Derby joy for SKA and Ufa. January 25 round-up
Wednesday’s big games saw the renewal of two key KHL rivalries. Salavat Yulaev snapped its four-game losing streak with a satisfying overtime win against Ak Bars, then SKA struck two late goals to see off CSKA. The Eastern Conference playoff race continues to enthral. Each of the bottom four picked up at least one point today, but the big winner was Amur after defeating Neftekhimik in a shoot-out in Nizhnekamsk. At the other end of the table, Avtomobilist is back on top thanks to a 3-1 win over Dynamo Moscow.
Traktor gives post-season hopes a boost
Avangard Omsk 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (0-0, 1-2, 1-2)
After back-to-back losses on its road trip to Tatarstan, Avangard returned home to face Traktor. The visitor had lost three in a row prior to this one, and needed points fast to stay in contention with its rivals for a top eight finish in the East.
The early stages of the game lacked fluency. Neither team was able to keep hold of the puck effectively and there was little danger for either goalie amid a stream of predictable shots from the point. Gradually, Avangard began to create some genuine chances and it took a goal-line clearance from Andrei Stas to deny Reid Boucher the opening goal in the 14th minute. However, the intermission arrived with the scoreboard still blank.
Avangard’s Vladimir Tkachyov (not to be confused with his namesake on the Traktor roster) changed all that five minutes after the break. He burst into the Traktor zone, went around the back of the net and scored on the wraparound. However, that provoked a swift reaction from the visitor. Two goals in a minute shortly after the midway point turned the game around. First came Alexei Byvaltsev, getting the decisive touch to Rob Hamilton’s shot. Then Traktor’s Vladimir Tkachyov put his team in front with a wrister past Vasily Demchenko.
Anton Burdasov was close to extending the lead late in the second period when Nikita Soshnikov’s feed found him at the back door. However, he had to wait until the 53rd minute before he got his name on the scoresheet. Traktor withstood some early Avangard pressure in the third period and eventually forced a breakaway. Burdasov went clear of the home defense and won his duel with Demchenko.
The Hawks tried to save themselves, withdrawing the goalie with three minutes to play. However, the extra skater did not bring a fightback, but instead saw Soshnikov score into the empty net. Alex Broadhurst potted a consolation effort in the last minute, but the game was gone.
Severstal back in a playoff spot
Barys Astana 0 Severstal Cherepovets 1 SO (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Both of these teams needed points to return to the top eight. Both of them got there, albeit temporarily in Barys’ case. This game went goalless through regulation time, enabling the Kazakhs to move level on points with Amur and inch into eighth spot in the East until the Tigers played at Neftekhimik later in the day.
Severstal, meanwhile, went on to take the win in a shoot-out after 65 minutes without a goal. As a result, the Steelmen go clear of Dinamo Minsk in the Western Conference. The visitor owed much to goaltender Dmitry Shugayev, who stopped 26 shots in the game and was beaten just once in the shoot-out. At the other end, Julius Hudacek also performed strongly, especially in the second period when Severstal dominated the game and outshot Barys 17-2.
The home team put that right during the second intermission and from that point on the game was more or less even. In overtime, Barys looked the more likely winner but could not find a way past Shugayev. Then in the shoot-out, Ruslan Abrosimov and Robin Press were on target for the visitor to take a vital two points.
Motormen hit the front again
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 Dynamo Moscow 1 (1-0, 2-1, 0-0)
The Motormen finally reported a clean bill of health after months of grappling with injuries to key players. That meant the productive partnership between Curtis Valk and Brooks Macek could resume, while Igor Bobkov got the start in goal.
In the early stages there were more big hits than scoring chances. Even the opening goal relied as much on brute force as on silky skills. Stepan Khripunov’s muscular presence on the Avtomobilist crease obscured Konstantin Volkov’s view of proceedings and kept the Dynamo defense wrong-footed; Patrice Cormier took advantage to drive the puck to the net. The goal came in the 15th minute from only the second shot on Volkov’s net.
Dynamo started the second period well, with Ilya Kablukov earning a penalty on his first shift. The power play took time to generate much danger, but then Brennan Menell’s effort from the blue line was deflected home by Pavel Kudryavtsev to make it 1-1.
Parity did not last long. The next shift saw Avto’s forwards pepper Volkov’s net with shots and Macek restored the home lead at the third attempt when he redirected Nikita Tryamkin’s slap shot. Almost immediately, Volkov was under pressure again as he pulled off a pad save to deny Sergei Shirokov. For a time, Dynamo staggered like a punch-drunk prize-fighter, relying on Volkov to keep it in the game. It wasn’t until midway through the game that the visitor began to play its hockey again – and no sooner did it get back into contention than Avto extended its lead. Jesse Blacker’s shot bounced off Andrei Mironov’s skate and dropped kindly for Oleg Li to fire into the open corner of the net.
Avtomobilist has yet to blow a two-goal lead on home ice this season, and Dynamo rarely looked like changing that record today. The visitor won a fight, with Andrei Nikonov proving stronger that Danil Romantsev, but could not lay a glove on the home defense. The Motormen closed out a first win against the Blue-and-Whites since 2018 and returned to the top of the Eastern Conference after ending a two-game losing run.
Ufa celebrates derby win
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Ak Bars Kazan 1 OT (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
These old foes arrived at Wednesday’s game in contrasting form. Ak Bars came to Ufa on a run of four straight wins and could draw level with the Eastern Conference leaders with a win today. Salavat Yulaev, meanwhile, lost its last four. In addition to Green Derby bragging rights, the home team needed points to enhance its prospects of a top-four finish in the East.
Revenge was another potent motive: that four-game sequence included a 2-1 win for Ak Bars over Salavat Yulaev in Kazan.
As a result, Ufa blazed into the game from the start. Artyom Pimenov’s line was close to opening the scoring but found Timur Bilyalov came up with the answers at the right moment. Gradually, though, Ak Bars began to get into the game, helped by winning the physical battles around the ice. Meanwhile, after the home team could not take advantage of its power play, Ak Bars did just that when Vasily Tokranov potted the opening goal seconds before the intermission.
Salavat Yulaev’s power play got up to speed in the second period, tying the game in the 22nd minute. Sergei Shmelyov, Ufa’s leading scorer this season, got the goal. The derby drama threatened to boil over at times. Home captain Grigory Panin laid a crunching hit on Artyom Galimov, then Alexander Kadeikin and Alexander Radulov – a former Ufa favorite – clashed. Even after the hooter, the teams found plenty to debate among themselves and it took a good couple of minutes to clear the ice and get everyone back to the locker rooms.
That rumpus left Ak Bars shorthanded at the start of the third, but the PK did its job. The action was breathless at times as both teams threw everything in search of a winner. However, neither could get the all-important goal and the action moved into overtime.
Kozlov and his coaching team adopted a high-risk, high-reward approach to the extras. Ilya Ezhov went to the bench and Ufa played with an empty net and an extra skater. He had to make a brief return to action, but ultimately the extra skater worked in the home team’s favor as Alexander Chmelevski forced home the rebound from Kadeikin’s shot.
Shoot-out success keeps Amur in eighth
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Amur Khabarovsk 2 SO (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)
The winner of this game, be it in regulation or beyond, would finish the day in eighth place. Admittedly, that team would still have a precarious grip on a playoff spot, no more than one game better off than the chasing pack. However, with the season drawing to a close, every point matters in an absorbing battle at the foot of the Eastern Conference.
Earlier in the day, both Traktor and Barys picked up at least one point. So perhaps it was no surprise that this two also went to overtime.
In the first period, Neftekhimik had the better of the game. The home team outshot Amur 15-9, helped by an extended power play midway through the session. However, it could not find a way past Evgeny Alikin, who form in the Amur net this season is a big part of the Tigers’ playoff push.
However, the second stanza saw the pattern of play reversed. Now Amur was in the ascendancy and the visitor managed to turn that into an opening goal seconds before the intermission. Pavel Makhanovsky took a stretch pass towards Andrei Tikhomirov’s net, only to be slashed by Kirill Vorobyov. The officials awarded a penalty shot and Nikita Grebyonkin stepped up to break the deadlock.
Grebyonkin had five points in his three previous games, all of which ended in Amur victories in regulation time. Today, though, Neftekhimik managed to take the game beyond 60 minutes. The home team made a fast start to the third period and Mikhail Nazarov tied it up after five minutes. Neftekhimik had a great chance to win it late on when a double minor for Viktor Baldayev was followed by a further penalty on Pavel Turbin. That gave Neftekhimik a full two minutes of five-on-three play, but the Tigers held on to force the extras.
The five additional minutes could not separate the teams, but in the shoot-out Amur prevailed. Grebyonkin and Nazarov were on target once again, but Sergei Dubakin claimed the winner for the visitor and the Tigers held onto eighth place.
Late strikes lift SKA to victory
SKA St. Petersburg 3 CSKA Moscow 1 (1-1, 0-0, 2-0)
After events in Ufa, Wednesday’s second big rivalry game saw table-topping SKA take on second-placed CSKA. Sergei Fedorov’s team had won the last three head-to-head encounters between the two, but Roman Rotenberg’s men arrived in better recent form, winning five of the last six while the Muscovites lost their last two.
The first chance of the game went to SKA. The visitor failed to clear its lines and presented the puck to Zakhar Bardakov. However, he was unable to beat Alexander Sharychenkov and the home team could not get an early goal.
Then CSKA got the first power play of the evening and began to press Dmitry Nikolayev at the other end. SKA killed that penalty, but found itself under continued pressure and gave up a goal shortly afterwards. Darren Dietz fired in a shot that bounced out of the net before the officials could confirm the goal. In the follow-up play, Mikhail Grigorenko ‘scored’ again but a video review confirmed that Dietz had already opened the scoring. Late in the opening frame, SKA tied it up during a passage of four-on-four play: Marat Khairullin raced onto Alexander Nikishin’s pass and won his duel with Sharychenkov.
In the second period, both teams had a spell on the power play, but neither could find a go-ahead goal. The opponents were evenly matched throughout and it began to feel like the game might be decided by an individual error or a flash of solo brilliance.
As it turned out, the key moment came in the 58th minute when CSKA defenseman Christian Jaros fired the puck out of play. As he sat for delay of game, Emil Galimov converted the rebound from Andrei Pedan’s shot to put SKA up 2-1. That was Galimov’s 100th KHL goal. To finish the job, Galimov capitalized on an error as the visitor tried to clear its zone and set up Nikita Gusev for a third, killer goal in the final minute.
