Underdogs bite in Eastern playoff openers. March 1 playoffs
Both of Wednesday’s games in the Eastern Conference playoffs produced surprise results in overtime. First, Admiral grabbed victory at Salavat Yulaev thanks a first ever goal from Prokhor Korbit. Then Neftekhimik stunned table-topping Ak Bars with victory after the home team rallied from 0-2 to force the extras.
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 Admiral Vladivostok 2 OT (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
(Admiral leads the series 1-0)
Ufa was the first city to stage playoff action in 2023, and immediately witnessed the first overtime of the post season. Anybody anticipating a straightforward passage to the second round for Salavat Yulaev was quickly put right by a spirited showing from Admiral, with the visitor snatching victory thanks to an OT goal from Prokhor Korbit. The Sailors, in their first playoff since 2017, have never won a series. However, under Leonids Tambijevs the Far East team has proved a tough opponent throughout 2022-2023 and we saw that once again as the race for the Gagarin Cup began.
For Salavat Yulaev, there was big news before the game. Forward Josh Ho-Sang, the summer’s high-profile import signing from the Toronto Marlies, was back in the team. Ho-Sang suffered a broken arm on his debut against SKA, went to Germany for an operation and the medics warned that it might be four-to-six months before he could return to action. Sure enough, six months later, the Canadian forward was back on the team, playing on the third line alongside Danil Bashkirov and Artyom Pimenov.
Ho-Sang’s first major contribution came late in the first period. Picking up speed, he shielded the puck well with his body as he burst into the center of the zone before testing Nikita Serebryakov with a shot that the visiting goalie did well to save. That was the last meaningful action of an opening frame that saw Salavat Yulaev on top. The host enjoyed two power plays and Serebryakov also had to be alert to deny Ryan Murphy shortly before Ho-Sang’s chance.
However, after the intermission Admiral got back to what it does best: checking hard, blocking up passing and shooting lines and generally making life awkward for the opposition. Evidence of the new pattern of play arrived in the 26th minute when Danil Faizullin got the opening goal of the game. Evgeny Grachyov led the rush down the wing and fired the puck to the slot from out in the corner. A deflection put it onto Faizullin’s stick and he beat Ilya Ezhov from close range.
The play was far more even, but Admiral’s propensity to pick up penalties proved costly. Libor Sulak went to the box late in the frame and this time the home power play got it right. Sergei Shmelyov set up a point shot for Mikhail Naumenkov and, after Serebryakov kept the initial effort out, Alexander Chmelevski was on hand to pot the rebound.
At the start of the third, Admiral got its first power play of the game but Salavat defended strongly to keep the scores tied. Both teams had chances in the frame, but perhaps the most telling came midway through when Korbit skipped past two opponents and tested Ezhov from close range.
With time running out, genuine scoring chances were harder to come by. Although Ufa began overtime on the power play, it wasn’t until the 69th minute that Bashkirov and Pimenov seriously threatened Serebryakov’s net. The home team was more active in pursuing the winning goal and, by the end of the game, Serebryakov had 55 saves to his credit.
However, it was Korbit who got the decider, taking the headlines away from Ho-Sang’s return and sharing the spotlight with his goalie. The 20-year-old forward began the season with Severstal and spent much of his time in Vladivostok playing in the VHL. However, in his 14th game in the league he picked the perfect moment for his first goal. Pavel Shen was the architect, turning away from an opponent behind the net and getting the puck to the slot where Korbit pounced to beat Ezhov from close range and give Admiral the first win of the series.
Chivilyov grabs OT winner for Neftekhimik
Ak Bars Kazan 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 OT (0-2, 1-0, 1-0, 0-1)
(Neftekhimik leads the series 1-0)
If Admiral’s win in Ufa was a surprise, Neftekhimik came close to pulling off a sensation in Kazan. These Tatarstan rivals are no strangers to playoff meetings, but Ak Bars has traditionally held the upper hand. In two previous series, the men from Kazan have swept their near neighbors, winning comfortably on home ice and doing enough to edge tight verdicts on the road.
Today was different. Neftekhimik’s unpredictable form throughout this season makes it a difficult team to prepare for: in the space of a couple of days last week it lost to rock-bottom Sochi, then pulled off a brave comeback win at Metallurg. Here, again, the Wolves faced some adversity but managed to overcome early problems to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Ak Bars was the first to put the puck in the net. Stanislav Galiyev thought he had converted the game’s first power play, only to see his effort whistled off following a bench challenge for offside. Heartened, Neftekhimik got its own offense moving and went in front three seconds after the end of its first power play of post season. Pavel Poryadin, his team’s leading scorer in the regular season, got the puck in the right-hand circle, exchanged passes with Anthony Louis beside the net and fired the opener past Timur Bilyalov.
Late in the first period, Neftekhimik doubled its lead with a short-handed tally. Poryadin turned provider, forcing turnover then setting up Andrei Chivilyov to finish off a two-on-one rush. That was a smash-and-grab raid, but the visitor was good value for its lead after an enterprising performance in the first period.
Ak Bars needed a big response, and got it when Galiyev scored in the first minute of the middle frame. He converted the power play that earlier produced Neftekhimik’s second goal and this time there was no question of offside as he put away the rebound from Dmitry Kagarlitsky’s shot. The home team had substantially more possession for the rest of the second period, but solid defense from the visitor ensured no further scoring.
In the third period, Neftekhimik’s Mikhail Nazarov took a major penalty after he needlessly sent Nikita Yevseyev crashing into the boards some while after the puck had gone. Subsequently, Ak Bars came out on the wrong side of another review before Kagarlitsky got the tying goal midway through the frame. Vadim Shipachyov’s shot was charged down by Ilya Khokhlov but the defenseman’s attempted clearance went straight to Kagarlitsky, who returned it with interest past Andrei Tikhomirov in the visitor’s net.
Kagarlitsky’s goal took us to overtime, where there were more surprises waiting. After having the better of the game in regulation – particularly in terms of time on attack, which Ak Bars led 17:20 against 8:06 – the home team could not get a comparable level of control here. Neftekhimik’s cause was helped by a penalty on Dinar Khafizullin four minutes into the extras, but the visitor had to wait until the 75th minute to win it.
Poryadin was involved again, picking up his third point of the night as he took play from one end of the ice to the other before setting up Chivilyov for the gamewinner. That sealed Neftekhimik’s first ever KHL playoff victory over Ak Bars, and its first post season win against any opponent since 2018.
