Three more secure playoff berths. February 13 round-up
Monday’s play saw three more playoff spots taken. In the East, wins for Avangard and Salavat Yulaev mean that six out of eight places are reserved. Avangard defeated Dinamo Minsk, which in turn means that Vityaz is the sixth team in the West to confirm its postseason presence. SKA won a high-scoring game in Astana and is now one victory away from lifting the Continental Cup. In Cherepovets, meanwhile, there were no goals through 65 minutes of play before Lokomotiv beat Severstal in a shoot-out.
Hawks clinch playoff spot
Avangard Omsk 4 Dinamo Minsk 2 (0-0, 0-1, 4-1)
Avangard booked its playoff ticket in the Eastern Conference and, at the same time, secured Vityaz a post season place in the West. The Hawks knew that anything better than a regulation time loss would be enough to secure a top-eight place, but also wanted to keep up its push for a top-four finish and home ice advantage at the start of the playoffs. Dinamo, meanwhile, was looking for a win to boost its hopes of a playoff place in the West. The Belarusians arrived three points clear of ninth-placed Spartak but had played a game more.
The early stages were slow to warm up. Dinamo had the better of the opening exchanges but rarely looked likely to open the scoring. The best chance of the first period came in the final minute, when Arseny Gritsyuk and Reid Boucher launched a two-on-one break towards the Dinamo net, only for Alexei Kolosov to produce a fine save.
It was a similar story for much of the second period. Avangard could not get ahead, even with the help of a power play, and both teams enjoyed a good share of possession without creating much danger for either goalie. That all changed midway through the frame, when Dinamo won an attacking face off and Ryan Spooner set up Nikita Zorkin for the opening goal.
Avangard almost replied immediately when Sergei Tolchinsky had a gilt-edged chance to tie the scores on the next shift. However, he fluffed that opportunity and Dinamo held its lead to the intermission.
In the third period, the Hawks repeatedly knocked on Alexei Kolosov’s door, but had to be patient before finding a way in. Finally, in the 52nd minute, Corban Knight tied it up off a Gritsyuk feed from behind the net after Ziyat Paigin thumped in a shot from the blue line. A minute later, Kolosov’s misjudgement behind the net allowed Vladimir Tkachyov to nip and give the home team the lead. Next came a penalty on Brandon Kozun and a power play goal for Omsk, with Tolchinsky putting a wrister behind the visiting goalie.
With two goals to recover, Kolosov left the game to make room for a sixth skater. The gambit worked, at least initially. Cedric Paquette pulled one back with more than two minutes still to play. However, when Kolosov left the game for a second time, Ivan Telegin’s empty net goal sealed the win for Avangard.
Barys fights back, but has too much to do
Barys Astana 4 SKA St. Petersburg 6 (0-3, 1-1, 3-2)
An extended spell without games was a mixed blessing for Barys. On the bright side, captain Linden Vey returned to fitness and was able to resume his familiar role centering the first line. However, during that team’s inactivity, Barys slipped to the foot of the Eastern Conference with time running out as it looks to secure a playoff spot.
Perhaps a greater problem was the disjointed hockey from the home team in the first period as Barys tried to get used to competitive action again. Within four minutes, Igor Ozhiganov put SKA in front and the visitor extended that lead to 3-0 by the first intermission thanks to further goals from Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov and Evgeny Ketov. When Ketov added the third, home goalie Julius Hudacek left the game to be replaced by Nikita Boyarkin.
Barys needed a big second period, and Alex Grant raised hopes when he scored a power play goal on his former colleagues at the start of the session. However, instead of kickstarting a revival, Grant’s effort was cancelled out by Stepan Falkovsky’s strike midway through the period. SKA led 4-1 at the second break, and the game looked to be over.
The final frame brought another quick goal for Barys, this time from Nikita Mikhailis. Again, SKA responded with Damir Zhafyarov potting a fifth for the visitor. This time, though, the Kazakhs refused to let the league leader get away. Jeremy Bracco reduced the deficit, then in the 54th minute Kirill Savitsky made it a one-goal game. Was this the momentum swing that would take the game away from SKA?
In the end, it wasn’t to be. Boyarkin returned to the bench but the six skaters of Barys allowed an empty net goal from Vasily Glotov to settle the outcome for SKA. Roman Rotenberg’s team is now just one win away from clinching top spot in the regular season standings. It can achieve that on Thursday when it entertains Sibir.
Rallying from 0-2, Neftekhimik boosts playoff hopes
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (1-2, 1-0, 2-0)
By the time Vityaz took to the ice, Vyacheslav Butsayev’s team already knew its playoff place in the West was secure. That meant that Neftekhimik’s need was far greater than its visitor’s, with the Wolves needing victory to return to eighth place in the East ahead of Amur.
Vityaz started the game well enough, with Scott Wilson putting the visitor in front on the first power play of the game. Yaroslav Busygin doubled that lead in the 16th minute and it looked as though this might be a playoff party.
However, Neftekhimik hit back. Mikhail Sidorov reduced the arrears before the intermission with a power play goal and Ansel Galimov tied the scores in the 34th minute.
In the third period, the home team put plenty of pressure on Maxim Dorozhko’s net. The go-ahead goal arrived in the 52nd minute through Pavel Poryadin, and Neftekhimik sealed a valuable victory when Andrei Belozyorov found the empty net late on.
Bocharov denies Severstal
Severstal Cherepovets 0 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 SO (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Fans in Cherepovets had to wait a long time to see the puck hit the net as goalies dominated this encounter. The teams were deadlocked for a full 65 minutes before Yegor Averin settled it for Loko in the shoot-out.
That wrapped up a great day for visiting netminder Ivan Bocharov. He stopped 21 shots in regulation, a further five in OT and then won every duel in the shoot-out, denying Ruslan Abrosimov, Robin Press, Daniil Vovchenko and Yegor Morozov. That was truly a game-winning performance from the Railwaymen’s goalie.
At the other end, Dmitry Shugayev was scarcely less impressive. He made 37 saves through 65 minutes before he was finally solved in that shoot-out. The bonus point does Severstal no harm either, opening a seven-point gap to ninth-placed Spartak with the Red-and-Whites having just six games left to force their way into the top eight. Lokomotiv, meanwhile, returns to second place. However, it has played two games more than CSKA and Torpedo, its closest pursuers.
Playoffs heading to Ufa
HC Sochi 1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 (0-1, 1-3, 0-0)
After Saturday’s 7-2 win over Kunlun brought a rare highlight in Sochi’s season of struggle, Monday was back to normal beside the Black Sea. Unlike Red Star, Salavat Yulaev arrived on the coast with plenty to play for: victory today would confirm a playoff place in the East.
There was never much doubt about the outcome. Ufa tore into Sochi from the start, and got ahead on a Danil Bashkirov goal in the ninth minute. At the intermission, the only surprise was that Bashkirov’s was the only goal. Salavat Yulaev outshot the Leopards 19-2 and was on top in every part of the game.
That superiority gained its proper reward in the second period. Mikhail Naumenkov’s power play goal doubled the lead in the 28th minute and Pavel Koledov added a third midway through the game. Sochi got a consolation effort when Vasily Machulin struck on the power play shortly after that, but Alexander Chmelevski added another PP tally at the other end to make the final score 4-1.
Chmelevski extended his goal streak to five games and fans in Bashkortostan will be hoping their import is hitting a hot streak just in time for the playoffs. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Machulin claimed his first KHL goal, bringing the day’s only bright spot for Sochi.
