Metallurg secures playoff spot, CSKA wins derby. February 12 round-up
A 4-1 win at Sibir ensures Metallurg will be part of this year’s playoffs. The Steelmen join today’s opposition, Ak Bars and Avtomobilist in confirming their post season spot. Sunday’s other game was all about Moscow bragging rights, with CSKA edging Dynamo in a shoot-out after a 2-2 tie in the capital.
Zernov’s double leads Magnitka past Sibir
Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 (0-2, 0-2, 1-0)
Since Dmitry Ryabykin left Metallurg’s coaching staff, the Steelmen have picked up points in every game, with only an overtime loss to Vityaz spoiling a perfect run. That put the club on the brink of confirming its playoff place and Magnitka landed in Novosibirsk knowing that victory would do just that.
That 4-5 loss at home to Vityaz prompted a couple of changes for the visitor. Eddie Pasquale replaced Vasily Koshechkin in goal, while Yaroslav Khabarov and Josh Currie came into the team in place of Grigory Dronov and Arkhip Nekolenko. Sibir welcomed back Vyacheslav Litovchenko after almost three months’ absence.
It didn’t take long for the visitor to assert itself. Metallurg gained a power play in the first minute and Denis Zernov took advantage to open the scoring when he redirected Kodie Curran’s shot into the net. Sibir came close on a power play of its own, but Ilya Morozov’s point shot evaded all efforts to steer it past Pasquale and slammed into the crossbar.
Late in the first period, Metallurg converted another power play when Semyon Koshelev scored from close range after a neat passing combination. Sibir began the second period with a man advantage but could not turn that into a goal and fell further behind in the 24th minute when Zernov potted his second of the game.
Sibir continued to enjoy a statistical advantage, but Metallurg kept on scoring. Brendan Leipsic added a fourth to take the game away from the home team. That brought Denis Kostin into the Sibir goal in place of starter Anton Krasotkin. The new man managed to keep Metallurg at bay until the end, but could do little to change the final outcome. Nikita Shashkov’s goal midway through the third period offered some consolation to the home fans, but never looked likely to inspire a fightback.
Rashevsky’s double not enough for Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow 2 CSKA Moscow 3 SO (0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
CSKA returned to second place in the Western Conference after edging a derby verdict against Dynamo in a shoot-out. Sergei Fedorov’s team now has three wins from five games against its cross-town rival with one further encounter scheduled in the regular season.
The opening frame was evenly matched, but CSKA made the most of its chances. Vitaly Abramov got the only goal of the session, shooting home after Takhir Mingachyov won an attacking faceoff in the 12th minute. A couple of minutes later Anton Slepyshev came close to doubling the lead when he used his strength to hold off Andrei Pribylsky but couldn’t beat Konstantin Volkov.
In the second period, the visitor carved out another pair of big chances early on and went on to dominate the game. However, Dynamo turned the game around thanks to a pair of goals from Dmitry Rashevsky either side of the intermission. First, Vladislav Kodola’s stretch pass sent Rashevsky clear to tie the scores in the 37th minute. Then, early in the third, Rashevsky reacted fastest to pot the rebound from a Pribylsky point shot.
Now CSKA had to find a way back into the game, and the visitor did just that when Mikhail Grigorenko tied the scores late on. Even so, Dynamo might have won it in the final moments of regulation when Alexander Skorenov found himself unmarked in front of the net. However, Alexander Sharychenkov pulled off a huge glove save to take the game into overtime.
The extras could not produce a winner. CSKA was unable to pull off its usual trick of removing the goalie and playing four-on-three as Dynamo created a series of potential game-winning chances. However, Sharychenkov kept them out and went on to keep his goal intact in the shoot-out. Slepyshev was the only player to convert his attempt, giving the Red-and-Blues the verdict in this fifth Moscow derby of the season.
