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CSKA grabs big win, SKA loses again. September 8 round-up
Ivan Fedotov returned to CSKA’s net and got his first W of the season in a 5-1 success at Neftekhimik. SKA, meanwhile, suffered a second successive loss, going down to Lokomotiv. Ak Bars bounced back from defeat to HC Sochi, handing league leader Kunlun Red Star its first reverse of the campaign. There were goals aplenty for Torpedo and Admiral, while Traktor edged Vityaz 3-2.
Fedotov backstops CSKA to victory
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 CSKA Moscow 5 (0-1, 0-3, 1-1)
After a stuttering start to the season, CSKA got a confidence boosting win in its first road game. Moreover, goalie Ivan Fedotov returned to action after missing the previous two games, and secured his first win of the season.
At the other end, the Muscovites’ offense clicked early in the game. Vitaly Abramov opened the scoring in the fifth minute and after that there was little danger for the visitor. Although the first period was fairly evenly matched, the middle frame was emphatically in CSKA’s favor. The shot count read 22-2 over the session and, more importantly, there were three more goals.
The first of them came after 26 minutes when Darren Dietz converted a power play. Neftekhimik worked hard to withstand the pressure, but in the final minute of the second period, the walls crumbled. Goals from Semyon Pankratov and Takhir Mingachyov opened a 4-0 lead and put the game out of the Wolves’ reach.
A further power play goal, this time from Maxim Mamin with Dietz providing an assist, extended that advantage in the third period. Neftekhimik got a consolation tally late in the game when Rafael Bikmullin’s close range effort snuck through Fedotov’s pads: it took a video review to confirm that the puck crossed the line and robbed the goalie of a shut-out.
However, that effort did little to change the outcome of the game, with Neftekhimik still seeking a first win of the season.
Ak Bars bounces back, Dragons suffer first loss
Ak Bars Kazan 5 Kunlun Red Star 1 (1-0, 2-1, 2-0)
After a shock defeat against HC Sochi, Ak Bars faced a potentially tricky test against Red Star. The Dragons won their opening three games of the season and came to Kazan as the outright leading in the early standings. However, Viktors Ignatjevs’ team was unable to continue its best ever start to a season, going down to a heavy defeat.
The home team dominated the first period, outshooting Kunlun 12-3. However, the only reward came when Dmitry Yudin converted the only power play of the session in the 14th minute.
Down by one, Kunlun felt it was still in the game – and proved that point at the start of the second frame when Jack Rodewald tied the scores. That ushered in a more competitive period, but one that ultimately saw Ak Bars take a stranglehold on the game. Penalties proved KRS’s undoing: a hooking call on Nolan Moyle gave the home team the initiative, and although the penalty was killed, Evgeny Svechnikov scored his first since returning to the club shortly after Moyle left the box. A minute later, Austin Wong was called for interference and Stanislav Galiyev made it 3-1 on the power play. The period ended with Moyle heading back to the box alongside Konstantin Luchevnikov after the pair got into a fight.
At the start of the third, Kunlun was reduced to three men for a time. Once again, the visiting penalty kill did a good job, but once again the momentum enabled Ak Bars to score at even strength. Damir Zhafyarov, who missed the Sochi game, joined Svechnikov in recording his first goal of the season. By now, the Dragons’ fire had gone out and the third period was one way traffic for Ak Bars. Vadim Shipachyov completed the scoring late on with another power play marker.
Goal rush ends with Torpedo on top
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 6 Dinamo Minsk 4 (0-1, 3-3, 3-0)
Under Igor Larionov, Torpedo has never been shy of goals. This season, under Dmitry Kvartalnov, the same has been true of Dinamo. So it wasn’t a big surprise that the teams shared 10 tallies in this meeting.
Dinamo, looking to bounce back after its first defeat of the season, got the opener midway through the first period. Sam Anas broke the deadlock with his third in four games since arriving in the KHL.
But the American forward was not destined to finish on the winning side. The second period brought a goal glut – three for each team – as it became clear that this game was turning into a fire fight. Vasily Atanasov continued his bright start to the season by scoring twice for Torpedo, but Dinamo preserved its lead thanks to two goals in 30 seconds from Vitaly Pinchuk and Timofei Kovgorenya.
In the third period, it took time for Torpedo to find the breakthrough. But when the goal game, from Nikolai Kovalenko on a 54th minute power play, it opened the floodgates. Mikhail Orlov scored twice more in the last five minutes to snatch a high-scoring win.
Penalty trouble sends SKA to second defeat
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 SKA St. Petersburg 2 (1-1, 2-1, 0-0)
Lokomotiv followed up its OT win against Traktor with another battling display to see off SKA. For the visitor – with young star Matvei Michkov absent for the third game in a row – this was a second loss of the season after Wednesday’s 3-4 reverse at Torpedo.
The visitor was clearly eager to make amends for that defeat and got off to a fast start. Despite a nervous moment when a turnover led to a dangerous Lokomotiv attack, SKA pressed from the off and quickly earned the game’s first power play. That was parleyed into the opening goal when Mikhail Vorobyov deflected Alexander Nikishin’s shot into the net.
However, Lokomotiv responded in kind. Alexander Polunin had a big chance, then Artur Kayumov tested Johan Mattsson in the SKA net. The pressure led to Loko’s first power play of the net and, although SKA killed Nikishin’s penalty, the home team soon tied the game. Kayumov, a two-goal hero against Traktor, was the architect here. He stripped Vorobyov of the puck and sent a classy feed across the ice for Maxim Shalunov to score.
After an explosive start to the first period, the second was more of a slow burner. However, the game took a decisive turn in the 34th minute when Sergei Sapego followed Maxim Fedotov into the penalty box. Lokomotiv had 1:50 of five-on-three, and turned that into two goals. Andrei Sergeyev got the first with a point shot through traffic, then Denis Alexeyev made it 3-1.
There was still time for SKA to respond before the intermission when Nikishin grabbed yet another power play goal, this one just three seconds before the hooter.
In the third period, Lokomotiv was pushed onto the back foot. SKA had the bulk of the play and frequently tested Daniil Isayev in the home net. He made a big save early in the session to deny Mikhail Pashnin after Marat Khairullin’s shot cannoned back off the boards. Then, with time running out, Isayev closed the door on Sergei Tolchinsky’s one-on-one. That proved sufficient to get the Railwaymen over the line.
Traktor edges road win
Vityaz Moscow Region 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 (1-1, 0-1, 1-1)
Vityaz hoped that a shoot-out win over Admiral would be the catalyst for better things, but Traktor had other ideas. The visitors lost its two games prior to arriving in Balashikha, but got back on track tonight with a tight verdict.
There was early excitement, with the teams trading goals in the first three minutes. Igor Ugolnikov put Vityaz ahead, but Vitaly Kravtsov immediately cancelled that one out.
Traktor moved in front midway through the second period thanks to Anton Burdasov, and extended its lead in the third when Artyom Blazhiyevsky scored. Vityaz wasn’t done: Vladislav Kara made it 2-3 with 10 to play, but the home team could not find the tying goal.
Gutik inspires Admiral
Spartak Moscow 2 Admiral Vladivostok 6 (2-3, 0-1, 0-2)
Spartak’s two-game winning streak was abruptly halted by Admiral as the visitor posted its first win of the season. The Sailors got that victory in some style, hitting the Red-and-Whites for six.
The home team was up against it from the start. Shane Prince took a first-minute penalty and it took just two seconds for Admiral to turn that into a goal. Tyler Graovac won the face-off, Giovanni Fiore scored. In the sixth minute, Danil Faizullin made it 2-0 and Spartak never really recovered.
There were some promising signs for Alexei Zhamnov’s team. Nikolai Goldobin converted Spartak’s first power play of the night to make it 2-1, and Prince produced some compensation for his early penalty with another first period goal. In between, though, Daniil Gutik was on target for Admiral, and that goal proved to be the winner.
In the second period, we saw little of the home offense. At the other end, Gutik struck again to extend the lead. Then the 22-year-old turned provider in the third, collecting assists as Pavel Shen and Pavel Varfolomeyev completed the scoring. Gutik finished with four points, equalling his total from last season in a single night.
