New leader in the East, Sochi’s playoff hopes end. January 20 round-up
Sibir’s victory over Metallurg lifts the team two points clear of Avtomobilist at the top of the Eastern Conference. The race at the top of that section remains as tight as ever, with fifth-placed Ak Bars just four points back after a 2-0 success against Avangard. In the West, meanwhile, Sochi became the first team to officially miss out on a playoff place. A 1-5 loss at Kunlun Red Star means the Leopards are mathematically unable to make the top eight. Neftekhimik beat Salavat Yulaev 5-2 in Friday’s other game.
Three points for Sharov as Sibir moves clear
Sibir Novosibirsk 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (2-2, 1-0, 1-0)
There’s a new leader in the East. Sibir’s victory on Friday lifts Andrei Martemyanov’s team two points clear of Avtomobilist. For much of the season, Metallurg was the team more likely to hit the front. However, Ilya Vorobyov’s men slipped to a fifth loss in six games and missed the chance to draw level with Avto and Sibir on 68 points.
The home team arrived here in much better form, with victories over Ak Bars, Barys and Neftekhimik in its past three games. After that successful road trip, there were no changes to the roster.
Sibir settled into its home building quickly, with Alexander Sharov getting the first goal after 20 seconds. That’s a 26th goal of a record-breaking season for the forward. Magnitka was stung into action, forcing a power play almost immediately and eventually tying the game when Denis Zernov set up Nikolai Goldobin with a simple finish to make it 1-1. Parity did not last long: a minute later, Ilya Morozov fired in from the blue line to restore the home advantage. Sibir had a chance to extend that lead when it got its first power play late in the frame, but instead coughed up a shorthanded goal. Yegor Korobkin intercepted the puck and set up Alexander Burmistrov for his first goal since swapping Ak Bars for Metallurg.
That meant the second period began with the teams deadlocked. However, midway through the session, Sharov orchestrated a two-on-one rush with Vladimir Butuzov, who put Sibir in front. Metallurg continued to get plenty of time in the Sibir end but could not find a way past Anton Krasotkin in the home net.
In the third, Sibir defended carefully to preserve its lead. There were chances at both ends, most notably for Sibir’s Denis Alexandrov and Metallurg’s Maxim Karpov. However, the only goal came in the last minute of play when Nikita Korotkov hit the empty net to confirm his team’s elevation to top spot.
Late goals push Ak Bars into leadership battle
Ak Bars Kazan 2 Avangard Omsk 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)
When Oleg Znarok left Kazan at the start of December, not many people had Ak Bars down as potential Eastern Conference leaders. The star-studded roster was misfiring badly and seemed set to finish in mid-table. A playoff place was not in serious peril, but a top four finish was an optimistic target.
However, since Zinetula Bilyaletdinov returned behind the bench, the team has been transformed. After losing his first game in charge, coach Bill has won eight out of nine and went to overtime in the solitary defeat this year. That run moves Ak Bars up to fifth in the Conference but, with the race for top spot tighter than ever, this in-form competitor is just four points behind leader Sibir.
Today’s game was a heavyweight clash against Avangard, another team that went through strife earlier in the season but can now count itself among the potential top dogs in this section. It took time for Ak Bars to impose itself, with some solid goaltending from Vasily Demchenko making it hard for the home team to get in front. Admittedly the puck found its way into his net once in the sixth minute, but Mikhail Glukhov’s effort went through a hole in the twine rather than legitimately crossing the goal line.
In the middle frame, Avangard suffered a further problem when Damir Sharipzyanov was struck in the face by an Alexander Radulov slap shot. The visiting defenseman went to the locker room for treatment and did not return. Meanwhile, Ak Bars continued to create the better chances without finding the answer to Demchenko.
The breakthrough finally came in the 54th minute. Radulov charged into the Avangard goal, slipping between two opponents before sending the puck wide to Kirill Semyonov. His feed to the slot set up Stanislav Galimov for the long-awaited go-ahead goal.
And three minutes later, Kirill Panyukov put the game beyond Avangard’s reach when he converted another feed from Semyonov to make the final score 2-0.
Dragons end Sochi’s playoff hopes
Kunlun Red Star 5 HC Sochi 1 (3-0, 0-0, 2-1)
Sochi’s theoretical hopes of reaching the playoffs came to an end with tonight’s defeat. After setting a league record 21-game losing streak, it’s no surprise that the Leopards will not be gracing post season, but after defeat to the Dragons their fate is mathematically certain.
The game was decided in the first period as Kunlun scored three unanswered goals. Devin Brosseau made it 1-0 after five minutes, then young German Tochilkin doubled the lead midway through the opening frame. The first power play of the game saw Parker Foo redirect a Zac Leslie shot into Mikhail Berdin’s net in the 15th minute.
That third goal chased Berdin from the net and Maxim Tretyak took over goaltending responsibilities. He soon faced a big test when Luke Lockhart had a penalty shot, but the incoming netminder came up big with the stop.
There were no goals in the middle frame as Sochi began to ask more questions of Jeremy Smith in the home net. However, the visitor’s improvement was undermined by its inability to make the most of its power play chances: over the course of the game, Sochi went 0-for-6 with a man advantage. To make those stats worse, one of those was a major penalty and resulted in a shorthanded goal.
Before that, Foo’s second of the night improved his scoring record against Sochi to six goals in four games this season. The Leopards managed to deny Smith his shut-out when Dmitry Utkin struck from close range and the visitor had a chance to make the finish more interesting when Brosseau was ejected for spearing Sergei Popov. However, that toothless power play fluffed its lines again and Lockhart managed to beat Tretyak in a solo breakaway that somewhat resembled the penalty shot he missed in the first.
Fast start lifts Neftekhimik out of the basement
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (3-0, 1-0, 1-2)
Neftekhimik pulled off a surprise win at home to Salavat Yulaev, moving off the foot of the table and denying its visitor the chance to keep up with the teams battling for top spot. Today’s victory means Neftekhimik climbs to ninth in the Eastern Conference, just one point and one place outside the playoff spots.
A fast start made all the difference here. Anthony Camara opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and Semyon Kizimov added two more before 15 minutes were played. That was the end of the game for Andrei Kareyev in the Ufa net, with Ilya Ezhov replacing him. Kizimov, who arrived in Nizhnekamsk in late December, moves to three goals for the club in seven games The 23-year-old, previously with Avtomobilist, also has three helpers in that time.
Ezhov’s presence in the net slowed the scoring. It remained 3-0 at the first intermission and the second period saw Salavat Yulaev’s offense come to the party. The visitor led the shot count 15-8 in the middle frame, but could not score. Then, at the other end, Sergei Kuptsov made it 4-0 seconds before the hooter.
Any lingering doubts about the outcome were ended in the 45th minute when Evgeny Mityakin added a fifth. Salavat Yulaev was playing for pride in the closing stages and regained a little of that with some late goals. However, efforts from Ivan Drozdov and Danil Alalykin were merely window dressing on a day dominated by Neftekhimik.
