Ak Bars fights back, Admiral gets revenge. January 9 round-up
Monday’s big game came in the East, where Ak Bars recovered from 0-2 to defeat Sibir in a shoot-out. Earlier in the day, Pavel Khomchenko’s first KHL shut-out saw Admiral to a 3-0 win over Barys.
Khomchenko denies Barys, Admiral bounces back
Admiral Vladivostok 3 Barys Astana 0 (1-0, 2-0, 0-0)
Pavel Khomchenko returned in goal for Admiral and blanked Barys in his first game since November. Khomchenko’s call-up was one of several changes made by the home team following yesterday’s 1-5 loss at home to the same opponent. The former Spartak man finished with 18 saves as he recorded his first shut-out in the KHL.
Admiral was fired up for revenge and made that clear from the start. In the first period alone, the home team peppered Julius Hudacek with 23 shots. However, that onslaught yielded just one goal. Daniil Gutik gave a good account of himself, winning back possession in the Barys zone to start a move that ended with Pavel Shen finding the net.
In the middle stanza, Admiral was more interested in controlling the puck than shooting at every opportunity. Towards the end of the session, that territorial advantage turned into a commanding lead: Libor Sulak and Dmitry Sidlyarov grabbed two goals in the space of a couple of minutes.
That sent Hudacek to the bench. His replacement, Nikita Boyarkin, had an easier time of things. Barys finally managed to get some meaningful possession at the other end of the ice without seriously threatening a comeback, while Khomchenko calmly claimed that first career shut-out.
Tokranov paces Ak Bars fightback
Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Ak Bars Kazan 3 SO (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Ak Bars fought back from 0-2 to claim victory in a shoot-out in Novosibirsk. The visitor snapped Sibir’s three-game winning streak, extending its own unbeaten run to four games.
The game got off to a cautious start, with few chances at either end in the opening exchanges. It was clear that a goal was needed to kickstart the action, and Sibir got one in the 15th minute. Taylor Beck’s good work behind the net set up Nikita Korotkov for the opener.
That enlivened proceedings, and Sibir doubled its lead early in the second. Alexander Sharov struck on the power play, potting his 22nd goal of the season and equalling a club goalscoring record in the KHL.
However, Ak Bars found a way back, with Vasily Tokranov heavily involved. First, the defenseman’s shot was redirected into the Sibir net by Alexander Radulov to make it 2-1 midway through the game. The visitor successfully converted its first power play chance of the game to give itself hope. Then Tokranov himself got the tying goal in the 47th minute, firing home from the blue over Denis Kostin’s blocker.
Tokranov was close to giving his team the lead a minute later. The defenseman burst through the middle, saw his initial shot saved and then followed up to test Kostin once more on the rebound. This time, though, Sibir’s goalie held firm to keep the score tied at 2-2.
Both teams had chances in the closing stages, but neither could win it in regulation. In overtime, the teams played cautiously and, at times, gave the impression they were playing for penalties amid a shortage of goalmouth incidents.
In the shoot-out, Ak Bars replaced starting goalie Amir Miftakhov with Timur Bilyalov. The incoming netminder was saved by the post on his first test, and later allowed Sharov to score. However, he did enough to finish on the winning team, with successful attempts from Artyom Galimov and Dmitry Voronkov completing the Ak Bars fightback.
