Tretyak tests CSKA, Sibir wins Eastern derby. January 5 round-up

Maxim Tretyak learned his hockey at CSKA, but today the Sochi goalie was close to backstopping an upset. He made 48 saves to keep the visitor in contention, but Matvei Michkov’s missed penalty shot in the 59^th minute cost his team an equalizer and the defending champion escaped with a narrow victory. Elsewhere, Sibir defeated Avangard 3-1, snapping the Hawks’ seven-game winning streak. Dinamo Minsk edged Admiral 2-1 to return to a playoff spot in the West, while Amur got the better of Barys in a shoot-out.

Minsk wins again, returns to top eight

Admiral Vladivostok 1 Dinamo Minsk 2 (0-0, 0-1, 1-1)

Dinamo picked up a second win on its Far East tour, edging Admiral 2-1 to return to the top eight in the Western Conference. The Bison are still in a big fight for a playoff spot, level on points with ninth-placed Severstal having played two games more.

The first period produced no goals, but plenty of penalties. The teams shared 22 minutes in the box, culminating in a fight late in the session involving Shawn Lalonde and Nikolai Chebykin. That flashpoint was triggered by Roman Gorbunov’s foul on Anton Berlyov, and once all the penalties had been assessed, Dinamo had to kill a 3-on-5 penalty. The visitor barely held on, and took two further penalties in the last minute of the opening frame, but got to the intermission at 0-0.

In the middle frame, Admiral found itself running into penalty trouble. Rudolf Cerveny was the first of four home players to sit for minors. Ironically, it was a call on former Dinamo defenseman Evgeny Lisovets late in the session that finally brought the opening goal: Nick Merkley steered a Ryan Spooner feed beyond Nikita Serebryakov. Spooner’s helper extended his productive streak to five games.

Admiral responded with a goal early in the third, with Alexander Gorshkov finding the net in the 44^th minute. However, Dinamo would not be denied. Young Vadim Moroz got the game-winner in the 53^rd minute, while Alexei Kolosov’s 36 saves did much to secure a valuable victory for the visitor.

Photoalbum

Amur leaves it late to get past Barys

Amur Khabarovsk 4 Barys Astana 3 SO (1-0, 1-2, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Linden Vey stretched his productive streak to eight games, but his 57^th-minute goal was not enough to deny Amur its first win of 2023. The Tigers struck late to tie the game through Nikita Grebyonkin and went on to take the verdict in a shoot-out.

There was plenty at stake for both teams as they battle for a place in the top eight in the East. Barys came into the game in eighth position, and remains there despite its loss. Amur, though, produced a battling performance to claim the victory and is now just two points adrift of a playoff spot.

The opening goal came in the 15^th minute when a 5-on-3 power play helped Slovenian forward Jan Drozg give Amur the lead. Barys responded with a PP tally of its own at the start of the second period, with Arkady Shestakov tying the game just 52 seconds after the restart.

The teams traded two further goals in that second session, with Vladislav Barulin restoring the home lead before Dmitry Shevchenko tied it up late in the frame.

Then came Vey’s effort, with Jeremy Bracco picking up his second helper of the game. Barys led for the first time in the game, and with the clock ticking down, Vey had good reason to hope that he had won it for the visitor. However, another penalty let Barys down. Amur went 6-on-4 and Grebyonkin’s wrister found the target to force the extras.

Overtime was scoreless, despite plenty of action. In the shoot-out, Amur finished on top with Stanislav Bocharov credited with the decisive attempt.

Derby delight for Sibir

Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Avangard Omsk 1 (2-0, 0-1, 1-0)

Avangard’s seven-game winning streak came crashing to a halt in the Siberian derby. After thrashing Avtomobilist on Tuesday, the Hawks were hoping to draw level with the Eastern Conference leader with victory in Novosibirsk. However, Sibir came into this game fresh after the New Year pause and the host, too was looking to build on a victory over the Motormen.

Sibir did not have the happiest of starts to the New Year. Even before the game started, defenseman Michal Cajkovsky took a puck to the face in the warm-up and had to withdraw from the game. In addition, fellow D-core leader Trevor Murphy remains in Canada for family reasons, having become a father the day before this game.

A shortage of home defensemen invited Avangard to attack. In the opening stages of the game, the visitor outshot Sibir 12-4. However, the home team held firm and went in front in the 12^th minute on a short-handed goal from Alexander Sharov. That’s the 10^th short-handed goal from Sibir this season, the best in the KHL. The latter half of the opening session saw the home team create more opportunities and, late in the frame, former Avangard man Taylor Beck set up Vladimir Butuzov to make it 2-0.

In the second period, Avangard tried to re-establish some of the dominance it enjoyed early in the game. And the visitor had some success with that. The Hawks had a significant territorial advantage and outshot Sibir throughout the session. However, it wasn’t until late in the frame that Ivan Telegin’s power play goal reduced the deficit.

That inspired Mikhail Kravets’ team to further efforts in the third period, which the visitor spent almost entirely on the attack. However, Anton Krasotkin performed strongly in the home net and finished the game with 36 saves to carry Sibir to victory. An empty-net tally from Valentin Pyanov sealed the deal as the fourth and final edition of this Siberian rivalry ended with a second victory for Sibir. The result means just four points separate conference leader Avtomobilist from Sibir in fourth as the battle at the top of the East looks set to go to the wire.

Photoalbum

Sharychenkov penalty save denies stubborn Sochi

CSKA Moscow 2 HC Sochi 0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)

CSKA moves level on points with second-placed Lokomotiv in the Western Conference, but the defending champion did not have everything its own way against rock-bottom Sochi. Although the visitor slipped to an 18^th straight loss, the Leopards can take heart from a battling performance. Nonetheless, you have to go back to Nov. 15 for Sochi’s last win.

The key player in this game was visiting goalie Maxim Tretyak. Now 26, he began his career at CSKA but as a young goalie he was inevitably going to face comparisons with his legendary grandfather Vladislav, a world-class performer for CSKA and team USSR in the 1970s and 80s. As a result, it has taken Maxim time to establish himself in the KHL. However, at Sochi he enjoys the confidence of the coaching staff and today’s game was his 31^st of the season – equalling his busiest season to date.

It was also one of his busiest games. In the first period alone he stopped 17 shots as CSKA dominated without breaking the deadlock. In total, he made 48 saves to backstop a gritty performance from a visitor that, although outgunned, remained in the game until the very end.

However, CSKA’s pressure was too much to withstand. Anton Slepyshev opened the scoring after 25 minutes and, for much of the rest of the game, it felt like a question of how many CSKA could score. However, Tretyak’s courage and some hardworking defense meant it was still 1-0 when Vladislav Provolnev hooked Kirill Petkov and Sochi was awarded a penalty shot. Up stepped Matvei Michkov with the chance to tie the game on 58:50, but Alexander Sharychenkov came up with the save to deny the young forward. That provided the jolt the home team needed, and Konstantin Okulov’s empty-netter secured the win for CSKA.

Photoalbum