Beck tops the scoring chart, Minsk moves back to top eight. January 30
Sibir’s Canadian forward Taylor Beck collected his 51st point of the season with a fine team goal in his team’s OT win at Amur. That set a new club record for points in a single campaign, and lifted him clear of Marat Khairullin in the KHL scoring race. Khairullin had a chance to join him on 51 points, but did not add to his haul during SKA’s shoot-out loss at home to Torpedo. Dinamo Minsk returns to the Western playoff spots thanks to victory over Kunlun Red Star, while Admiral edged Avangard in overtime on Daniil Gutik’s goal.
Beck moves clear in scoring race
Amur Khabarovsk 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Sibir forward Taylor Beck updated the club’s KHL scoring record with his 51st point of the season. Beck’s goal early in this game takes him past Jori Lehtera and gives him the biggest points tally of any Sibir player in a single KHL season. The Canadian also goes ahead of SKA’s Marat Khairullin in the KHL scoring race this term.
It didn’t take long for Beck’s big moment. With exactly one minute played he finished off a delightful combination of passes to put the Eastern Conference leader in front.
Amur, meanwhile, was looking for points to boost its Eastern Conference playoff hopes. After that rocky start, the Tigers came into the game more strongly but had to wait until the second period to tie the scores. Alexander Sharov (one of two Alexander Sharovs involved in this game) scored his 6th of the season midway through the session.
Ultimately, though, his namesake got the decisive goal. Sibir’s Sharov grabbed the winner after 75 second of overtime with a coast-to-coast effort. That’s his 26th of the current campaign. Sibir finishes the day two points clear at the top of the Conference, Amur is in a three-way tie on 57 points but has played fewer games than Barys and Neftekhimik in the race for eighth place.
Second OT success for Sailors
Admiral Vladivostok 2 Avangard Omsk 1 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
Both of these teams snapped losing streaks with overtime wins in their previous games. Today, once again, the two went into the extras. However, Admiral took the verdict this time, tightening its grip on a top-eight finish and dealing a blow to Avangard’s hopes of making the top four.
The first period was not short of attacking efforts, but despite the teams sharing 22 shots on goal there was no scoring. Avangard arguably created the more promising opportunities but found that Nikita Serebryakov was up to the task in the home net.
After the break, Admiral began to ask more questions of Vasily Demchenko. Midway through the session, that produced the opening goal of the evening when Colby Williams got the puck to the net for Alexander Gorshkov to redirect it home. The puck came off the home forward’s skate, but the officials were happy that there was no deliberate kicking motion and the goal stood.
Admiral deserved that lead, with Avangard appearing toothless in the second stanza. The visiting defense was disjointed and there were few scoring chances for the Hawks. That limp approach also saw a power play come and go early in the third with little danger to Serebryakov’s net. It wasn’t until midway through the third that Avangard tied it up, scoring on Serebryakov at equal strength for the first time this season. Damir Sharipzyanov was the man, stuffing the puck home after a massed raid on the Admiral net.
After that, the Hawks looked more likely to win it in regulation. However, Admiral kept its opponent at bay and forced overtime. In the extras, Vladimir Tkachyov turned over the puck and Daniil Gutik sprinted away to pot the game-winner.
Bison move back into playoff spots
Dinamo Minsk 3 Kunlun Red Star 2 (1-1, 1-1, 1-0)
Dinamo needed at least a point to move back into the top eight, while the Dragons could not afford any slip-ups if they were to keep their playoff hopes alive. The stage was set for the fourth encounter between these teams, with Minsk hoping to see the first home victory in the series to date.
And Dinamo certainly went into the game full of intent. The home team looked the likelier from the start, only to fall behind on 11 minutes. German Tochilkin, who missed the previous game against Spartak, marked his return to action with the opener. The Bison recovered fast, though, and Nick Merkley tied it up in the first.
The second period began with a rush of penalties. KRS briefly had a 5-on-3 advantage, but took two penalties of its own to even things up. Then, with Dinamo enjoying a 4-on-3 power play, Roman Gorbunov made it 2-1 for the home team. This time, though, the Dragons found a tying goal. Ivan Lisin, a player more commonly seen in the VHL, potted his first KHL goal in his 63rd game when he deflected Ryan Sproul’s point shot into the net.
The deciding goal came midway through the third period when Brandon Kozun restored Dinamo’s lead. The victory puts Minsk up to seventh in the West, a point clear of Spartak and Severstal.
Torpedo gets first win over SKA this season
SKA St. Petersburg 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 SO (1-0, 0-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Torpedo moved to second in the Western Conference after Igor Larionov’s team produced its best performance of the season against leader SKA. The previous three encounters had all been comfortable wins for the Petersburg team, but today the action went all the way to overtime.
The first period was somewhat curious. SKA had the better of the game, particularly when the teams were at equal strength, and outshot Torpedo 16-8. However, the home team opened the scoring with a shorthanded effort midway through the frame. Pedan’s stretch pass released Dmitrij Jaskin and the Czech forward brought the puck in from the blue line and beat Ivan Kulbakov in the Torpedo net.
In the second period, Torpedo was the more threatening team. However, whenever the visitor seemed to be generating some momentum, it tended to take a penalty and see the initiative slip away. This was especially noticeable in the middle of the session when a serious of dangerous feed saw Vladislav Firstov and Maxim Letunov both close to tying the game. However, with SKA wobbling, young Vasily Atanasov was called for tripping and the home team got some urgent relief. The game remained 1-0 after 40 minutes.
Early in the third, Torpedo had a couple of big chances to score when Yu Sato tested Vladislav Podyapolsky twice in quick succession. A penalty on Daniil Bokun seemed to offer SKA a chance to settle the outcome, but instead the best chance fell to the visitor’s PK before Artyom Mikheyev failed to finish an odd-man rush.
However, the pressure paid off in the 52nd minute when Maxim Letunov got himself to the slot in time to steer Mikhail Orlov’s point shot into the home net.
Neither team could find a winner in an entertaining passage of overtime, and the shoot-out was decided by Torpedo’s Mikheyev, who was the only forward to convert his attempt.
