Motormen make the playoffs, Hawks shoot down SKA. February 11 round-up
Avtomobilist returns to the playoffs after a one-year absence. The Motormen secured their place with a 5-3 win over Dinamo Minsk. That result also has repercussions for the Western playoff race, with Severstal opening a three-point gap over the Belarusians. However, Spartak was unable to take advantage, going down 3-4 at Torpedo. Avangard enjoyed a high-scoring win over SKA, while struggling Sochi had a rare moment to savor after scoring seven on Kunlun Red Star. Salavat Yulaev blanked Vityaz and Traktor lost in OT against Admiral.
Late salvo sinks league leader
Avangard Omsk 5 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (1-2, 2-1, 2-1)
After three straight losses, Avangard could be forgiven for feeling that a visit from table-topping SKA was the last thing it needed. However, in a thrilling battle, the Hawks claimed a memorable victory after scoring twice in the 56th minute to turn the game around.
Neither team was interested in standing on ceremony here, and the opening goal arrived from just the second attack of the game. SKA’s Zakhar Bardakov flew towards Vasily Demchenko’s net from deep in his own territory. Demchenko stopped the initial shot, but Alexander Volkov followed up to convert the rebound.
The home team hit back swiftly. Reid Boucher capitalized on an error from Mikhail Pashnin to steal the puck and deposit it behind Dmitry Nikolayev’s back. Then the teams traded power plays: Avangard could not score with an extra man, but SKA showed how it should be done when Andrei Pedan restored the lead with a slapshot.
SKA had another PP chance at the start of the second period, but could not take advantage this time. Instead, Avangard tied it up shortly after getting back to full strength when Tkachyov broke from deep and beat Nikolayev on the short side. Dmitrij Jaskin, Omsk-born, restored the visitor’s lead but Tkachyov got his second of the game to send the teams to the second intermission at 3-3. Tkachyov thus sent a little reminder to his former colleagues at SKA, where he played from 2019 to 2021.
Although the scores were level, the visitor had enjoyed the better of the game in the first two periods, outshooting Avangard 26-16 and enjoying a similar advantage in terms of territorial advantage. Midway through the third, Evgeny Ketov got his stick onto a Pashnin shot to restore SKA’s lead and it felt like this time Avangard would struggle to come up with a response.
Confounding the skeptics, though, the Hawks produced their most eloquent answer of the game. SKA killed one penalty, but when Pashnin went to the box, Damir Sharipzyanov tied the scores on 55:21. Back at full strength, it took just 30 seconds for Alex Broadhurst to score his team’s fifth of the day after great work from Sergei Tolchinsky to fashion the chance. It was the first time Avangard went ahead in the game, and it proved to be the decisive goal. The Hawks enjoyed their first regulation-time win since Jan. 16.
Chmelevski scores twice, Ezhov blanks Vityaz
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Vityaz Moscow Region 0 (1-0, 1-0, 2-0)
After an impressive run of form, Vityaz hit a bit of a bump on its current road trip. This was a second defeat in three games for Vyacheslav Butsayev’s team, and both of them were shut-out losses. For Ufa, today’s victory makes it three in a row after OT successes against CSKA and Kunlun Red Star.
Visiting goalie Maxim Dorozhko was defending a 104-minute shut-out streak, but he added just two minutes to that before he was beaten by Evgeny Timkin. That was Timkin’s first goal since joining Salavat Yulaev in the summer, and it came against the club where he first made his name in the KHL.
The home team might have extended that lead in a strong first period, but had to wait until the second before adding another goal. This time it was Alexander Chmelevski on target. In recent games, he has made a habit of popping up with overtime winners; today he got on the scoreboard rather earlier.
And it was Chmelevski who made the game safe with his second in the 54th minute, putting a short-handed goal into the empty net as Vityaz tried to chase the game. After that, all that remained was for Nikolai Kulemin to finish the job, while Ilya Ezhov made 17 saves to secure his shut-out.
Traktor misses chance to sneak into playoff places
Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 3 OT (0-0, 0-2, 2-0, 0-1)
Traktor rallied from 0-2 at home to Admiral, but was unable to secure the victory that might have lifted it into the playoff spots. Tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, the home team lost out to Nikolai Chebykin’s overtime goal. Admiral’s victory puts it six points clear of ninth-placed Neftekhimik.
The first period saw most of the action taking place around Nikita Serebryakov’s net. The Admiral goalie was by far the busier of the two as Traktor look to dictate the pace of the game from the off. However, Serebryakov was well supported by his defense and how just nine shots to deal with. Not surprisingly, then, the opening stanza finished goalless.
In the second, things did not change all that much at first. Serebryakov remained the busier of the goalies and even though his defense blocked plenty of shots he still had to neutralize some dangerous moments. However, against the run of play, the opening goal came at the other end in the 38th minute. Traktor goalie Kirill Ustimenko lost possession behind his net and Pavel Shen was the ultimate beneficiary. Then, in the final minute of the frame, a two-on-one rush saw Libor Sulak fire home a second goal for Admiral.
Smash and grab? Not quite. Traktor found a way back into the game in the third period. In the 49th minute, Ilya Karpukhin joined the attack and got to the slot in time to convert a feed from Vladimir Tkachyov. That gave the home team a lifeline, and when Dinar Khamidullin’s foul gave Traktor a power play, Sergei Kalinin grabbed the opportunity. He was on the spot to redirect Alexei Byvaltsev’s effort into the net and tie the game.
In the closing stages, Traktor tried to find a winner. However, neither team could prevent the game from going to overtime. In those extras, the winner arrived after a couple of minutes when Chebykin broke down the left-hand channel and fired home.
Motormen seal playoff spot
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5 Dinamo Minsk 3 (1-1, 0-2, 4-0)
Avtomobilist became the latest team to confirm its playoff spot, rallying from 1-3 to beat Dinamo Minsk. The visitor missed the chance to boost its own playoff hopes and remains eighth in the West, three points ahead of Spartak.
The Motormen made a good start, helped by 76 second with a two-man advantage. It didn’t take the home power play long to turn that into the opening goal in familiar fashion with Stephane Da Costa setting up Brooks Macek in the fifth minute.
Avto might have doubled that lead, but Georgy Belousov saw his effort rebound off the post. Then, instead of 2-0, the scoreline was 1-1. Dinamo got a power play and Brandon Kozun finished it off. Then, in the second period the visitor opened up a two-goal lead of its own. Ryan Spooner, once an Avtomobilist player, potted a goal on his return to the Urals before Nikita Zorkin added a third just before the second intermission.
That demanded a fast start to the third period for the home team. Macek provided it, scoring his second of the game in the 42nd minute. Five minutes later, Belousov was on target to tie the game, helped by a deflection off Dmitry Deryabin. Now the momentum was firmly with Avtomobilist and Da Costa put his team in front with 10 minutes to play, turning to fire home from close range. Dinamo kept battling, but the Bison’s hopes were ended when Curtis Valk slotted into the empty net to wrap up the win and assure Avto of its playoff spot.
Steelmen edge shoot-out verdict
Severstal Cherepovets 4 Amur Khabarovsk 3 SO (2-2, 1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Both teams needed points to bolster their playoff ambitions, and a tie in 60 minutes did no harm to either side. Severstal eventually took the verdict in a shoot-out, consolidating seventh place in the West and opening a six-point gap to Spartak in ninth. Amur, meanwhile, remains one point clear of ninth place in the East after matching Traktor’s overtime loss earlier in the day.
The teams produced an entertaining first period. Amur may feel it would have taken control of the game if its players had stayed out of the box. As it was, Severstal had four power plays and scored twice, with Ruslan Abrosimov and Yegor Morozov on target. In between those efforts, defensemen Ruslan Pedan and Yakov Rylov found the net for the Tigers.
In the second period, Severstal again got in front on the PP thanks to Igor Geraskin in the 34th minute. However, right before the break, Stanislav Bocharov tied it up with yet another power play goal. The scores remained deadlocked at 3-3 throughout the third period, with both teams fairly happy to secure a point for their respective playoff bids.
Overtime could not separate them, and in the shoot-out Dmitry Shugayev proved invincible in the Severstal net. He stopped all four Amur attempts, while Abrosimov and Morozov were on target at the other end.
Sochi celebrates emphatic win
HC Sochi 7 Kunlun Red Star 2 (0-2, 4-0, 3-0)
This game had nothing riding on it in terms of the playoff race, with both teams eliminated from contention. However, a good deal of pride was at stake, especially for Sochi. The basement team had suffered four losses in its previous games against Kunlun and finally got a win against its Chinese rival here.
That prospect seemed remote at the end of the first period. There wasn’t much between the teams, but KRS took its chances. Brandon Yip opened the scoring on the power play in the fourth minute, and Tomas Jurco doubled that lead late in the frame.
However, the Leopards rallied strongly, scoring four unanswered goals in the middle stanza. Kirill Petkov got things rolling with a shorthanded tally 48 seconds into the session. Artur Tyanulin tied it up a couple of minutes after the teams returned to full strength, and then got the go-ahead goal in the 39th minute. Petkov joined his team-mate on two goals with a buzzer-beater right at the end of the frame to open a 4-2 lead.
In the third period, the host extended its lead to secure its biggest win of a troubled season. Goals from Alexander Gordin and Matvei Michkov, barely a minute apart, put the game well out of reach. Donat Stalnov added a seventh late on to complete the scoring.
Goncharuk’s late goal lifts Torpedo back to second
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 Spartak Moscow 3 (1-1, 1-0, 2-2)
Igor Larionov was back behind the Torpedo bench today and he masterminded a hard-fought win that piles the pressure on Spartak’s playoff prospects. The Red-and-Whites led with seven minutes to play, but could not hold and remain three points adrift of the top eight. Severstal’s win over Amur means it is increasingly likely that Spartak and Dinamo Minsk will decide the final post-season berth between them.
Torpedo made a flying start here, going in front thanks to a Vasily Atanasov goal after 57 seconds. Atanasov was one of the more impressive youngsters in the KHL this season before injury slowed his progress. Today the 20-year-old got his first goal Sep. 30, and his fifth in 26 games all told.
The game was disrupted by frequent penalties and Spartak tied the scores during a spot of four-on-four action. Phil Varone was the scorer midway through the opening session.
It was a long wait for the next goal, but in the 37th minute Torpedo took the lead once again through Artyom Mikheyev and held that advantage to the second intermission. However, Varone’s second of the game tied the scores 20 seconds into the final frame, setting up a barnstorming finale.
Spartak, in urgent need of the win to keep pressure on the playoff clubs, got ahead for the first time when Maxim Tsyplakov scored on 53 minutes. However, the Red-and-Whites could not hold that lead. Maxim Letunov tied the scores 49 seconds later and in a grandstand finish, Sergei Goncharuk struck on the power play to win it for Torpedo on 59:32. The home team moves one point clear of Lokomotiv in second place.
