SKA celebrates top spot, Spartak grabs vital win. February 16 round-up
Thursday’s big game was a Moscow derby for high stakes. Spartak needed a win to keep its realistic playoff prospects alive, and got it thanks to a 58th-minute goal from Ilya Talaluyev. SKA underlined its position as the league leader with a 1-0 win over Sibir to celebrate its Continental Cup success. In the East, Ak Bars is close to confirming top spot after winning at Admiral, while Traktor boosted its playoff hopes with a 5-0 win over Sochi. Amur failed to overtake eighth-placed Neftekhimik, losing at home to Avtomobilist.
Motormen deny Amur a return to the top eight
Amur Khabarovsk 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 (1-1, 1-3, 0-0)
The Tigers missed the chance to return to eighth place in the East as Avtomobilist got revenge for its defeat in Khabarovsk 48 hours earlier. As a result, Amur remains in ninth place, level on points with Neftekhimik, while the Motormen go to second. However, they are six points adrift of Ak Bars, which looks likely to finish the season on top of the table.
In the early stages, the home team took the initiative. It wasn’t until the ninth minute that Avtomobilist managed its first shot on goal. However, Amur struggled to carve out clear cut chances at the other end and fell behind against the run of play when Nikita Tryamkin released Brooks Macek. The German international confidently beat Janis Kalnins to open the scoring.
That lead lasted just 20 seconds before Denis Vikharev tied it up. Amur worked well from the face-off and Macek was unable to close down his opposite number in time to prevent the goal. In the latter stages of the first period, the home team was close to going in front, hitting the post and seeing another play whistled down for offside.
The start of the second period produced another rapid exchange of goals. Alexei Makeyev restored Avtomobilist’s lead, only for Stanislav Bocharov to tie the scores 11 later. This time, though, Avtomoblist was ready to strike back almost as quickly: Stephane Da Costa made it 3-2, finishing a flurry of three goals in 46 seconds.
After that, the scoring slowed but the game continued at the same frantic tempo. Makeyev, returning to a top six role in this game, made a case to take the player of the game plaudits when he intercepted Artyom Alyayev’s wayward pass and sprinted down the ice to make it 4-2. That was the third unassisted goal for the visitor, and it proved to be the final scoring of the day. Amur was unable to convert a five-on-three power play as the Motormen closed out the win.
Radulov leads Ak Bars to victory
Admiral Vladivostok 0 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (0-0, 0-1, 0-2)
Alexander Radulov had a hand in all three goals as Ak Bars enjoyed a comfortable victory in Vladivostok. However, Admiral made things difficult for the Conference leader early on before succumbing to a second successive loss to its visitor.
The first period, in particular, saw the Sailors impress. Admiral outshot Ak Bars 11-4 in the opening frame, with Libor Sulak delivering an eye-catching performance. However, neither Sulak nor his team-mates could beat Amir Miftakhov in the Kazan net.
The break helped Ak Bars. Although Admiral continued to enjoy the better of the game, the visitor looked more threatening on the break. One of those counterattacks led to the opening goal, albeit with a slice of good fortune. Radulov’s shot took a deflection from Ilya Safonov and came back off the boards before bouncing into the net via Nikita Serebryakov’s pads.
With little to choose between the teams, discipline was vital. Admiral will be unhappy that a pair of penalties handed Ak Bars the advantage midway through the third period, all the more so considering Rudolf Cerveny took an offensive zone penalty, then Mikhail Berlyov’s minor was a needless unsportsmanlike conduct call. That gave Ak Bars a four-on-three power play and the visitor used the extra space to fashion a goal for Dmitry Kagarlitsky.
Radulov had a helper on that goal too, and he completed the scoring late on with another power play goal to secure a 3-0 win. Ak Bars is six points clear at the top, and could secure first place in the Conference over the weekend.
Traktor overpowers Sochi
Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 HC Sochi 0 (0-0, 3-0, 2-0)
Amur’s loss at home to Avtomobilist gave Traktor the chance to close the gap on the top eight when it entertained Sochi. And Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team took full advantage, handing the basement club a 5-0 thrashing to move one point behind Neftekhimik and Amur.
After a goalless opening frame, in which a youthful Sochi team more than held its own, Traktor took charge in the second. The first shift saw Nikita Soshnikov put the home team ahead, then Vladimir Tkachyov doubled the lead midway through the game. That goal extended Tkachyov’s productive streak to four games. Defenseman Alexander Shepelev added a third late in the middle frame, effectively ending the game as a contest.
Thursday’s action marked the 10th anniversary of the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite, and Traktor wore a special jersey to celebrate the occasion. The home team found more shooting stars in the final frame as goals from Pyotr Khokhryakov and Ilya Karpukhin completed a comfortable home victory. While Traktor continues to push for a playoff place, Sochi continues to fall from the skies: the Leopards are destined to finish bottom of the table this season by a significant distance, with acting head coach Dmitry Kokorev admitting that his players are already looking towards securing their place on next season’s team.
Sun makes history, Vityaz enjoys big win
Vityaz Moscow Region 5 Kunlun Red Star 1 (1-1, 1-0, 3-0)
Sun Zehao became the first Chinese-born goalie to start a game in the KHL when Greg Ireland gave him the nod for this trip to Vityaz. Ireland is currently looking to maximize opportunities for the players who will represent China in World Championship Division IB in April, and Sun is likely to join naturalized Chinese goalie Jeremy Smith on that roster.
Unfortunately for him, Sun’s debut was eclipsed by an impressive display from Vityaz. The home team secured its playoff spot earlier in the week and celebrated that achievement with a comfortable victory today.
In fairness to Sun, this was a tight game through two periods. Vityaz got ahead midway through the first period through Vladislav Kara, but Jack Rodewald tied it up with his first goal following his return from injury. The second period was also closely contested; Vityaz edged back in front on a Stepan Starkov marker, but there was no serious grounds for complaint about the Chinese goalie.
However, in the final frame Vityaz got on top. Tyler Graovac set the tone with an early goal, Scott Wilson added a fourth on the power play. Alexander Yaremchuk completed the scoring midway through the frame, giving the final score a lopsided look.
Shut-out win as SKA celebrates regular season title
SKA St. Petersburg 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0)
SKA secured top spot in the regular season standings yesterday. Today, Roman Rotenberg’s team celebrated that achievement with victory over a Sibir team still hoping to secure first place in the East. Instead of a feast of attacking hockey, though, the teams produced an arm-wrestle of a game decided by a solitary goal.
That decisive tally came midway through the third period thanks to Alexander Nikishin. The young defenseman struck right at the end of a five-on-three power play for his team, beating Anton Krasotkin with a shot from the right-hand channel. For Nikishin, there was a sense of personal retribution: he had been the victim of Anton Nazarevich’s foul.
Sibir had the puck in the home net right at the end of the first period, but unfortunately for the Siberians it was just after the hooter and the goal did not stand. That proved to be the best the visitor could offer. SKA shut down the play in the second period, limiting the visitor’s opportunities while failing to reproduce the kind of offensive dominance it enjoyed at the start.
The final frame saw Sibir put more pressure on Dmitry Nikolayev’s net, outshooting SKA 12-6 in its search for a tying goal. However, Nikolayev stood firm and finished the day with 27 saves to record his third shut-out of the season.
Talaluyev strikes late to keep Spartak in playoff hunt
Spartak Moscow 2 Dynamo Moscow 1 (1-0, 0-0, 1-1)
A vital derby victory keeps Spartak’s playoff hopes alive, while Dynamo seems unlikely to crack the top four after this loss.
The Red-and-Whites avenged a 2-3 loss here against Dynamo two days earlier. The win lifts Spartak to within three points of Dinamo Minsk in eighth, having played a game fewer. Dynamo, meanwhile, remains four points adrift of fourth-placed CSKA and its cross-town rival has a game in hand.
Spartak did it the hard way. In the first period, the home team had to kill three penalties – maybe the pressure of securing a playoff spot affected the players? – but more than fulfilled that task. Indeed, the only goal of the frame came on a Spartak penalty kill, but it went to home forward Roman Lyubimov who struck on the counterattack to open the scoring.
The second period was goalless, with the focus shifting to Spartak goalie... He stopped 12 shots as Dynamo enjoyed the better chances.
The Blue-and-Whites continued to press in the third, and it seemed that the visitor had saved the game when Maxim Dzhioshvili tied the scores in the 58th minute. Spartak had other ideas. Just 25 seconds elapsed before Ilya Talaluyev restored the home lead. That was enough to give the Red-and-Whites a narrow but vital victory.
