Dinamo returns to top eight, Sibir reclaims leadership. January 26 round-up
Thursday’s action began in Vladivostok where Sibir claimed a shoot-out verdict to move back in front of Avtomobilist at the top of the Eastern Conference. The rest of the day was all about the West, and the battle for playoff positions. Dinamo Minsk was the big winner, overpowering Kunlun Red Star to move back up to eighth place. Vityaz had a similarly convincing success at Sochi to maintain its lead over the chasing pack. However, Spartak lost out at home to Torpedo with the visitor keeping up its push for second place in the conference.
Sibir back on top in the East
Admiral Vladivostok 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 SO (0-0, 0-2, 2-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Despite blowing a two-goal lead, Sibir managed to snaffle a shoot-out victory in Vladivostok and regained top spot in the Eastern Conference. For the home team, on a sticky run of two wins in eight games in January, a point helps to maintain a gap to the frantic battle for a top-eight spot.
The first period was evenly matched. Admiral made the brighter start, but gradually Sibir came into the game, helped by the only power play of the session.
Sibir’s steady improvement brought the opening goal early in the second session. Yegor Spiridonov finished off a swift counterattack to register his first marker in the KHL. Almost immediately, Admiral got on the power play and forced Denis Kostin into action to preserve his team’s lead. However, it was an unnecessary penalty on Nikolajs Jelisejevs that brought the next goal as Taylor Beck quickly converted that power play to double Sibir’s lead.
Admiral responded well. Immediately after the goal, the home team put the pressure on Kostin once again. He pulled off some big saves, and was also grateful to the piping for keeping his goal intact.
However, Sibir’s netminder was not invulnerable. Early in the third period he was beaten by a seemingly straightforward shot from Libor Sulak to let Admiral back into the game. Inspired, the home team redoubled its attacking efforts and dominated much of the third period. Even a penalty kill did not greatly slow the Sailors down and ultimately Nikolai Chebykin delivered the tying goal in the 55th minute. A penalty for Beck late in the game offered a chance for Admiral to snatch the win, but Sibir survived and went on to take the verdict in a shoot-out thanks to Alexander Sharov.
Minsk back in top eight
Kunlun Red Star 1 Dinamo Minsk 5 (0-1, 0-2, 1-2)
Dinamo returned to the top eight in the West thanks to a convincing win at Kunlun Red Star. The victory moves Craig Woodcroft’s men level on points with Severstal, but the Belarusians have the edge on regulation-time verdicts.
The opening goal came after five minutes when Shawn Lalonde’s feed sent Vitaly Pinchuk into the Dragons’ zone. Pinchuk still had plenty to do, getting past a home defenseman before beating Jeremy Smith from close range.
The other big incident of the first period was a fight between Garet Hunt and Vladimir Alistrov. The KRS tough guy had the better of that brawl and the Dinamo forward needed treatment for an injury.
Dinamo took the game away from Red Star late in the middle frame. Igor Martynov extended the lead with a short-handed goal in the 36th minute, and a couple of minutes later Daniil Sotishvili added a third.
The Bison also had a point to prove to KRS after suffering a 2-6 mauling on home ice in the teams’ previous meeting. And the visitor went on to extend its lead thanks to Nick Merkley’s power play tally midway through the third before Cedric Paquette added a fifth. Devin Brosseau’s last-minute tally gave the home team something to cheer, but did little more than spoil Konstantin Shostak’s shut-out.
Dinamo’s convincing win leaves the Chinese team’s playoff prospects looking ever more remote. Although Kunlun still has a mathematical chance of making the top eight, it would have to claw back 13 points with just 12 games remaining.
Torpedo takes share of second place
Spartak Moscow 0 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 (0-1, 0-0, 0-3)
Three wins in four games, all against teams below Spartak in the Western Conference, helped the Red-and-Whites to a more comfortable position in their battle for a playoff spot. However, Igor Grishin’s team has found life difficult against higher-placed opposition throughout this season and the visit of Torpedo proved too much for the Muscovites.
Torpedo has its own targets. Igor Larionov’s men are in the thick of a four-way battle for second place in the West. Victory today would lift Torpedo level with Lokomotiv and CSKA on 74 points; Dynamo Moscow is right behind on 72.
The visitor had the better of the first period, outshooting Spartak 17-11. That attacking endeavor produced the game’s opening goal in the 13th minute when Kirill Voronin posted an unassisted tally. However, neither team was able to add to the scoring until early in the third when Nikolai Kovalenko extended Torpedo’s lead.
Shortly after that Kovalenko took a penalty to give Spartak its first power play of the evening. However, the home team was unable to grasp that lifeline and once back to full strength Torpedo extended its lead as Vladislav Firstov added two more in the closing stages. Goalie Adam Huska stopped 34 shots to record his second shut-out of the season.
Vityaz too strong for Sochi
HC Sochi 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 5 (1-2, 0-3, 1-0)
Vityaz made it four wins from five with a convincing success at basement club Sochi. The Leopards, continuing under interim head coach Dmitry Kokorev, could not capitalize on an early goal and slipped to another heavy defeat.
For the visitor, meanwhile, victory today maintains a six-point gap over ninth place as the Moscow Region team looks to secure its playoff place in its first season playing in Balashikha.
Despite its recent struggles, Sochi grabbed an early goal. A penalty on Matvei Michkov did not slow the Leopards’ start, and Yegor Babenko potted a shorty to open the scoring in the third minute.
The first-period play was fairly even, but Vityaz arrived with greater confidence and made the most of its chances. Tyler Graovac tied the stores in the eighth minute and Vladimir Galuzin put the visitor ahead before the first intermission.
In the middle frame, Vityaz took control with three unanswered goals. Ivan Yezhov and Artyom Borodkin took the score out to 4-1 within a couple of minutes of the restart. That chased Mikhail Berdin from the Sochi net and, for a time, Maxim Tretyak resisted the onslaught. However, midway through the session Vladislav Kara added a fifth, extinguishing any realistic prospect of a home recovery. Kirill Petkov got a consolation goal midway through the third period to complete the scoring.
