Avangard thrashes Avto again, CSKA gets revenge on Dynamo. January 3
Avtomobilist’s miserable form continues with a 7-1 loss at home to Avangard bringing up a seventh straight loss for the Eastern Conference leader. Second-placed Metallurg failed to take advantage, blowing a 2-0 lead to lose 2-3 at Barys. In the West, CSKA remains third after edging an overtime verdict against Moscow rival Dynamo. The first game of 2023 saw Dinamo Minsk snap its losing streak with a fine 4-1 victory at Amur. However, HC Sochi continues to suffer loss after loss, going down 2-5 at Torpedo. Vityaz defeated Kunlun Red Star in Tuesday’s other game.
Impressive Minsk snaps losing streak
Amur Khabarovsk 1 Dinamo Minsk 4 (0-1, 0-0, 1-3)
After eight successive losses, Dinamo would be relieved to see the end of 2022. The New Year began far more impressively for Craig Woodcroft’s team, with a convincing win at Amur reminding its Western playoff rivals that the Bison were not out of the race yet.
Dinamo’s problems were not helped by illness in the camp: several first-team regulars were unavailable today. However, those who were fit brought plenty of energy and grabbed a confidence-boosting early goal. A turnover in the Amur zone enabled Pavel Varfolomeyev to beat Evgeny Alikin from close range. Much of the first period was evenly contested, with the best scoring chance falling to young Yaroslav Likhachyov on the power play. His shot dinged the crossbar and bounced to safety.
In the middle frame, Amur enjoyed a notable advantage. The Tigers were helped by frequent penalties for Dinamo, but could not find a way past Alexei Kolosov, nor a solid Minsk PK until early in the third. That was when Yakov Rylov potted his first goal since joining Amur to tie the game.
Another defenseman, Dinamo’s John Gilmour, thought he had restored his team’s lead but a video review called it back for hands. However, that merely delayed the inevitable. In the 48th minute, Nick Merkley made it 2-1 to the visitor. Later, Roman Gorbunov extended the lead before Ryan Spooner’s empty netter finished the job.
Barys Astana 3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (0-2, 2-0, 1-0)
If Amur’s loss gave a boost to playoff-chasing rival Barys, it was not immediately apparent. The Kazakhs welcomed high-flying Metallurg to Astana, and fell behind early on.
Former Barys forward Pavel Akolzin clearly enjoys these trips home. In the previous game between the teams, he scored the opening goal and today he did it again. His marker was a vindication of Ilya Vorobyov’s decision to bring him back into the line-up. Next, Magnitka’s top line came out to play. Philippe Maillet’s defense-splitting pass set up Brendan Leipsic, who produced an inch-perfect shot to extend the lead.
If the first period was a failure for Barys, the second produced an impressive comeback. Visiting defenseman Kodie Curran, impressive at both ends of the ice in the first period, began to lose his way. Curran’s error presented Barys with a 3-on-1 break that enabled Tamirlan Gaitamirov to halve the deficit. Then, on the PK, it was Curran whose positioning went awry, leaving Dmitry Shevchenko unmarked in front of goal for the equalizer.
In the third period, Barys completed its fightback thanks to Alexander Borisevich. This was a first KHL marker for the forward, who joined the club from Saryarka Karaganda, where he led the Kazakh championship in scoring. Today’s goal secured a valuable victory that lifts Barys back into the top eight, a point clear of Traktor.
Tkachyov treble adds to Avto woe
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 Avangard Omsk 7 (0-1, 1-3, 0-3)
The Motormen came into 2023 looking for a change in fortune. Although Nikolai Zavarukhin’s men went into the new year on top of the Eastern Conference, they had lost six in a row since returning from international action. By contrast, Avangard was on a six-game winning streak that included a 5-0 drubbing of Avtomobilist in Omsk less than a week ago.
Today, both teams continued their streaks, with Vladimir Tkachyov proving to be the difference-maker. The Avangard forward potted his first KHL hat-trick to lead the Hawks to an emphatic victory. In doing so, he moved to 44 (16+28) points from 44 games to set a new personal best in the KHL. It was also his second three-point game against Avtomobilist, having picked up 1+2 in last week’s 5-0 success.
The first period offered few clues as to what would follow. Avangard got the opening goal, scored by Arseny Gritsyuk after good work from Sergei Tolchinsky, but Avto had the better of the play and could feel slightly aggrieved to trail at the intermission. The home team put things right at the start of the second period when Brooks Macek got to the back door to finish off a move straight from the coach’s playbook.
After that, though, it all went wrong for the home team. Alexei Bereglazov restored Avangard’s lead within 30 seconds, and two quick goals midway through the session saw Semyon Chistyakov and Tkachyov extend the advantage to a commanding 4-1. Starting goalie Igor Bobkov was replaced by Johan Mattsson in between those tallies, but the change made little difference.
Avangard continued to dominate the third period and piled on two more goals after gaining a 5-on-3 power play. Tkachyov got his second before Tolchinsky made it 6-1. In the last minute, Oleg Li’s shot at Vasily Demchenko rather summed up Avtomobilist’s day: the puck bounced straight to Reid Boucher, and his stretch pass sent Tkachyov away for his hat-trick goal. Avangard draws level on points with Metallurg, and both are just two points behind Avtomobilist.
Torpedo shoots down struggling Sochi
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 HC Sochi 2 (1-0, 4-1, 0-1)
Three goals in 87 seconds saw Torpedo power past basement club Sochi. The contrast in mood between the two teams could hardly be greater at present: Torpedo’s players are revelling in the creative freedom allowed by Igor Larionov, while Sochi suffered a 17th successive loss and looks like a team for whom the end of the season cannot come soon enough.
The home team opened the scoring here after five minutes through Maxim Letunov. Torpedo dominated the first period without adding to that goal, and got a wake-up call on 29:17 when Artyom Nikolayev tied it up.
However, Torpedo heeded that warning and rattled in a quickfire treble to put the game out of reach. Just 43 seconds later, Anton Sizov restored the home lead. Then Alexei Kruchinin and Yegor Vinogradov quickly added two more. That marked the end of Artemy Pleshkov’s game in the Sochi net, but incoming goalie Maxim Tretiak allowed Kruchinin a second of the game late in the middle frame to make it 5-1.
In the final frame, Sochi defended bravely to deprive Torpedo of further goals. Late in the game, Donat Stalnov scored on his former club to offer some late consolation to the visitor. However, this was very much the home team’s day.
Vityaz victory boosts playoff prospects
Vityaz Moscow Region 2 Kunlun Red Star 1 (1-0, 1-0, 0-1)
After ending 2022 with back-to-back wins, playoff chasing Vityaz started 2023 with another success. Today’s triumph against Kunlun lifts the Moscow Region club to sixth in the Western Conference and maintains a five-point gap to ninth-placed Dinamo Minsk.
The home team made a fast start, and went in front in the fourth minute thanks to Kirill Rasskazov’s goal. Rasskazov might have had more in this game, but found Jeremy Smith in resolute form in the Dragons’ net. Smith made 40 saves in total, keeping the Dragons in contention, and one of his best denied Rasskazov in the third period.
At the other end, Maxim Dorozhko also had to look lively at times. Twice he denied Colin Campbell a debut goal. The 31-year-old Canadian joined KRS from Kosice last month, a trade that suggests Kunlun still believes it can make the playoffs this term. Campbell and his team-mates looked capable of tying the game in the second period, only to be hit by a late power play goal from Dmitry Kugryshev as Vityaz doubled its lead.
The Dragons found the net early in the third when Cliff Pu scored on the power play. However, the visitor could not build on that encouraging start and had to settle for a third straight defeat. Red Star has a 10-point gap to eighth-placed Severstal, and travels to Cherepovets at the weekend.
Kamenev grabs OT winner
CSKA Moscow 3 Dynamo Moscow 2 OT (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)
These Moscow rivals met on Dec. 26, with Dynamo claiming a 2-1 verdict and making it one win apiece in this season’s rivalry series. Today, CSKA was out for revenge, while the Blue-and-Whites hoped to forge a three-way tie for third place on 61 points.
The first meaningful attack of the game brought an opening goal for the visitor. Andrei Mironov thundered in a shot from the blue line which went wide of the target, Bogdan Trineyev battled for possession on the boards and got the puck to the slot, where Jordan Weal pounced to open the scoring. Dynamo had chances to increase its lead, with Trineyev and Ivan Muranov both testing Alexander Sharychenkov in the CSKA net.
However, the next goal went to the home team. Christian Jaros, recently signed from Avangard, produced a point shot that Sergei Plotnikov redirected into the net. Dynamo had a chance to regain its lead on the power play, but the teams were deadlocked through 20 minutes.
For much of the second period, chances were at a premium. The teams played some hard-hitting hockey but struggled to create scoring opportunities. It wasn’t until midway through the frame that the action began to open up: CSKA went close when Vladislav Kamenov joined Nikita Nesterov’s counterattack, and the home team followed that up with a power play that Dynamo killed. Back at equal strength, the Blue-and-Whites went back in front when Jaros coughed up the puck and Igor Chernyshov celebrated his first goal in only his third KHL appearance. Then came a Dynamo power play, and Igor Martynov dinged the crossbar. However, CSKA survived and tied the game in the 37th minute through Konstantin Okulov.
The third period could not separate the teams, even though Dynamo outshot CSKA 9-3. That forced overtime, and Sergei Fedorov did his traditional trick of removing his goalie for a fourth skater. The gamble paid off, and Okulov set up a Kamenov for a point shot that found its way to the far corner of Ilya Konovalov’s net.
