Gusev, Radulov star as two tournaments start

Two tournaments got underway on Thursday, with Kazan and Ufa at the center of attention. Nikita Gusev produced the individual performance of the day as Dynamo Moscow beat Salavat Yulaev, while Alexander Radulov scored twice in Ak Bars’ win over Traktor.

TANECO Cup

Winning starts for Ak Bars and Loko

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 Barys Astana 1 (0-1, 1-0, 1-0)

Riley Barber marked his Barys debut with a goal, but could not save his team from defeat to Lokomotiv in the opening game of the TANECO Cup. Barber converted a power play chance in the sixth minute to put the Kazakh team in front.

Once Lokomotiv sorted out its early disciplinary problems – the Railwaymen took three penalties in the first six-and-a-half minutes – Igor Nikitin’s team began to work its way back into the game. Midway through the second period, Yaroslav Likhachyov needed just nine seconds to convert a power play chance.

Likhachyov is one of several promising youngsters emerging in Yaroslavl. And today’s winner came from another prospect. Defenseman Alexei Kozhevnikov burst into the Barys zone and surprised Andrei Shutov with a long-range shot. That was enough to settle the game and get Loko off to a winning start at this tournament in Kazan.

Ak Bars Kazan 4 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 (0-2, 2-0, 2-1)

Yesterday, Kazan celebrated the career of one of its greatest adopted sons with a gala game before a full house. Today, while Danis Zaripov’s jersey surveyed proceedings from the rafters of the Tatneft Arena, two of his former clubs did battle in the first game of the post-Zaripov era.

Although the crowd was rather more modest than the one that thronged the arena 24 hours earlier, they saw an absorbing game at the start of the TANECO Cup. Traktor wasted no time making an impact: the visitor led 2-0 inside seven minutes. Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer opened the scoring after 82 seconds, then Vladimir Tkachyov added a power play goal.

That lead lasted until the midway point. Then Ak Bars responded with a quickfire pair of its own. Kirill Semyonov got the home team on the scoreboard and barely a minute later Alexander Radulov’s power play effort tied the scores.

At the start of the third, another home PP brought another Radulov goal, with Vadim Shipachyov again getting an assist. And Shipachyov completed a hat-trick of helpers as Dmitrij Jaskin made it 4-2 in the 57^th minute. That insurance goal proved valuable. Traktor got a late power play and Sergei Telegin pulled a goal back in the last minute. However, that was as close as the visitor got as Ak Bars made a winning start to its home tournament.

Republic of Bashkortostan Cup

Gusev impresses on opening day

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (0-0, 0-2, 2-1)

The Motormen kicked off their pre-season program against a Metallurg team that had already played and lost twice in Belarus. However, those games were played primarily with youth players. Today, Andrei Razin selected a more experienced roster and was rewarded with his first victory as head coach of Magnitka.

The first period was hard-fought, with Avtomobilist having a slight edge, but produced no goals. It wasn’t until the midway point that the deadlock was broken with a well-placed backhanded shot from Maxim Mukhametov. The 24-year-old Kazakh forward is preparing for his first KHL campaign after success in his homeland and with his national team at last season’s World Championship. A few minutes later, Maxim Karpov doubled the lead.

Metallurg began the third period on the power play and, in line with the KHL’s new rules, took advantage of an attacking face-off to add a third tally. Arkhip Nekolenko needed just 11 seconds to extend the lead.

However, Avto hit back to make a game of it in the third period. Power play goals from Maxim Denezhkin and Denis Barantsev hauled it back to 2-3. That was as close as it got, though. Metallurg closed out the game to secure its first summer win.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Dynamo Moscow 4 (0-1, 1-2, 1-1)

Nikita Gusev had two goals and an assist as a strong Dynamo team overpowered the tournament host in Ufa. He was just one of the Blue-and-Whites’ summer signings to impress, with Igor Ozhiganov producing a goal and a helper and Cedric Paquette setting up Gusev’s second of the game.

For Salavat Yulaev, Alexander Chmelevski was on target, as was attacking prospect Yegor Suchkov.

The home team was left frustrated in the first period. Despite dominating much of the play, and enjoying four minutes on the power play, Salavat Yulaev could not find a way past 20-year-old goalie Maxim Motorygin. To make matters worse, Dynamo snatched the lead right on the hooter when Gusev converted a counter-attack led by Jordan Weal.

Gusev started the second frame with a second goal before Ufa pulled one back through Chmelevski’s power play effort. Dynamo responded quickly, winning an attacking face-off and setting up Ozhiganov to restore a two-goal cushion.

Weal extended the visitor’s lead with a power play goal in the third. The home team had the final say thanks to Suchkov, the 21-year-old showing that he’s ready to build on a promising first KHL season last term. However, it was too little to change the outcome of the game.

Warm-up game

Amur Khabarovsk 3 Vityaz Moscow Region 4 SO (1-1, 0-1, 2-1, 0-0, 0-1)

For both teams this was a second warm-up game. Amur started with a shoot-out win over Khimik, while Vityaz suffered a 0-2 loss to Spartak. Today the teams tied the game in regulation after a late goal from Pyotr Khokhryakov salvaged a tie for Amur with 67 seconds left on the clock. Slovenian forward Jan Drozg collected his second assist of the game on that play.

It was the second time Amur equalized in the game. The Tigers opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a power play goal from Yegor Korshkov, but Vityaz responded with tallies either side of the first intermission from Ilya Ezhov and Scott Wilson. Midway through the third period, Evgeny Kulik tied it up but Vityaz restored its lead within a minute thanks to Alexander Yaremchuk.

The game went to a shoot-out, and Vladislav Tsitsyura gave the Moscow Region club victory.