Admiral wraps up Sochi triumph

The first tournament of the summer has a winner! Admiral made it three victories from three games to guarantee top spot at the Sochi Hockey Open. Monday evening’s win over the host club followed Avangard’s defeat to Russia U23s, ensuring that Leonids Tambijevs’ team cannot be caught regardless of tomorrow’s results.

Sochi Hockey Open

Avangard Omsk 3 Russia U23s 4 SO (0-1, 2-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Russia’s youngsters got their first win of the Sochi Hockey Open against Avangard. A hard-fought game saw the national team lead three times in regulation, but the Hawks recovered on each occasion. In the shoot-out, Ilya Chefanov, a 21-year-old currently with Metallurg Novokuznetsk, got the decisive shot.

The Hawks made a few changes to the line-up for Monday’s game. However, the promising partnership between Ilya Reingardt and Denis Vengryzhanovsky remained intact after showing good things against SKA in the previous game. And they were at it again here. Vengryzhanovsky had an assist as Valentin Pyanov’s power play effort tied the game early in the second period. Then he scored two for himself, both assisted by Reingardt.

At the other end, though, Russia kept edging in front. Pavel Buchelnikov opened the scoring after 52 seconds, then Ivan Demidov continued his impressive tournament to make it 2-1 in the middle frame. The third goal, early in the third period, went to Maxim Velikov Jr, whose father helped Dynamo win the Gagarin Cup.

The potential shown by Reingardt and Vengryzhanovsky has not gone unnoticed among the coaching staff. 

“We’re always trying to put different people together. In practice, we noticed that they had a good understanding. At first, Reingardt wasn’t supposed to be on the first team, but he looked really good in our two-way games. Now his line looks really excellent – they have that desire, they want to win.”

HC Sochi 0 Admiral Vladivostok 5 (0-2, 0-1, 0-2)

Admiral secured victory in this year’s Sochi Hockey Open, picking up a third successive victory to end the host team’s hopes.

After an OT win over SKA and a one-goal verdict against Russia U23, the Sailors enjoyed a bigger victory today. The Leopards, who began with success against the national team and Avangard, followed Sunday’s high-scoring loss to SKA with another defeat as they finished the tournament on a disappointing note.

The damage was done late in the first period, with Admiral grabbing two quick goals. Maxim Chudinov broke the deadlock on 17:49 and within a minute, Nikolai Chebykin added to the defenseman’s marker.

In the middle frame, Admiral extended its lead through a rare goal from Ruslan Ibatullin. He struck just as Anton Sagadeyev was leaving the penalty box, and his effort took the game out of Sochi’s reach. A further marker from Dmitry Sidlyarov early in the third. The much-travelled forward is looking to establish himself with Admiral this season after dividing his time between the top league and the VHL in recent years. Finally, new import Tyler Graovac wrapped up the win in the last minute.

Admiral goalie Pavel Khomchenko had a day to enjoy. Not only did he get a shut-out, he also had an assist on his team’s second goal.

Sochi has now completed its schedule at this tournament. Admiral wraps up against Avangard tomorrow, looking to complete a perfect sequence of four wins. Avangard can take second place if it snaps the Sailors’ winning streak, while SKA also has an eye on silver when it takes on a Russia U23 roster that features several players from the Petersburg club’s system.