Spartak stuns CSKA, Avangard makes it six in a row. November 11 round-up
Spartak, under interim head coach Alexei Zavarukhin, halted its slide with a 2-1 derby win at CSKA. That was the Red-and-Whites first victory in regulation for over a month, in the team’s first game since the departure of Boris Mironov. Elsewhere, Avangard won a shoot-out in Ufa to post a sixth successive victory, Metallurg ended its losing run with a tight verdict against Barys, and Lokomotiv lost out to a third-period fightback in Minsk.
Magnitka snaps losing streak
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Barys Astana 2 SO (0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
After four games without a win, Metallurg had lost top spot in the Eastern Conference. Thus, the visit of Barys was a big game for Ilya Vorobyov’s team. Pavel Akolzin, Danila Yurov and Mikhail Fisenko returned to the roster for this game, with Yegor Korobkin and Josh Currierested.
Andrei Skabelka had never lost in Magnitogorsk with Barys, dating back to 2019. This was also a significant milestone for the visiting head coach, who took charge of his 500th KHL game.
The home team got a chance to settle any nerves early in the action when Barys was reduced to three skaters. In the previous game against Avangard, Metallurg scored twice in a similar situation; today it was unable to repeat that success and 5-on-3 quickly became 4-on-4 as the opportunity faded away.
Those early penalties made no impact on the scoreboard and the teams struggled to create clear scoring chances after that. It was little surprise that the first stanza finished goalless.
However, after the intermission Barys picked up the tempo. The visitor was helped by a power play that carried over from the first period, but was already back to even strength before Nelson Nogier’s first KHL goal opened the scoring. The next Barys power play led to a repeat scenario: Metallurg killed the penalty, only to allow a goal as it returned to full strength. This time, Jeremy Bracco was the scorer, although he knew little about the deflection that took Nogier’s shot beyond Eddie Pasquale.
Another Metallurg penalty midway through the game brought another goal. This time, though, the penalty kill not only held firm, it managed to secure a short-handed goal. Akolzin, up against his former club, gave his current employer a vital lifeline.
By the second intermission, the home team was level. Philippe Maillet got the tying goal, joining an odd-man rush to finish off a well-worked Magnitka breakaway. That also concluded the scoring as the game headed to a shoot-out. In that shoot-out, as in the game, Metallurg trailed to a successful Bracco attempt. Once again, though, the home team turned things around and Yegor Yakovlev potted the winner for the Steelmen.
Sixth straight win for Avangard
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Avangard Omsk 4 SO (0-0, 1-2, 2-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Avangard brought a five-game winning streak to Ufa, where a meeting with the Eastern Conference leader promised to be a big test for Mikhail Kravets’ team. The Hawks are showing signs of putting their early season problems behind them and the strike trio of Vladimir Tkachyov, Corban Knight and Reid Boucher is becoming one of the most potent in the league.
While Avangard kept the same team that won in Magnitogorsk, Salavat Yulaev welcomed back Alexander Chmelevski after injury. Danil Aimurzin, who played well in the 4-1 win at Kunlun Red Star, kept his place on the team but was moved to the junior line in place of Alexei Pustozyorov.
Although the first period did not produce a goal, the fans could not complain about a lack of action. Salavat Yulaev looked to find a breakthrough by firing pucks to the slot and seeking redirects. Gradually, Avangard grew into its game and began to create more opportunities. However, Ilya Ezhov was equal to the task in the home net.
The opening goal arrived early in the second period. Avangard took the lead, but benefitted from an ‘own goal’ from Mikhail Naumenkov, who gloved the puck into his own net after Vladimir Bryukvin fired it into the danger zone. Ufa found a quick response from Sergei Shmelyov to tie the scores in the 27th minute but Ziyat Paigin restored the visitor’s lead late in the frame.
At the start of the third period, the teams traded fouls. Naumenkov crunched Alexei Bereglazov into the boards and was assessed a 5+20. Then Bereglazov himself went to the box for a hit to the head. Once back to full strength, Salavat Yulaev picked up its game. Alexander Kadeikin tied the scores, then Pavel Koledov gave the home team its first lead of the game. With barely five minutes left, many in Ufa believed that the game was won. Avangard had other ideas. That strike trio came up with another big goal as Boucher tied the scores in the 59th minute.
In overtime, a penalty on Damir Sharipzyanov invited Salavat Yulaev to finish the job. However, Viktor Kozlov’s team could not take that chance and the shoot-out was settled by Boucher. Avangard improves to six consecutive wins, and back-to-back successes in Magnitogorsk and Ufa suggest that Omsk is very much back in business.
Zavarukhin wins first game behind the bench
CSKA Moscow 1 Spartak Moscow 2 (0-1, 1-0, 0-1)
After an 11-game winning streak, CSKA has hit a bump in the road. Back-to-back losses against Neftekhimik and Lokomotiv, both after ties in regulation, slowed the defending champion’s progress. Today, a Moscow derby against Spartak brought defeat inside 60 minutes.
The Red-and-Whites dismissed head coach Boris Mironov during the week. A six-game losing streak tested the patience of the management, while the bigger picture shows that Spartak had not won in regulation since Oct. 7 in Cherepovets. Alexei Zavarukhin took charge for Friday’s game. He’s cousin to Avtomobilist head coach Nikolai Zavarukhin and moved to Spartak in the summer after working in Traktor’s system since 2016.
For his first game behind the bench in the KHL, Zavarukhin pulled off something of a smash-and-grab. CSKA had more than twice the attacking possession, and outshot Spartak 44-25. However, what few chances they created, Spartak managed to convert. Midway through the first period, Phil Varone opened the scoring. It took some time for the officials to agree that his shot did indeed make it over the line after Adam Reideborn’s glove almost kept it out, but a video review confirmed a lead for the Red-and-Whites.
CSKA thought it had a tying goal late in the first period when a power play sparked a flurry of shots at Alexei Krasikov. Eventually, a Sergei Plotnikov effort got behind the goalie, but another video review ruled that, this time, the puck did not cross the line.
Few would have backed Spartak to hold that lead. And fewer still would have taken the visitor to win the game after CSKA tied it up midway through the second. Another home power play saw Pavel Karnaukhov redirect Nikita Nesterov’s point shot into the net and the stage seemed set for CSKA to march to victory.
There were chances for the home team to get in front, and Mikhail Grigorenko created one of the best of them when he fired the puck to the back door, only for Krasikov to deny Maxim Mamin from point blank range. Then came another Spartak counter attack and another goal in the 52nd minute. Matvei Zaseda, one of the highlights of a difficult season for his club, burst into the zone, got around Nesterov and beat Reideborn on the backhand.
That proved to be the winner, although Krasikov still had work to do. A Konstantin Okulov shot off the crossbar was as close as CSKA got to forcing overtime, and Zavarukhin celebrated a winning start in his new role.
Minsk fightback sinks Lokomotiv
Dinamo Minsk 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (0-1, 0-0, 2-0)
A third-period fightback secured Dinamo’s fourth successive win. Lokomotiv, looking to bounce back from defeat at struggling Sochi last time out, survived some early pressure to take the lead. However, Dinamo never gave up and the Bison scored twice in the final third to take the points.
The home team was much the livelier in the opening exchanges. Midway through the opening session, Lokomotiv had managed just one shot on goal, while its defense was forced to block eight Dinamo attempts. However, when Denis Mosalyov took the first penalty of the game, it changed things at once. Artur Kayumov took the chance to give Loko the lead and Minsk was unable to resume its dominance once back at full strength.
In the second period, things were more even. Neither team could find a goal, and Dinamo’s hopes of re-establishing control of the play were hampered by a couple of penalties early in the session. However, it was Lokomotiv’s discipline that ultimately let it down in the third. The visitor killed one penalty, but when Ivan Chekhovich went to the box, Joseph Duszak converted the power play to tie the game with 11 minutes left.
The winning goal came in the 55th minute. Lokomotiv was pressing on Dinamo’s net, but the home team snuffed out the danger. Then Vitaly Pinchuk played a stretch pass that sent Dmitry Sokolov clear of the Railwaymen’s defense. Sokolov won his duel with Ivan Bocharov to give the Belarusians the lead. There was still work for Alexei Kolosov to do at the other end. Lokomotiv had two power play chances late in the game and fired in a fusillade of shots, but could not escape defeat.
