Lokomotiv advances. March 9 playoffs
The first team into the second round of the playoffs is known: Lokomotiv scored at the start of a second period of overtime to beat Vityaz 2-1 on the night, and 4-1 in the series. In today’s other Western Conference game, SKA defeated Dinamo Minsk 6-3 to move ahead 3-2 in their series.
Jaskin’s double helps SKA to victory
SKA St. Petersburg 6 Dinamo Minsk 3 (2-1, 1-0, 3-2)
(SKA leads the series 3-2)
SKA is just one game away from booking its place in the second round of this year’s playoffs, but the regular season champion had to work hard once again to subdue a battling Belarusian opponent. Two goals in the last two minutes finally ended the Bison’s resistance in a high-scoring and eventful game in Petersburg. The two teams have now traded 36 goals in five playoff games, testimony to some lively offense at both ends but also cause for concern about the reliability of each defense.
Effective offense and questionable defending was certainly part of SKA’s first-period performance. The home team had the better of the play, yet fell behind midway through the session when Dinamo got the first power play of the evening. Ryan Spooner fired in a shot from the left and Vitaly Pinchuk pounced on the rebound after Dmitry Nikolayev padded away the first effort.
Dmitrij Jaskin was one of the SKA players penalized ahead of that goal, but the Czech quickly made amends with a power play tally of his own a couple of minutes later. His marker had something in common with Pinchuk’s: Nikita Gusev fired the puck to the slot and Jaskin was on hand to force it home from close range. Late in the opening frame, SKA went in front when Vasily Glotov intercepted the puck on his own blue line and launched a three-on-one rush. Using his partners as decoys, Glotov went through himself to beat Alexei Kolosov and make it 2-1 at the first intermission.
Throughout the game, special teams proved to be crucial and SKA extended its lead with another power play effort from Jaskin just before the second intermission. At that point, two up with 20 to play, SKA looked pretty secure. However, Dinamo was determined to make a game of it in the third.
In the 47th minute, an odd man rush saw Cedric Paquette pull a goal back for the visitor. However, the one-goal deficit did not last long before Gusev made it 4-2 for SKA. Game over? Not yet. Yet another power play goal, this time from Dmitry Sokolov, had Dinamo right back in contention with eight minutes to play.
In the end, though, SKA prevailed. Kolosov went to the bench as Dinamo looked to force a late breakthrough, and Marat Khairullin took full advantage. He scored twice into the empty net to give the final score a somewhat flattering appearance. Nonetheless, SKA can wrap up this contest on Saturday with victory in Minsk.
Ivanov’s OT goal puts Lokomotiv into round two
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 2OT (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
(Lokomotiv wins the series 4-1)
Lokomotiv became the first team into the second round of this year’s playoffs – but the Railwaymen needed double overtime to complete a 4-1 series success over Vityaz. The visitor displayed resolute defense throughout the game but not even an early lead could keep Vityaz’ season alive. The Balashikha-based club can take some comfort from the fact that it avoided a series sweep for the first time in the KHL era.
With so much at stake, Vityaz needed a good start. The visitor got exactly that, helped by home goalie Daniil Isayev. He went behind his net but mistimed his play and was caught in possession by Ivan Zinchenko. Then, as the netminder tried to get back in position, he found defenseman Alexei Marchenko blocking his way on the paintwork. Zinchenko thus had a straightforward task to score on the wraparound and give Vityaz a valuable lead.
It took Lokomotiv a little while to recover from that shock, and Vityaz finished the first period with the lead and small advantage in terms of shots on goal. Subsequently, the home team would enjoy greater control of the play but had a hard time breaking down the visiting defense. Vityaz was determined to protect its advantage at all costs and produced a hard-hitting, uncompromising display to prevent the Railwaymen building up a head of steam.
The key stat of the third period might be the blocked shots. Vityaz led 16-1 by this metric, highlighting both the offensive effort that Lokomotiv put into saving the game, and the determination the visitor showed in protecting its lead. However, midway through the session a delayed penalty saw Loko get the goal it needed to force overtime. Andrei Sergeyev thumped in a point shot that rebounded off the back boards and Stepan Nikulin was on hand to rifle home the puck from the right-hand circle. That’s Nikulin’s second goal of the series as one of the top contenders for the KHL’s rookie of the year award continues to make an impact.
The first period of overtime followed a now familiar pattern, with Lokomotiv dominating play and Vityaz defending bravely. Maxim Dorozhko made 15 saves – adding to his 32 in regulation time – to keep Vityaz in the game as the home team enjoyed more than eight minutes of attacking possession.
However, Dorozhko was powerless at the start of the second period of extras as Lokomotiv forced the puck home. Vladislav Kara’s high stick gave Loko a power play, and Alexeyev’s point shot caused chaos on the slot. The shots kept coming at Dorozhko and the puck bounced around crazily before Georgy Ivanov forced it into the net. It was a scrappy end to the series, but few in Yaroslavl will worry about that as they prepare for the next round.
