Torpedo on top, Sochi on form. September 26 round-up

Torpedo’s 4-1 win at Vityaz puts Igor Larionov’s team on top of the KHL standings. Among its pursuers, surprise package HC Sochi recorded a sixth successive victory with a 3-2 verdict over Spartak. We saw the same scoreline in Minsk, where Dinamo edged Ak Bars to make it two wins in three. CSKA’s problems continue: the defending champion was unable to build on its road win at Lokomotiv and went down 1-2 against Severstal.

Torpedo cruises to the top

Vityaz Moscow Region 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 (0-0, 0-4, 1-0)

Torpedo moved to the top of the KHL standings with a comfortable win at struggling Vityaz. Igor Larionov Jr scored one and assisted on another to help his father’s team reach the summit.

Although the final score was convincing, it took time for Torpedo to gain control of the game. The first period was goalless and although the visitor spent almost twice as much time on the attack, the shot count was even after 20 minutes.

At the start of the second period, Larionov set up Kirill Voronin for the opener. Despite a home power play, Torpedo had the better of the play and took the game away from Vityaz in the latter half of the middle frame. Daniil Bokun doubled the lead at the 30-minute mark, then Larionov scored on the power play to make it 3-0. Kirill Urakov’s first of the season came late in the session to build an unassailable lead. Vityaz goalie Maxim Dorozhko did not emerge after the intermission.

Although the game was won, there was still incident in the third period. Inside the first minute, Torpedo’s Vladislav Firstov found his passage into the Vityaz zone hindered by one of the linesmen. After the two collided, the 22-year-old angrily pushed the official away and was removed from the game for unsporting conduct. Later, Vityaz pulled a goal back on the power play through Stanislav Yarovoi and the home team’s understudy goalie, Dmitry Shikin, made 12 saves to prevent Torpedo adding to its score.

Curran’s late strike halts Ak Bars

Dinamo Minsk 3 Ak Bars Kazan 2 (1-2, 1-0, 1-0)

This game meant a lot to Dinamo. The Belarusians are not enjoying the best of starts to their KHL campaign, and already suffered a defeat in Kazan two weeks ago. That formed part of an unhappy run of just one win in seven games and the OT loss was particularly tough for head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov, who previously worked with Ak Bars.

Today, though, the Bison avenged that reverse and moved to within a point of the top eight. Despite falling behind in the first minute, the home team battled back to take a narrow verdict. Suddenly, it’s two wins in three for Dinamo and things look rather better in Belarus.

Ak Bars was looking to draw level on points with Eastern Conference leader Metallurg after a strong run of form. The visitor made a great start when Vadim Shipachyov scored after 33 seconds and got on the power play a couple of minutes later. However, Dinamo responded with a short-handed goal from Andrei Stas to tie the game in the fourth minute.

That ushered in a hard-fought, evenly-matched first period. There wasn’t much between the teams, but Ak Bars managed to recapture the lead through Artyom Lukoyanov before the intermission.

The middle frame was similar: few clear-cut chances, lots of hard work and neither side able to build a clear advantage in the play. The big difference was that Dinamo got the only goal of the session through Gemel Smith at the halfway mark. Smith then got into a fight with Kirill Adamchuk and the two players began the third period sitting out major penalties.

In that final frame, Dinamo was noticeably more willing to fire shots at Artur Akhtyamov’s net. Although the teams had an even share of possession, Dinamo topped the shot count 13-3 in the third, largely due to a shoot-on-sight policy. It took time, but eventually the bombardment paid off. With two minutes left, Kodie Curran scored his second goal for his new club and that was enough to secure a memorable win.

CSKA Moscow 1 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (0-2, 1-0, 0-0)

The defending champion is far from its best in the early stages of this season. Today’s visit from Severstal, another team outside the playoff places in the West, brought a third loss in four games for Sergei Fedorov’s men and dampened the hopes raised by Saturday’s hard-fought win in Yaroslavl.

Like that Lokomotiv game, this was a hard-fought, low-scoring clash settled by a single goal. Severstal, icing a youthful roster this season, opted to use its pace and movement from the start. With CSKA looking to play a physical game, the heavyweight looked sluggish on the ice and Andrei Kozyrev’s players were far from intimidated.

Midway through the first period, a swift counterattack undid CSKA’s defenses. Adam Liska sent Nikita Guslistov away on the rush and the Slovak forward kept pace with his team-mate. The return pass was not the most precise, but it bounced off Liska’s skate and into the net; the home crowd was not convinced, but the officials awarded the goal.

In the 16^th minute, Severstal doubled its lead. This was a classic play: face-off win, point shot and deflection in front of the net. For goalscorer Alexander Skorenov, a former Dynamo Moscow man, a tally against one of the Blue-and-Whites’ local rivals was especially satisfying.

CSKA improved in the second period and took the game to Severstal. However, although the shot count was 10-3 in the home team’s favor, their efforts produced just one goal when Maxim Sorkin caught Dmitry Shugayev by surprise with a shot from the boards.

In the third, the home team also looked the livelier. However, after a big early chance for Konstantin Okulov, and the game’s first an only power play midway through the final stanza, there was little sign of a tying goal. In the closing minutes, the Steelmen shut the game down, harrying CSKA to the end to secure the win.

Sochi celebrates sixth straight win

Spartak Moscow 2 HC Sochi 3 (0-0, 1-2, 1-1)

Sochi’s improved form in 2023-2024 shows no sign of slowing down. The Leopards went to Spartak and recorded a sixth successive victory. The win lifts Dmitry Kokorev’s team above its host and into the top four in the West – uncharted territory for a club that spent last season adrift at the foot of the table.

Spartak, meanwhile, failed to build on two straight wins and missed the chance to go third in the standings. Head coach Alexei Zhamnov is building a better team than the Red-and-Whites had last season, but would like more consistency from his players.

Tuesday’s game was goalless until the midway point. Then Dmitry Zavgorodny put the visitor in front on 29 minutes, only for Spartak to hit back almost immediately. Ansel Galimov tied the scores, and the home team had a spell of five-on-three that might have changed the course of the game. However, Sochi survived that scare and regained the lead late in the middle frame through Danila Galenyuk.

At the start of the third, Artyom Volkov extended Sochi’s lead and left Spartak with a long road to recovery. After that, the visitor was happy to keep hold of the puck as much as possible and take time out of the game at every opportunity. Spartak managed to get one back through Dmitry Vishnevsky with four minutes left, but could not get any closer to saving the game.