SKA gets first win, Spartak takes derby honors

SKA scored six on Sochi to get its first victory at the Sochi Hockey Open. In Sunday’s warm-up games, Spartak defeated Dynamo 3-1, David Nemirovsky had a winning start to life at Sibir and Neftekhimik handed Lada a first loss of the summer.

Sochi Hockey Open

HC Sochi 4 SKA St Petersburg 6 (1-4, 3-0, 0-2)

These two teams came into their third game of the tournament with wildly contrasting records. However, few would have expected Sochi to be the team celebrating two wins while SKA was licking its wounds after a pair of losses.

Today, SKA managed to put that right – but only after suffering a scare as the Leopards fought back in the middle frame.

The early stages all went to plan for the visitor. Quick goals from Pavel Dedunov and Arseny Gritsyuk opened a 2-0 lead inside six minutes. Then Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov added a third before Tigran Yarulin got Sohi on the board. Despite that rallying point, home hopes seemed to be fully extinguished when Kirill Tankov notched on the power play right on the hooter.

However, Sochi hit back hard in the middle frame. Unanswered goals from Artur Tyanulin, Ildar Shiksatdarov and Daniil Seroukh, the latter on the PP in the final minute of the frame, saw the scores tied at the second intermission.

Sochi had the momentum, but could not convert that into another win. Instead, SKA reasserted itself in the third to take control on goals from Nikolai Polyakov and a second from Gritsyuk. The result puts Admiral on top of the standings with four points from two games. That’s level with Sochi, but the tournament host has played a game more.

Warm-up games

Dynamo Moscow 1 Spartak Moscow 3 (0-1, 1-0, 0-2)

To nobody’s great surprise, both teams rang the changes compared with their previous warm-up games. At this point in the season, coaches are more interested in looking at as many players as possible and results tend to be of secondary importance.

This Moscow derby saw Spartak inflict a first defeat of the summer on Dynamo, with young goalie Andrei Skavrovsky again catching the eye. He had a shut-out against Vityaz, and followed that today with some big saves early in the game as Dynamo looked to seize the initiative. Spartak weathered that storm, and had cause for relief when Nikita Gusev missed an open net. Then, as the tempo slowed a little, the Red-and-Whites got in front through Maxim Tsyplakov.

Dynamo responded with a goal from Artyom Ilyenko early in the second. Notably, Artyom Kudashov, 18-year-old son of head coach Alexei, was among the assists. However, that wasn’t enough to save the game. Alexander Pashin scored twice in the third period to seal the win for Spartak.

Dinamo Minsk 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 SO (1-2, 0-0, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

David Nemirovsky made a winning start in his new role as Sibir’s head coach. His team’s first pre-season game was in Minsk, where he edged a shoot-out verdict over Dinamo.

The home team’s roster was impacted by Saturday’s game for Team Belarus against Metallurg. Vladislav Kodola, who scored twice in that one, was back in action today as he centered Dinamo’s first line.

Sibir opened the scoring midway through the first period after home goalie Alexei Kolosov coughed up the puck behind his net. Alexei Yakovlev was presented with a simple finish. Arseny Brinkman, one of the Bisons’ new signings, tied the game, but only briefly. Nikita Setdikov restored Sibir’s lead, with Kolosov again unhappy with his contribution.

That goal separated the teams until the final seconds. However, just as it seemed that Sibir had done enough to win in regulation, Vitaly Pinchuk stuffed the puck home to send the game to overtime. The extras brought no further scoring, but Sibir converted four out of five attempts to win the shoot-out.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 Lada Togliatti 3 (1-0, 2-1, 2-2)

After three pre-season wins, Lada tasted defeat for the first time at Neftekhimk. A day after surpring Ak Bars in Kazan, the Motormen could not get on top on the other side of Tatarstan.

Instead, Neftekhimik enjoyed its first win of the summer. Danil Shestorbitov got the only goal of the first period to give the home team the lead at the intermission. Lada responded when Vladislav Cherpovenko tied the scores with a short-handed effort early in the middle frame. However, the home PP worked better when Andrei Chivalyov restored the lead. At the midway point, Alexander Dergachyov made it 3-1.

Lada responded through Ostap Safin but could not get any closer. Mikhail Nazarov gave Neftekhimik a two-goal cushion midway through the third. Cherpovenko gave Oleg Bratash’s team hope of a recovery when he scored his second of the game in the last minute, but Andrei Belozyorov found the empty net to seal the home win.