butuzov scored into an empty net.
Da Costa orchestrates Avto’s win
Kunlun Red Star 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5 (0-1, 0-3, 1-1)
Avtomobilist tends to enjoy its games against KRS. In recent times, the Motormen have racked up some big scores on the Dragons. This season, even though our Chinese franchise has been rather more competitive against almost all opposition, it went down 1-6 in Yekaterinburg and suffered another hefty loss here.
Stephane Da Costa was the architect of Avto’s win. The French center had four assists as his team took control of the game. Brooks Macek, currently topping the KHL scoring charts, added two more goals and moves on to 31 (19+12) points for the season.
Although the visitor won this game comfortably, there was little evidence of that in the early stages. The first few minutes were evenly fought and when KRS got the first power play of the day it managed to generate some sustained pressure on Johan Mattsson’s net. However, it could not take that chance, and midway through the first period Nikita Tryamkin opened the scoring.
Early in the second period, Jesse Blacker doubled the visitor’s advantage. Blacker began his KHL career with Red Star before moving to Barys and then Avtomobilist. His goal turned out to be the game-winner on his latest return to his former club. Next came an Avto power play, and Macek got his first of the game. He would repeat that trick at the end of the second period, this time on a delayed penalty.
Up to now, every goal had involved Da Costa. Early in the third, Avtomobilist’s forwards showed they could do it without him. Oleg Li added a fifth and there was a danger that the scoreline might run away from the home team.
The only good news for Kunlun came midway through the third period. Brandon Yip’s goal was, in the context of the game, mere consolation. However, it extended the captain’s productive streak to eight games (he was rested for the 1-4 loss at home to Salavat Yulaev) and saw him equal his own club record.
Steelmen blank Neftekhimik in clash of two strugglers
Severstal Cherepovets 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 0 (2-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Neftekhimik’s recent form has been hard to call. Impressive wins over CSKA and Ak Bars suggest real talent and resilience on the team. However, they account for just two of the last seven outings, and five losses in the others leave Oleg Leontyev’s team rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference.
Severstal, too, is not at its best. A shoot-out success against rock bottom Sochi was the only win in nine, although Andrei Razin’s team could take heart from overtime battles against Ak Bars and Avtomobilist since then.
Today there was a further lift for the Steelmen with a decisive shut-out verdict against Neftekhimik. The win, backstopped by 29 saves from Vladislav Podyapolsky, keeps the team in the top eight, two points clear of Spartak.
At the other end, the home team built a 2-0 lead in the first period. There was not much to choose between the teams in the early exchanges, but when Evgeny Kashnikov took the game’s first penalty, Severstal needed just 10 seconds to open the scoring. Ruslan Abrosimov got the goal. The play was still evenly matched, but Neftekhimik’s first and only power play of the opening frame went all wrong. Alexander Petunin grabbed a short-handed goal and, before the two minutes were up, Maxim Goncharov took a penalty for the visitor to cancel out the man advantage.
The second period was goalless, although Podyapolsky now found himself facing slightly more shots. That pattern continued in the third, although there was a sense that Neftekhimik was resorting to firing in shots from anywhere, while Severstal was happy to hold the puck and let the clock do the work. As such, it was no surprise that Neftekhimik withdrew goalie Andrei Tikhomirov. Not was it a huge shock to see David Dumbadze score into the empty net and finish off the game.
Torpedo wins a thriller
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 6 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (4-1, 2-2, 0-1)
When Igor Larionov said his Torpedo team had no interest in grinding out 1-0 victories, this might have been the kind of hockey he had in mind. Today’s battle with Ak Bars was authentic gung-ho stuff, the kind of game that delights spectators and leaves defensive coaches with their heads in their hands.
Neither team showed any inclination to go through the usual formalities at the start of the game. Instead of gently lowering themselves into the action, the players powered onto the attack from the very start. Yu Sato gave Torpedo the lead after two minutes, and Yegor Vinogradov doubled the advantage 50 seconds later. The breathless action continued: two quick goals were followed by two quick penalties and a 5-on-3 power play saw Stanislav Galiyev make it 2-1. That was on 4:13. Some games cram less action into a full 60 minutes.
True, after that there was something of a lull. The rest of the opening period brought just two more goals. Torpedo scored them both, a short-handed effort from Sergei Goncharuk after the home team took a second ‘too many men’ penalty, then a power play tally from Nikolai Kovalenko late in the frame.
The second period was no less lively. Slava Voynov added to his first-period assist with a goal in the first minute. Then Maxim Letunov did likewise for Torpedo, making it 5-2 on the power play in the 24th. Midway through the frame, Danil Veryayev added a sixth and the home team was ready to party.
Perhaps the enthusiasm was a bit too much. For the third time in the game, Torpedo took a too many men call; for the second time it contributed to a five-on-three power play for Ak Bars. Just like the first, it led to a goal for the visitor. Vadim Shipachyov and Alexander Radulov got their second assists of the evening as Galiyev reduced the deficit late in the middle stanza.
After all that came before, the third period was surprisingly quiet. When Ak Bars pulled another goal back in the 47th minute, we got a glimpse of one generation handing to the next: veteran Danis Zaripov set up 20-year-old Maxim Bykov for his first KHL goal. It also gave the visitor time to claw back a two-goal deficit. However, after the goalscoring carnival that came before, the final stanza had no further scoring. Ak Bars strove for more, but Torpedo’s defense – and especially the team’s discipline – tightened up to seal a memorable win.
