Sochi snaps losing streak, Sibir stuns Ak Bars. January 14 round-up
There was plenty of action in Saturday’s four games. Sochi’s 3-2 win over Metallurg was the most eye-catching result, with the Western Conference struggler snapping a 21-game losing streak and denying Metallurg the chance to move level with the Eastern Conference leader. Instead, Sibir moves to second in the East after a dramatic win in Kazan. Ak Bars led 3-1 in the 57th minute, but Sibir took a 4-3 OT verdict. Salavat Yulaev defeated Admiral 2-0 and is just two points behind the leader. At the foot of the Eastern Conference, Neftekhimik moved up to ninth after victory in Astana denied Barys a return to the top eight.
Neftekhimik reawakens playoff hopes
Barys Astana 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 (1-0, 2-2, 0-3)
With such an intense battle for a top-eight finish in the East, every game between the teams fighting for the playoffs feels like a four-pointer. Today’s meeting between Barys and Neftekhimik certainly fit that category. A home win would put the Kazakhs back in eighth, a road win would lift Neftekhimik off the foot of the standings. Yet, if the visitor could win in regulation, it would move ahead of Barys.
In its previous game, Barys spent much of the first period on the power play but proved unable to score on CSKA. Today, a major penalty for Vyacheslav Leshchenko handed the home team another great chance to seize the initiative. For a time, it seemed that the PP would continue to misfire. However, when captain Linden Vey took matters into his own hands, he produced the opening goal.
The host was good value for its lead at the first intermission, and Neftekhimik was not immediately able to change things in the second. However, as the game approached the midway mark, Yegor Popov’s well-placed shot tied things up. The officials took their time reviewing that play, but ultimately awarded the goal.
There was another pause while home forward Anton Sagadeyev learned his fate. His shot found the net, helped by a series of deflections, but Neftekhimik challenged the play, citing interference on goalie Alexander Sudnitsin. This time, the video review went against the visitor, which was left with a minor penalty for delay of game. The middle frame ended with the teams trading power play goals: Anthony Louis extended the home lead when he forced home the rebound from Vey’s effort, but Neftekhimik responded through Andrei Belozyorov.
At the time, Belozyorov’s strike felt significant. Had Barys taken a two-goal advantage into the final session, the Wolves would have had a long journey back into the game. Instead, the one-goal lead lasted less than two minutes before Andrei Chivilyov tied it up. Alex Grant was close to restoring Barys’ lead, but his shot hit the post and Neftekhimik took that as a positive sign. The visitor took the initiative and went ahead for the first time when Mikhail Sidorov quickly converted a power play. In the closing stages, Alikhan Asetov was closing to forcing overtime but failed to put away Vey’s pass. At the other end, Pavel Poryadin’s empty net goal wrapped up the win for Neftekhimik.
Ezhov blanks Admiral
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Admiral Vladivostok 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)
The race for the Eastern Conference lead is as tight as the battle at the bottom. Salavat Yulaev moved within two points of Avtomobilist thanks to this win, but is still fourth in the standings. However, it took some time to break down a dogged Admiral team.
In the first period, Ufa had the better of the play. The home team even had the puck in the net in the 12th minute. However, a video review showed that Ivan Drozdov kicked it home and the goal was called back. That was a relief for Admiral, which offered little at the other end and was limited to just three shots at Ilya Ezhov.
The middle frame was also short of scoring chances. This time, though, Admiral was the likelier team. The Sailors built on a solid defense and stifled opportunities for Salavat Yulaev. Gradually, that led to more opportunities for the visitor to attack and Daniil Gutik came close to opening the scoring on the counterattack.
In the second intermission, Salavat Yulaev got back to basics. And the decision worked, with Sergei Shmelyov opening the scoring when he was given too much space in front of the net and converted Alexander Kadeikin’s pass from behind the net. Shortly afterwards, Kadeikin and Nikolai Kulemin got on an odd-man rush but failed to beat Nikita Serebryakov. Next, we had the first penalty of the game – in the 44th minute – and Admiral faced a further examination of its defense.
However, the visitor held firm to keep the game alive. The video review came into play again late on, this time ruling out an Admiral equalizer for the same soccer skills that Drozdov displayed earlier in the game. With time running out, Alexander Chmelevski’s empty net effort completed the job for Ufa.
Late rally stuns Ak Bars
Ak Bars Kazan 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 OT (2-0, 0-1, 1-2, 0-1)
Sibir staged a spectacular fightback, scoring twice in the last three minutes to force this game into overtime. Goals from Denis Golubev and Maxim Sushko clawed back a 1-3 deficit, then Alexander Sharov grabbed an overtime winner to lift his team to second.
The decisive goal came on a delayed penalty in the extras. Sibir replaced goalie Anton Krasotkin with a fourth skater and looked to press home the advantage. Taylor Beck fired the puck to the far post, and Sharov was waiting to steer it into the open corner of the net and complete Sibir’s recovery. The result also brought instant revenge after Ak Bars won a shoot-out in Novosibirsk in the previous game.
The early stages were very different. In-form Ak Bars scored two unanswered goals in the first period to take control of the game. The first went to Artyom Lukoyanov, who was listed among the most prominent KHL forwards without a goal this season in an article published during the week. Maybe he was reading: today he opened his account in the 12th minute, deftly redirecting Ilya Safonov’s point shot. Then, in the final moments of the frame, Alexander Radulov released Stanislav Galiyev down the right and saw his team-mate power into the Sibir zone before stepping inside to blast a shot under the crossbar.
In the second session, Sibir pulled a goal back. Nikita Yefremov was the scorer, collecting his first marker in the KHL. He might admit to an element of fortune. His attempted pass to the slot bounced off a defenseman’s skate but dropped perfectly for Yefremov to fire home a deflected shot.
Ak Bars responded immediately, twice dinging the Sibir piping. Dmitry Yudin hit the near post, then Kirill Petrov struck the crossbar as Sibir’s goal lived a charmed life.
The was evenly-poised in the third period and both teams had changes early in that stanza. However, midway through the action, Sibir was reduced to three skaters and Dmitry Kagarlitsky took advantage to restore a two-goal lead for Ak Bars.
That felt like game over, but nobody told the visitor. In the 57th minute, Golubev squeezed in a shot from a tight angle to reduce the deficit. A minute later, Beck’s shot from the blue line sparked a scrum in front of Amir Miftakhov’s net and Sushko emerged to force the puck home. In the last minute, Korotkov almost won it for the visitor when he got on a one-on-one, but instead Sibir had to wait for overtime to settle the outcome.
Sochi snaps record losing streak
HC Sochi 3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (1-0, 1-2, 1-0)
After 21 successive losses set an unwelcome KHL record, Sochi finally got to celebrate victory again. And this was no trivial success. Metallurg, despite some uncertain form of late, would have joined Eastern Conference leader Avtomobilist on 65 points with a win today. Instead, Ilya Vorobyov’s team is left to contemplate a run of just one success in its last six games.
Magnitka had chances enough to win this one, but found Maxim Tretyak in fine form. He made 36 saves, 16 of them in a third period that Metallurg dominated, to give his team the victory. In front of him, the defense blocked 20 shots and absorbed long spells of pressure. The visitor spent 19:14 in the Sochi zone; the Leopards had just 8:54 at the other end.
But Sergei Svetlov’s team made the most of that time. Late in the first period, Sochi got ahead when Matvei Michkov’s shot was padded straight to Yegor Babenko for the opening goal. In the second period, after Yaroslav Khabarov tied the game, Artyom Nikolayev arrived at the back door to slide home Sergei Popov’s feed. The assist extended Popov’s productive streak to four games, no mean feat in a struggling team.
And Popov, 22, added a goal to that helper in the third period. Metallurg had tied the game once more through Alexei Maklyukov, but Sochi’s determination saw it regain the lead with a power play tally midway through the final stanza. He rifled in a shot from the right-hand circle to make it 3-2 (and take his tally to 6 (3+3) from the last four games).
The last 10 minutes were a huge test of character for this young Sochi team. Metallurg poured forward in search of a goal to save the game. The final stages saw Magnitka outshoot the host 10-0, but Tretyak stuck to his task and denied the visiting offense. Today’s victory may not have much impact on the Western Conference standings, with Sochi still rooted to the foot of the table. But it means an enormous amount to everyone associated with the southern club.
