SKA marches on, Traktor returns to playoff spots. January 13 round-up
Table topping SKA continues to dominate the KHL. Today’s 2-0 win over Dynamo was not quite enough to confirm a playoff spot for Petersburg, but extended the team’s lead over CSKA to 13 points. Traktor was the big winner in the East, moving up to eighth place after defeating Spartak. Of the teams outside the playoff spots, Amur edged Dinamo Minsk in a shoot-out while Kunlun Red Star beat Vityaz 4-0. Lokomotiv was the day’s leading scorer, defeating Severstal 6-2.
Lockhart double leads Red Star past Vityaz
Kunlun Red Star 4 Vityaz Moscow Region 0 (1-0, 0-0, 3-0)
After a run of five losses, Kunlun looks to be back on form. Today’s win over Vityaz made it back-to-back wins and the Dragons have 10 goals in those two games. Moreover, the result ends a run of three losses to the Balashikha-based opponent this season; the teams are due to meet six times this term, with Red Star still hoping to tie the ‘series’.
For its part, Vityaz was on a good run. Five wins from the last six games moved Vyacheslav Butsayev’s team from nervously looking over their shoulders in the playoff race. Ahead of this encounter, Vityaz was relatively comfortable in sixth, six points ahead of ninth-placed Dinamo Minsk.
However, the visitor got off to a poor start, allowing the first goal after 35 seconds. Tomas Jurco’s shot flew wide of the target, but the rebound brought the puck all the way back to the slot where Luke Lockhart was waiting to stuff it home.
Subsequently, Vityaz had the better of the first period. However, despite outshooting Red Star 11-3 it could not find a way past Matt Jurusik in the home net. That continued to be an issue in the middle frame, with Kunlun defending well. It was perhaps symptomatic of the visitor’s problems that many of its attempts were coming from defensemen: by the end of the game, Alexei Volgin (6) and Jeremy Roy (4) led the team in shots on goal.
At the start of the final frame, Red Star increased its lead. Cliff Pu forced a turnover on his own blue line and released Cory Kane into the Vityaz zone. The home forward needed two attempts to beat Dmitry Shikin, but got the puck into the net to make it 2-0.
That goal rather took the wind out of Vityaz. The visitor enjoyed plenty of attacking possession in the final frame, but struggled to get shots at Jurusik in the home net. In the closing stages, for the second game in a row, Red Star added two late goals. Here, as in Minsk on Wednesday, both went into an empty net. Jurco got the first, scoring for the fourth game in a row. Then Lockhart finished what he started, adding a last-minute goal to his first-minute tally. Jurusik finished with 38 saves to complete his shut-out.
Railwaymen get back on track
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 6 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (2-0, 2-2, 2-0)
Lokomotiv grabbed a much-needed victory, seeing off Severstal to snap a five-game skid. The visitor, though, was unable to build on back-to-back wins of its own and failed to consolidate its grip on a top-eight spot in the West.
The early stages of this game were exactly what Lokomotiv needed as it tried to end its losing streak. Maxim Shalunov scored early to settle any nerves and the Railwaymen went on to deservedly extend the lead through Alexander Polunin late in the opening frame. A power play goal from Stepan Nikulin made it 3-0 midway through the third, and everything was going to play.
However, after that run of five defeats, Lokomotiv struggled to get this game over line. Up by three, the Railwaymen saw Nikita Rozhkov get Severstal on the board with a power play marker. Andrei Sergeyev quickly restored the three-goal advantage, chasing Alexander Samonov from the Steelmen’s net. However, Severstal responded immediately with David Dumbadze making it 2-4.
Already anxious, Loko’s fans were positively tense at the start of the third when Adam Liska had the puck in Daniil Isayev’s net. However, hockey can change fast. A bench challenge overturned Liska’s goal, with the video review upholding Yaroslavl’s complaints of interference on Isayev. Then, 18 seconds later, Shalunov turned provider, setting up Mikhail Belyayev for the all-important fifth goal. Belyayev was among the assists early in the game when Shalunov opened the scoring, and those roles were reversed here. Shalunov went on to add a sixth, putting the result beyond doubt and completing a three-point game for him.
Nikolayev denies Dynamo
SKA St. Petersburg 2 Dynamo Moscow 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Coming into today’s game, SKA could become the first team to guarantee a playoff spot this season. Roman Rotenberg’s men needed to defeat Dynamo, while hoping that Dinamo Minsk failed to pick up a point at home to Amur.
While the home team could not affect events in Minsk, it was entirely responsible for its own fate in Petersburg. SKA started fast against Dynamo, and got the game’s first power play in the third minute. That led to the opening goal when Nikita Gusev fired the puck in from the boards and Sergei Boikov’s unfortunate redirect steered it past his own goalie.
In the early stages of the first period, SKA was the more impressive team. Even the loss of Damir Zhafyarov to injury in the fifth minute could not slow the host’s progress. Gradually, though, Dynamo got into the game. The visitor started to test Dmitry Nikolayev in the home net and came closest to tying the scores when Ivan Igumnov fed Brennan Menell for a backhand shot that whistled just past the post.
The second period was also intensely competitive. Both sides got drawn into a physical battle for long periods, but when scoring chances emerged Dynamo created slightly more of them. The best of those fell to Jakob Lilja midway through the session, but Nikolayev got his pads behind the Swede’s shot after a turnover invited the visiting forward to attack.
It was all action at the start of the third. A penalty on Stepan Falkovsky gave Dynamo the initiative and the Blue-and-Whites created two big chances on the power play. First, Menell’s point shot had Nikolayev struggling to control the rebound, but no forward could force it home. Moments later, Maxim Dzhioshvili exchanged passes with Dmitry Rashevsky before firing in a shot from close range that Nikolayev pushed to safety with his blocker.
When Falkovsky returned to the ice, Dynamo got the puck in the net at last. However, Lilja’s effort was called back after a bench challenge: the officials found evidence of interference on the goalie and reversed the on-ice call. Nikolayev went on to make 37 saves and seal his second shut-out of the season; Marat Khairullin’s empty net goal secured the win for SKA. However, Dinamo Minsk’s shoot-out loss means that a playoff spot is not officially confirmed just yet.
Traktor returns to playoff spot
Spartak Moscow 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (0-0, 2-2, 0-2)
Traktor moved back into the top eight in the East with victory at Spartak. Since starting 2023 with a 3-9 hammering at home to SKA, the Chelyabinsk club has won three out of four and today’s success lifts it above Barys.
However, it took time to find a way past a stubborn Spartak team. The Red-and-Whites may still be struggling for results, but performances have improved of late: a 5-3 win at Lokomotiv was followed by a narrow defeat to runaway leader SKA in Petersburg last time out. That gave hope of more success today as the team returned home.
Traktor dominated the game from the start, outshooting its host 14-2 in a first period that remained goalless largely due to the efforts of Spartak goalie Alexei Krasikov. Early in the second, Andrei Stas put the visitor in front and at that point it seemed that his team would go on to take control of the game.
Instead, though, Spartak rallied. The home team had much the better of the second-period play and turned its pressure into goals. Both went to Matvei Zaseda, whose form has been a bright spot in a frustrating season. He tied it up on the power play, then put the Muscovites in front with a shorthanded tally. However, Joey Keane’s penalty was not without consequence for the host: Traktor continued to press and just as Keane was stepping back onto the ice, Anton Burdasov tied it at 2-2.
At the start of the third, Traktor took the kind of control it threatened in the first. Maxim Shabanov made it 3-2 after 46 seconds, prompting Igor Grishin to send Dmitry Kulikov into the game in place of Krasikov. That was only a second KHL appearance for Kulikov, and he was beaten inside five minutes when Nikita Tertyshny added a fourth. There was no further scoring as Traktor climbed to eighth place.
Tigers frustrate Bison
Dinamo Minsk 1 Amur Khabarovsk 2 SO (0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Both these teams are in urgent need of points to push them towards the playoff places. After this game went to a shoot-out, Dinamo moved to within two points of the top eight in the West. Amur’s eventual victory sees it in a similar position in the East, two points adrift of Traktor.
Minsk’s tie also means that SKA has to wait a little longer to confirm its playoff spot. Craig Woodcroft’s team secured its bonus point on a goal from Dmitry Korobov in the 54th minute. That tally cancelled out Stanislav Bocharov’s opener for the Tigers.
In truth, Bocharov’s goal was somewhat against the run of play. Over the course of the game, Dinamo had almost twice as much attacking possession. The home team also had a slender advantage in shots on goal, but that might have been far greater had it not been for resolute work from the Amur defense. The visitor blocked 17 shots to frustrate the Minsk offense and that played a huge part in taking the game beyond regulation.
In overtime, again, Dinamo had far more possession but could not find a way past Janis Kalnins. Then, having got to the shoot-out, the Tigers took advantage. Bocharov added to his goal in regulation to claim the decisive attempt.
