Summertime, and the scoring is easy ...

There was no shortage of entertainment in Wednesday’s pair of warm-up games, with 20 goals scored in total. Spartak and Khimik Voskresensk both posted 6-4 victories, defeating Severstal and Torpedo respectively.

Spartak Moscow 6 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (0-1, 3-3, 3-0)

An entertaining game in Moscow saw Spartak come from behind to hand Severstal a fourth pre-season loss. The Red-and-Whites made the better start to the game, but fell behind when Andrei Churkin scored off the Steelmen’s first shot of the game in the third minute. That was the only goal of the opening frame, but the shot count highlighted Spartak’s control of the play: the home side was up 11-4 but could not score.

A minute into the middle frame, Severstal increased its lead when Vasily Shulimov scored on a delayed penalty. Spartak’s response was immediate, with Maxim Tsyplakov scoring on the next shift. Moments later, Ilya Talaluyev found himself one-on-one, but could not find the tying goal.

Instead, Severstal restored its two-goal lead in an incident-packed period with Nikita Sedov on target. Midway through the session, Spartak found a quick pair of power play tallies to tie the game. Ivan Morozov scored first, then Alexander Khokhlachyov terrific feed across the slot set up Shane Prince to make it 3-3. It seemed that the momentum was tipping in the home team’s favor, yet the visitor went into the intermission with a 4-3 lead thanks to Yegor Stepanov’s goal.

In the third, though, the Muscovites were on top throughout. From the opening seconds, Spartak was on the attack and both Morozov and Nikolai Goldobin had chances to score before Michal Cajkovsky tied it up. His fellow defenseman Yegor Zaitsev made it 5-4 with a power play marker as the game entered its closing stages, and also ensured that Spartak would get a goal from each of its three power play chances. There was still time for Yegor Chezganov to add a sixth goal as Spartak maintained a 100% record so far this summer.

Khimik Voskresensk 6 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 (1-0, 4-2, 1-2)

Khimik defeated KHL opposition for the second game running. After Sunday’s 5-2 win over Kunlun Red Star, last season’s VHL champion got the better of a Torpedo team playing its second game in 24 hours.

Indeed, Igor Larionov’s men were under an even greater strain: yesterday’s clash with Amur was an 80-minute affair, albeit with six lines used in two separate games within games. Here, Torpedo fell behind early when Maxim Krovyakov converted a 5-on-3 power play in the third minute. Khimik extended its lead in the second period through German Tochilkin, a youngster who gained KHL experience with Kunlun last season.

Tochilkin’s effort sparked a fightback. Torpedo scored twice in 68 seconds, with Nikita Shavin claiming both of them. The 21-year-old forward made his KHL debut last season and had one goal in 24 games. Today he went on to complete his hat-trick, but by the time he had his third, Khimik was already well in front.

That lead came from three goals in 86 seconds as the middle frame drew to a close. Tochilkin got his second of the game, then Lev Starikov and Arseny Paramonov took the game away from the opposition. Shavin’s hat-trick goal gave Torpedo some hope, and when another young prospect, Vasily Atanasov, made it 4-5 with almost four minutes to play the stage was set for a grandstand finish. However, after scoring with a sixth skater, Torpedo then allowed an empty net goal to finish on the losing side.