Sochi stuns SKA, CSKA blasts nine. October 2 round-up
Sochi edged a 5-4 win over SKA, snapping the visitor’s four-game winning streak in a game dominated by players lining up against their former club. CSKA followed up last week’s 7-1 win with a 9-1 demolition of Vityaz, outscoring Metallurg’s eight-goal blast at home to Neftekhimik. Lokomotiv moves top of the Western Conference thanks to victory at Spartak, while Dynamo Moscow stays level on points with the Railwaymen after defeating Kunlun Red Star yet again. Lada edged a 3-2 win over Salavat Yulaev, while Traktor came from behind to down Sibir in OT. Dinamo Minsk enjoyed a comfortable home win against Barys.
Tkachyov’s milestone gives Traktor the win
Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 OT (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 1-0)
After the weekend trade that brought Madison Bowey to Chelyabinsk (Rob Hamilton went to Minsk in the same deal), Traktor opted not to throw its new defenseman straight into the fray. Instead, the newcomer saw his team-mates battle to an overtime win in a low-scoring clash against Sibir.
Recent games have not produced a rush of goal action for Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team. Once again, the host was cautious against Sibir. The bulk of the action was in center ice, with space at a premium in front of either net. Nonetheless, late in the first period Artyom Mikheyev potted his first of the season, helped by a kind bounce, to put the visitor in front.
In the second, Traktor killed a 3-on-5 penalty. Then there was an anxious pause while Sibir defenseman Nikita Yefremov needed some treatment on the ice after he was on the receiving end of a big hit. Thankfully, the medics did their job and Yefremov returned to the bench under his own steam.
It was starting to look like one goal might be enough to decide this game, but with six minutes left Traktor tied the game. Yegor Popov scored his first for his new team and, in doing so, kickstarted a livelier finale. The game moved into overtime, and after 23 seconds Vladimir Tkachyov won it for the home team, celebrating his 300th KHL point in the process.
Magnitka goes goal crazy
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 8 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 (2-1, 1-1, 5-1)
The end of September sent Metallurg on a difficult road trip, and Andrei Razin’s team picked up just one win in four games. Back on home ice at the start of October, things got better immediately.
With 19 seconds gone, Magnitka took the lead. Denis Zernov scored off the first shot of the game while visiting goalie Emil Garipov had a nightmare start, deflecting an attempt on the wraparound into his own net. Midway through the opening frame, Roman Kantserov drew the visiting defense towards him before squeezing out a pass for Pavel Akolzin to double the lead and it looked like Neftekhimik might be in for a long night.
However, the visitor got one back before the intermission through Nikita Setdikov, freshly arrived from Sibir, who scored for the second game in a row with his new club. And after the break, Nail Yakupov tied it up during a 5-on-3 power play.
It stayed level until late in the middle frame, despite Metallurg’s determined waves of attack. The go-ahead goal came from Belarusian defenseman Danila Palivko, who capitalized on some open ice to score his first KHL goal. Early in the third, the home team restored its two-goal advantage thanks to Canadian forward Jean-Sebastien Dea. He missed the previous two games, but returned today and got time on the power play. He converted Artyom Serikov’s penalty to make it 4-2.
Neftekhimik wasn’t quite done. Nikita Khlystov, who learned his hockey here in Magnitogorsk, scored on his hometown team to make it 3-4. With 12 to play, an intriguing finish was in prospect. However, Magnitka had other ideas: Akolzin’s second of the game quickly made it 5-3, and a late flourish brought markers for Danil Gololobov, Semyon Koshelev and finally Zernov.
Motormen avenge early-season loss
Lada Togliatti 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (0-0, 1-1, 2-1)
Early in the season, Lada suffered a 2-5 loss to Ufa on home ice. Since then, though, Oleg Bratash’s team has adapted well to life in the KHL and set a club record run of 10 games without failing to pick up at least one point. Today’s visitor would envy that kind of consistency. In the build-up to this one, Salavat Yulaev looked full of goals against Traktor, then toothless versus Magnitogorsk.
Some of Ufa’s problems are injury related. The visitor arrived here with just seven fit D-men and had to play with just three pairs against Lada. The home team continued with Alexander Trushkov in goal, resting Vladislav Podyapolsky despite his recent award as September’s top goalie.
The opening stages were hardly memorable, but the game picked up in the second period. Salavat Yulaev made the livelier start, and that pressure led to Scott Kosmachuk taking a double minor. The visitor duly converted the power play, with Alexander Sharov opening the scoring. It was only a couple of minutes before Lada tied the game, with the prolific Troy Josephs tying it up from a dead angle.
Lada was close to taking the lead late in the middle frame, but did get in front at the start of the third. Again, it was a power play effort, and Kosmachuk was the scorer. Alexander Chmelevski tied the scores once again, getting his first goal in eight games (the previous one came in the same arena back of Sep. 6). That looked like it would be good to take the game to OT, but Andrei Altybarmakyan had other ideas. He lazered a wrister into the top corner to give Lada a revenge win and keep the Motormen near the front of the grid in the Eastern Conference.
Sochi wins battle of the exes
HC Sochi 5 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (1-1, 2-0, 2-3)
This promised to be an intriguing encounter. The line-ups included several players who were facing their former clubs, and the most prominent among them was Sochi’s on-loan forward Matvei Michkov.
Almost inevitably, the teenager scored, beating former Sochi goalie Artemy Pleshkov in the fifth minute. It was a well-worked goal that spoke of the partnership Michkov is forming with team-mate Artur Tyanulin. Michkov moved off the right-hand boards, found Tyanulin at the back door and assumed the perfect position to bang home his colleague’s backhand pass.
That was already the second goal of the game, though. A minute earlier, Arseny Gritsyuk scored his first goal for SKA after arriving from Avangard in the summer. In keeping with the day’s general theme, he scored on Mikhail Berdin, who began his pro career with SKA.
Berdin would prove to be the busier of the two netminders – slightly so in the first period, significantly so in the second. However, Pleshkov, who had allowed just two goals in four previous games, was the man retrieving the puck from his net twice more. Midway through the session, Michkov released Tyanulin and his feed to the back door was gleefully converted by Amir Garayev. Berdin made a huge save to deny Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov shortly after that, and Sochi added a third before the break thanks to Nikita Feoktistov.
SKA needed an early goal in the third period, and got it in the 45th minute. The scorer was Vasily Glotov, who numbers Sochi among his former clubs. However, there was a helping hand from Kirill Rasskazov, who turned the puck into his own amid a battle for the rebound from Glotov’s shot.
The visitor stepped up its efforts to tie the game, aware that its four-game winning streak was in danger of hitting an abrupt halt. However, late in the game a power play chance let Garayev in for his second of the night. Michkov added a second helper in the process. That demanded an immediate response, and defenseman Nikita Kamalov – who did not manage a goal in his 29 games for Sochi in 2021-2022 – provided it when he made it 3-4 within 36 seconds.
SKA replaced Pleshkov with a skater right away, hoping to force overtime. However, when Rasskazov blocked Alexander Nikishin’s point shot, the home captain reacted smartly to shoot the puck from his own zone into the empty net to seal a memorable victory for the Leopards. Alex Galchenyuk pulled one back with six seconds left, but it was too late to save the game. Sochi is now just two points off the lead in the West, while SKA’s revival stalls with the team in seventh.
Red Star still can’t beat Dynamo
Kunlun Red Star 2 Dynamo Moscow 3 (1-1, 0-2, 1-0)
The Dragons have yet to beat Dynamo since joining the KHL in 2016. The Blue-and-Whites are the last remaining team with a perfect records against Red Star, and they extended that hoodoo today.
The home team’s frustrations were characterized by the events of the fourth minute. At one end, Jack Rodewald saw an odd-man rush halted by Andrei Mironov’s skate. Play went down the ice, and after missing a good chance, Red Star conceded to Eric O’Dell when the Canadian took a swing at a loose puck and it flew through a crowd of players into Matt Jurusik’s top corner.
Kunlun tied it up late in the opening frame through Devin Brosseau, who redirected a Ryan Sproul shot past Ilya Konovalov. But Dynamo regained the lead with a shorthanded goal at the start of the second period – the second time in two days that the middle frame began with the Dragons allowing a shorty. Late in the second, Dmitry Rashevsky made it 3-1 and Dynamo looked comfortable.
This season’s KRS has a reputation for digging deep in adversity. There was more evidence of that here, with Turner Ottenbreit getting his first goal in the KHL to make it a one-goal game. With 16 minutes to play, the Dragons had hopes of repeating the fightbacks that dragged Metallurg and Avangard to overtime last week.
This time, though, Dynamo had enough to preserve its lead and see out the win. Red Star pulled Jurusik from his net with a minute to play, but could not score in that final surge. Victory lifts Dynamo above Torpedo and Alexei Kudashov’s team now shares the Western lead with Lokomotiv.
Late flourish puts Lokomotiv on top
Spartak Moscow 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 (1-0, 0-1, 1-3)
Lokomotiv moved to the top of the Western Conference after edging past Spartak. The Railwaymen came from behind to stretch their hot streak to four games, while Spartak slipped to a third loss in four games.
The Red-and-Whites made the better start and took the lead early on. Joey Keane, back in Moscow after belatedly agreeing a new contract, got his first goal since rejoining the club and that separated the teams at the first intermission.
Lokomotiv found itself under pressure for long spells, and had to rely on its counterattacking game. It took some time for this to pay off, but late in the second period the visitor found the net. After winning a face-off in the Spartak zone, Yaroslav Likhachyov’s diagonal feed picked out Andrei Sergeyev in space in front of Andrei Skovronsky. The home goalie had little chance and the teams began the final frame all square.
Spartak had two power play chances early in the third, but could not take advantage. Then, in the closing stages, Lokomotiv jumped to a 3-1 lead. Artur Kayumov and Georgy Ivanov seemed to have the game safe but there was late drama on the way. Shane Prince gave Spartak renewed hope with a goal with 10 seconds left. The home team called a time-out, went with six skaters and prepared to throw everything at the search for an equalizer. However, Sergei Andronov went to the dot, won the draw and fired into the empty net to secure the win for the visitor.
Defending champion on cloud nine
CSKA Moscow 9 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 (2-0, 2-1, 5-0)
After ending its long wait for a win, Vityaz might have asked for an easier follow-up than a trip to the defending champion. True, CSKA’s early season form has not been exactly top class, but the Muscovites still have a classy roster and last week’s 7-1 hammering of Sochi hinted that Sergei Fedorov’s men are heading back to form.
Against Vityaz, the home team quickly assumed control. The opening goal came on 3:20, but the scorer was unexpected. Marsel Ibragimov, 26, made his KHL debut back in 2017-2018. Since then, he’s played 45 times for CSKA but is usually found in the VHL with Zvezda. Today he scored his first goal in the top league.
CSKA added to that advantage through Darren Dietz late in the first period, and extended the lead midway through the second. Goalie Ivan Fedotov had an assist on the third goal, scored by Vitaly Abramov.
Vityaz responded swiftly through Igor Ugolnikov, but CSKA was in no mood to offer a way back. Sergei Plotnikov ensured it was 4-1 after two periods and the game was as good as settled.
In the third period, the home team scored twice in a minute midway through the session to add some weight to the final scoreline. Anton Slepyshev and Prokhor Poltapov were on target as CSKA in that salvo before Ruslan Pedan’s late major penalty saw the home team run in three late goals to complete a miserable day for the West’s basement team.
Minsk revival continues
Dinamo Minsk 3 Barys Astana 0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
There are signs that Dmitry Kvartalnov’s Dinamo is slowly getting it right. The Bison struggled early in the season, but today’s win makes it three from five. Counting an overtime loss in that series, the Belarusians have seven points from the last 10 available, form that should push them safely into the playoff spots.
Goalie Alexei Kolosov played a key role in Monday’s win. He kept the Barys offense – including this season’s leading scorer Riley Barber – at arm’s length for much of the game.
At the other end, an early power play goal from Vitaly Pinchuk punished a too many men transgression from the visitor. In reply, Barys had two power play chances of its own, but could not convert.
At the start of the second, Dinamo struck again, this time through Roman Gorbunov. And history repeated once more at the beginning of the third when Andrei Stas made it 3-0 in the 42nd minute. After that, the home team worked hard to limit any opportunity for Barys to recover. Kolosov finished with 22 saves and recorded his second shut-out in seven appearances this season.
