Tigers bow out of playoff race, SKA signs off with a win. February 23
Thursday brought just two games in the KHL. Admiral’s 2-0 win over Amur ended Khabarovsk’s hopes of hosting playoff action. Then SKA recovered from 2-5 to defeat Sochi in overtime in its final action before the playoffs.
Admiral ends Amur’s playoff hopes
Admiral Vladivostok 2 Amur Khabarovsk 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
These two teams wrap up their regular season play with two more editions of the Far East derby. For Admiral, it’s a warm-up for a first playoff campaign since 2017. Amur, though, was under pressure. Anything less than victory would see the Tigers bow out of contention for a post season spot yesterday following Neftekhimik’s comeback win over Metallurg.
However, between Amur and a possible top eight finish stood the not inconsiderable obstacle that is Nikita Serebryakov. Admiral’s goalie has been in good form this season, and today he made 38 saves to secure his fifth shut-out of the season. That’s a career-best number for the 27-year-old, whose 20 wins this term also set an individual record. Serebryakov is also well on course for his best GAA and save percentages.
That’s played a big part in sending the Sailors into this season’s playoffs. Today though, it played an even bigger part in denying Amur the chance to join them. The home team killed a penalty early in the first period, and then responded by taking the lead once back at full strength. Rudolf Cerveny led a breakaway, and the Czech forward perceptively steered the puck back to the point where the on-rushing Yury Pautov collected it and scored.
Amur struggled to find a reply and much of the first two periods was fairly even. Only in the third, with 20 minutes to save the season, did the visitor begin to press hard on Serebryakov’s net. The Tigers had 18 shots in that final frame but could not find a way through. Instead, rubbing salt in the wound, Artyom Gareyev fired into the empty net to seal the home win and end Amur’s season.
Gusev crowns SKA fightback
HC Sochi 5 SKA St. Petersburg 6 OT (2-1, 1-1, 2-3, 0-1)
SKA finished its regular season campaign with a dramatic victory at Sochi. The Continental Cup winner rallied from 2-5 to snatch on overtime verdict. In the process, Roman Rotenberg’s team moved to 105 points, its best total since the KHL adopted two points for a win.
For Sochi, meanwhile, this was the start of the final home stand in a difficult season. Lifted by victory at Neftekhimik last time out, the Leopards made a strong start. Kirill Petkov scored twice in the first period, either side of a reply from Nikita Gusev, to give the home team the lead at the first intermission.
In the middle frame, Evgeny Ketov brought SKA level for a second time, but Artur Tyanulin restored the home lead in the 33rd minute. And there was more to come. Tyanulin added a second at the start of the third period, then Timur Khafizov converted a power play to open a commanding 5-2 lead. Could the KHL’s basement team deliver a shock for the league leader?
Ultimately, no. Two goals from Dmitrij Jaskin, the second on the power play, brought the visitor back into contention. That also took the Czech to three points from this game and 62 for the season, likely to be enough to make him the league’s leading scorer. However, it still needed one more goal to save the game, and Alexander Volkov provided that 72 seconds before the end.
In the extras, SKA got a power play. That helped Gusev to his second goal of the game as the visitor left with the win.
