Lada wins again, Dynamo starts in style

Saturday brought two more warm-up games involving KHL teams. Lada rotated its roster, but still repeated its success against Neftyanik. Then Dynamo Moscow opened its summer program with a 5-0 victory over AKM Tula.

Lada Togliatti 4 Neftyanik Almetievsk 3 (1-1, 2-1, 1-1)

Lada had to come from behind twice to win its second pre-season game against Neftyanik. After Friday’s 2-1 victory, head coach Oleg Bratash rested several prominent players. They included goalscorer Sergei Shumakov, Dmitry Kugryshev, Maxim Berezin, Mikhail Fisenko, Donat Stalnov and Artyom Ivanyuzhenkov. In their absence, a youthful Lada team took to the ice for Saturday’s encounter.

Neftyanik took advantage early on, converting a power play at the start of the first period. However, when Lada got its own PP chance, the scores were level: Nikita Popugayev’s pass picked out Andrei Altybarmakyan at the back door and he scored his second goal in two days.

Altybarmakyan took a penalty at the start of the middle frame, and his absence helped Islam Khasanov score his second of the game to restore Neftyanik’s lead. In reply, Pavel Koltygin tied the game, then a five-on-three power play helped Ilya Kudryashov give Lada the lead for the first time.

Late in the game, the teams traded further goals. Vladislav Cherpovenko extended Lada’s lead before Neftyanik hit back to make the closing stages interesting. A spot of penalty trouble added to the home team’s problems, but even playing 6-on-3 at the end, Neftyanik could not find a tying goal.

Dynamo Moscow 5 AKM Tula 0 (2-0, 2-0, 1-0)

Two goals in a minute from Nikita Buruyanov saw Dynamo off to a winning start in its pre-season campaign. The Blue-and-Whites took on VHL opposition on Saturday and eased to a convincing victory.

Head coach Alexei Kudashov included Nikita Gusev and Igor Ozhiganov in the line-up. Canadian forward Jordan Weal also featured, but there was no place for fellow import Cedric Paquette. Artyom Kudashov, 18-year-old son of the head coach, also featured in the senior team after two seasons of junior hockey.

Dynamo proved too strong for Saturday’s opponent. Pavel Kudryavtsev, opened the scoring midway through the first period and Weal had an assist as Yegor Morozov doubled that lead on the power play. Then, in the second, Buruyanov, 20, potted his quickfire double to put the game beyond reach. The youngster is looking to build on a promising KHL rookie campaign that brought 7 (5+2) points last season.

The third period saw Artyom Volchenkov complete the scoring. At the other end, Maxim Motorygin had a shut-out. The 20-year-old netminder is hoping to earn a KHL debut in the coming season.