SKA battles past brave Dragons, Ak Bars wins after Znarok’s departure
Table-topping SKA suffered a scare at Kunlun Red Star. The Chinese franchise jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second period, but could not hold its lead. Damir Zhafyarov scored twice to force overtime and the visitor won it in a shoot-out. Second-placed CSKA also had a tougher time than expected. The Muscovites needed two late goals to see off Sochi 4-2. Lokomotiv eased past Neftekhimik. In the East, Ak Bars left it late to beat Dynamo Moscow in overtime. That was the Kazan team’s first game since the departure of head coach Oleg Znarok during the week. Avtomobilist increased its lead over the chasing pack with victory at Metallurg, while Avangard enjoyed a big win at home to Traktor and Salavat Yulaev slipped up in Kazakhstan. Sibir came out on top after overtime against Torpedo.
Sharov snatches OT winner
Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 OT (1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 1-0)
Games between Sibir and Torpedo promise a clash of styles. The home team, under Andrei Martemyanov, favors a pragmatic approach while Igor Larionov’s Torpedo revels in attacking flamboyance. Thus far, the conflicting philosophies have produced similar results: Sibir has slightly more points, but its opponent today has played fewer games and has a better PPG.
After a good win in Kazan, Sibir returned home with just one change to its line-up. Dmitry Ovchinnikov moved from the fourth line to the first with Yegor Spiridonov added to the roster. Torpedo also had minor adjustments, with Georgy Misharin and Kirill Steklov forming a new third defensive pairing.
Misharin’s start was not the most auspicious: early in the game, he inadvertently shot the puck at team-mate Denis Yan’s head. The Torpedo forward needed to be helped off the ice and did not return to the game. While the visitor was absorbing that misfortune, Sibir compounded the problems by scoring the opening goal through Nikita Setdikov.
Once in front, Sibir’s hopes of building its lead were hamstrung by a series of penalties. The first two were safely killed but Torpedo’s third power play of the game saw Nikolai Kovalenko tie the scores.
After that, it was the visitor’s turn to encounter some penalty trouble. A couple of offenses in the first half of the second period helped Sibir take control of the game and for long spells the home team was on top. It took some hard work from Ivan Kulbakov in the Torpedo net to keep the scores tied at the intermission.
However, Kulbakov’s error midway through the third led to Valentin Pyanov restoring Sibir’s lead. For a long time, that looked likely to be the winner. However, in the closing moments Kulbakov went to the bench and Torpedo’s six skaters forced the game into overtime. Kirill Voronin fired home the tying goal 38 seconds before the hooter, to the relief of the travelling team. However, it took just eight seconds to decide the outcome in the extras. Straight the face-off, Pyanov sent Alexander Sharov away to grab the goal that gave Sibir a third straight win.
Hawks soar to big win
Avangard Omsk 5 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (1-1, 3-0, 1-0)
Traktor arrived in Omsk on the back of a four-game losing streak, while Avangard enjoyed a morale-boosting win at CSKA to continue its move up the Eastern Conference standings. And there was another big boost for the home team when Ivan Miroshnichenko took to the ice for his KHL debut. The promising young forward demonstrated his recovery from serious illness and showed he was by no means overawed by the occasion. In his first shift he laid a couple of big hits on Traktor’s players, much to the approval of the home crowd.
That crowd saw little by way of goalmouth incident in the early exchanges. After 12 minutes of play the teams had just five attempts on target between them and it wasn’t until the first power play that we saw the opening goal. It went to Avangard in the 17th minute when Arseny Gritsyuk’s one-timer found the net. However, Traktor went to the intermission with the scores level thanks to Anton Burdasov’s goal on the PP.
Another Avangard penalty early in the second period came to nothing but the home team got back in front shortly after. Nikita Mikhailov’s high press forced a turnover and he fed Pavel Dedunov on the slot. Almost immediately, Traktor came close to tying the game through Yegor Fateyev, but Vasily Demchenko came up with a big save. That moment looked even more significant when Avangard extended its lead late in the stanza. Reid Boucher added a third on the power play before Gritsyuk got his second of the night. Two goals in 64 seconds persuaded Traktor to replace starting goalie Alexei Melnichuk with Sergei Mylnikov.
The incoming goalie saw out the rest of the second period but was beaten early in the third. Corban Knight got behind the net and set up Boucher for his second of the game, wrapping up a convincing home victory.
Late strike sinks Salavat Yulaev
Barys Astana 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 (0-1, 0-0, 2-0)
These teams met in Astana just a couple of weeks ago, with Barys coming out on top thanks to two goals from Kirill Savitsky. Ufa’s only scorer that day, Ivan Drozdov, did not make the trip to Kazakhstan this time as he recovers from injury.
Barys, meanwhile, dropped out of the top eight after losing its last game. In that encounter, Andrei Skabelka’s team also saw forward Anthony Louis pick up an injury. Another attacking player, 19-year-old Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan also missed out: he is joining up with Kazakhstan’s juniors ahead of the upcoming World Championship Division IA tournament in Norway from Dec. 11-17. He should return to KHL action following the All-Star break.
From the opening exchanges, the teams played it tight. Space was at a premium all over the ice and defenses were, largely, on top. It took a penalty for Yegor Petukhov to break that grip. Salavat Yulaev took its chance to spend some time in the O-zone and the visitor began to look the sharper of the two teams. A second power play chance saw Alexander Kadeikin open the scoring. It took a video review to confirm that his powerful shot bounced back to the crease from the back of the net, rather than the piping.
At the other end, Barys was finally roused into life. The frame off Ilya Ezhov’s net was tested in the first period, but that was as close as the home team got. In the second, Barys was even closer: Alikhan Asetov forced the puck over the line, but the officials ruled interference on the goaltender. Asetov and Skabelka saw it different and challenged the call, only to get a delay of game penalty for their trouble.
Barys killed that penalty and continued to look the likelier team to score. However, putting the puck in the net has been a problem for the Kazakhs. Captain Linden Vey was in his sixth game without a goal, and the team completed five goalless periods in an unwelcome row. It took a double minor penalty for Evgeny Timkin to help Barys tie the game. The home power play never quite got into gear, but Arkady Shestakov took the initiative upon himself and scored an individual goal. That seemed to have set up overtime, but with 48 seconds left to play, Petukhov grabbed a late winner.
Six straight wins for Spartak
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 Spartak Moscow 4 (1-0, 0-2, 0-2)
After beating Severstal in Saturday’s only game, Vityaz was right back at it just 24 hours later. This time, Spartak was the visitor. In response to the opposition, Dmitry Kugryshev, who left the Red-and-Whites last month, was moved to the first line. Igor Grishin’s team came to Balashikha defending a five-game winning streak and kept faith with an almost unchanged line-up.
This was the fourth game between the two teams, and Vityaz had won the previous three. In the fifth minute, history seemed to be repeating itself as Stanislav Yarovoi put the home team in front. However, from that point on Spartak took control of the game. Home goalie Maxim Dorozhko was busy for the rest of the frame, especially when the visitor got a 5-on-3 power play.
Spartak could not force a goal before the intermission despite all that pressure. However, at the start of the second period Grishin’s men potted two in quick succession to turn the game around. Alexander Khokhlachyov’s power play effort tied the scores and took him to 100 KHL goals. He also moved to 250 points in the league, 200 of them for Spartak. Back at equal strength, Shane Prince made it 2-1.
Vityaz had the edge for the remainder of the middle frame but could not find another goal. Then the third period began with a third goal for Spartak. This time it was Ilya Talaluyev, who did well on the rebound. Midway through the session, Filip Varone added a fourth to wrap up the win.
Motormen move clear in the East
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (1-1, 0-1, 0-0)
The clash of the Eastern Conference leaders went to Avtomobilist. Victory snapped Metallurg’s five game winning streak, and gave the Motormen a three-point lead at the top of the standings.
The visitor had to do it the hard way. Metallurg made a fast start and opened the scoring after 55 seconds. Maxim Karpov took up a good position on the slot and reacted fastest to a rebound in front of goal to put the puck behind Johan Mattsson. That halted a 108-minute shut-out streak for the Swede. Inspired, Metallurg had a couple more good chances but gradually Avtomobilist got into the game. Ultimately, that saw Andrei Obidin tie it up in the 17th minute with a close-range effort past Eddie Pasquale.
Late in the opening frame, Andrei Chibisov wasted a great chance to restore Metallurg’s lead. Instead, a foul by Denis Zernov gave Avtomobilist a power play for the start of the second period. That did not generate much danger for Pasquale and much of the middle frame was an even battle. Metallurg had the clearer chances, but in the 36th minute Avto took the lead. Daniil Tarasov was left in space and he converted Jesse Blacker’s pass from the corner to give the visitor the advantage for the first time in the game.
In the third period, a major penalty on Nick Ebert, assessed for kneeing Nikita Korostelyov, gave Metallurg a great chance to tie the game. However, neither that five-minute power play nor almost two minutes of six-on-five action could not yield an equalizer as Avtomobilist held on.
Metallurg does not have to wait for a chance of revenge. The teams meet again on Tuesday in the latest instalment of this battle for supremacy in the East.
Life without Znarok begins with victory
Ak Bars Kazan 3 Dynamo Moscow 2 OT (0-0, 0-0, 2-2, 1-0)
During the week, Ak Bars head coach Oleg Znarok stepped down from his role. Surprisingly, his decision came after a victory over Lokomotiv made it three wins from four games. However, his star-studded roster failed to live up to high expectations since the start of the season and few would regard seventh place in the East as a satisfactory position for a team with so much experience and potential.
The first team to visit Kazan during Yury Babenko’s interim role behind the bench was Dynamo Moscow. Babenko knows all about this club, having won the Gagarin Cup in blue-and-white under the coaching of Znarok. However, in the first period neither he, nor his opposite number Alexei Kudashov, was able to find a scoring formula in a goalless and at times uneventful opening.
In the second, Dynamo had two power play chances but could not force the opening goal. However, at the start of the third Ak Bars showed how it should be done when Alexander Skorenov took the visitor’s first penalty of the game. Dmitry Voronkov extended his productive streak to six games (5+1 points) when he broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute.
However, Dynamo turned it around. Ivan Muranov tied the scores a few minutes later with a short-handed goal. Later, the visitor’s power play got it right at last and Andrei Mironov made it 2-1 with less than four to play. However, Mironov found himself on the sidelines in the final minute after he was called for tripping. The defenseman could only look on as his former team-mate Slava Voynov scored a late tying goal during a passage of 6-on-3 play.
That released Skorenov from the box, but Mironov was still seated as overtime started. And he remained an onlooker when Stanislav Galiyev potted the winner in the first minute of the extras.
SKA rallies to defeat Dragons
Kunlun Red Star 3 SKA St. Petersburg 4 SO (0-0, 3-0, 0-3, 0-0, 0-1)
SKA had to dig deep to force an overtime win at Kunlun Red Star. The home team jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second period, with Zhang Zesen producing a memorable moment for the Chinese team. However, two goals from Damir Zhafyarov completed a third-period fightback and Roman Rotenberg’s team finished the job in the shoot-out.
Zhang’s goal made him only the second Chinese-born player to find the net in the league, following in the footsteps of Rudi Ying. His big moment came midway through the second period when he followed up Ryan Sproul’s shot to rifle home the rebound. That doubled the lead that Tyler Wong gave the home team early in the middle frame.
Wong added his second of the net soon after, converting a power play after just seven seconds to give Red Star a commanding 3-0 advantage.
However, SKA is always a dangerous opponent, regardless of the scoreline. Early in the third period, Dmitrij Jaskin pulled a goal back. That gave the visitor a boost and much of the final frame was played in front of Alexei Murygin in the home net. Midway through the session, Damir Zhafyarov made it a one-goal game with Vasily Glotov getting his second helper of the day. And it was Zhafyarov’s second of the night that saved SKA with two minutes to play.
Overtime could not produce a winner, but in the shoot-out SKA extinguished the Dragons’ hopes. Dmitrij Jaskin claimed the winning shot with Dmitry Nikolayev saving four of the five attempts he faced.
CSKA leaves it late
HS Sochi 2 CSKA Moscow 4 (0-1, 2-1, 0-2)
Battling Sochi took the defending champion into the last five minutes with scores locked at 2-2. However, in the closing moments CSKA forced the win thanks to goals from Andrei Svetlakov and Mikhail Grigorenko.
On paper, this was a mismatch. However, the Leopards did not read that script and produced a battling display to frustrate the Muscovites in the first period. CSKA was unable to consistently create chances, and had to wait until the 19th minute before Svetlakov opened the scoring.
Early in the second, Sochi caused a greater stir when Brandon Gormley tied it up on the power play just 36 seconds after the restart. Better still for the home team, Dmitry Zavgorodny made it 2-1 in the 26th minute. Suddenly, an upset seemed attainable.
The home team continued to press and led the stats for the middle frame by a significant margin. However, Takhir Mingachyov found the net on a rare CSKA attack to tie the game before the break.
That gave CSKA a lift, but in the early stages of the third period neither team could generate much offense. However, Sergei Fedorov’s team is used to biding its time and waiting for the moment to step up the pace. Today, that time came in the latter half of the third period. The visitor applied increasing pressure, frequently testing one of its academy graduates Maxim Tretyak in the home net. Time was running out by the time Svetlakov’s second of the game put his team back in front. Then, before Sochi could replace Tretyak with a sixth skater, Grigorenko potted a last-minute goal to seal the verdict.
Loko too strong for Neftekhimik
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 (0-1, 0-2, 1-1)
Lokomotiv eased to victory at Neftekhimik thanks to a flurry of goals either side of the first intermission. Friday’s loss in Kazan halted Loko’s four-game winning streak, but the Railwaymen bounced back immediately at Tatarstan’s other team.
The game was effectively settled in four minutes. Rushan Rafikov opened the scoring in the 18th minute, breaking the deadlock after Loko enjoyed the better of the first period.
Once in front, the visitor assumed complete control at the start of the middle frame. Maxim Shalunov doubled the lead 40 seconds after the intermission. Then Georgy Ivanov added a third, chasing starting goalie Andrei Tikhomirov from the net. Alexander Sudnitsin replaced him.
In the latter stages of the game, Neftekhimik’s offense began to figure more in the game. However, it could not make significant inroads on the score as Lokomotiv eased to victory. Shalunov’s second of the game completed a convincing win, although Ivan Bocharov was denied a shut-out when Anthony Camara potted a late consolation.
