SKA wins big Western clash, Metallurg marches on. October 6 round-up
The game of the day saw SKA edge a 3-2 verdict against CSKA. The win put the Petersburg side back into the playoff places, a more modest gain than would usually be associated with that fixture. Table-topping Metallurg continues to impress, powering to a 6-3 win over Salavat Yulaev. Western conference leader Lokomotiv went down in a shoot-out at Dinamo Minsk. There was overtime success for Vityaz, a second successive win for Admiral, and another good result for Avtomobilist at Sibir.
Sailors sink Lada again
Admiral Vladivostok 3 Lada Togliatti 2 (1-1, 0-0, 2-1)
The Sailors made it back-to-back wins against Lada, ending the visitor’s club record run picking up at least a point in the last 12 games. After yesterday’s OT victory, Admiral celebrated success in regulation this time, moving up to ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.
In a lively start, the home team looked more impressive. Giovanni Fiore rang the iron in the first minute, and there were other dangerous shots to follow. That led to Prokhor Korbit putting the home team in front in the 12th minute when he exchanged passes with Daniil Gutik before beating Vladislav Podyapolsky.
After falling behind, Lada added some aggressive to its play and tied the scores just before the intermission. Maxim Mineyev started off with a solid contribution on defense then went to join the offense to bag his first goal for Lada.
There was plenty of speed and endeavor in the second period, but no goals. Admiral had to wait until the start of the third before regaining the lead through Nikolai Chebykin’s first of the season, scored on a delayed penalty. Lada hit back again, with Nikita Popugayev celebrating his return after three weeks out with the tying goal after earlier assisting on Mineyev’s marker.
Popugayev’s performance was eye-catching, but it wasn’t enough to win the game. In the 56th minute, Ivan Romanov’s foul put Admiral on the power play. Alexei Solovyov converted the chance to give his team the verdict.
Motormen enjoy second big win in Novosibirsk
Sibir Novosibirsk 0 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 (0-1, 0-1, 0-2)
Avtomobilist’s first visit to Novosibirsk this season sparked an exodus of home fans from the new Sibir Arena as the Motormen powered to a 6-1 victory. Today was a similarly comfortable win, with the visitor taking a 4-0 verdict despite the absence of the injured Curtis Valk.
The early stages saw Sibir enjoy territorial advantage, although there was always a sense that this was part of Avtomobilist’s plan. Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team rarely looks to force the pace on the road, but largely neutralized any offensive threat from the home team in the early stages. As Sibir began to pick up the pace, Vladimir Galkin proved equal to the task in the visitor’s net. Then Avtomobilist delivered the sucker punch: home defenseman Ilya Morozov got caught out of position, and Vladimir Kuznetsov set up Oleg Li to complete a swift counter-attack.
Once in front, Avtomobilist gained in confidence. The second period brought a slightly fortuitous second goal when Maxim Osipov’s routine point shot took an unexpected bounce off Nikita Yefremov and deceived home goalie Anton Krasotkin.
Belatedly, that sparked Sibir back into life. Ex-Motorman Georgy Belousov used his skills to create a golden chance for Artyom Mikheyev, but the home forward could not take advantage. Subsequently, Avto took control of the play and extended the lead with a trademark power play goal from Brooks Macek, moving him to four goals from the last five games. And Vasily Filyayev completed the scoring with his first KHL goal after two years in the league.
Grebyonkin treble powers Metallurg
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 (1-0, 2-0, 3-3)
These teams met for the second time in a week, and Metallurg added to its 1-0 win in Ufa after a far higher-scoring game. Nikita Grebyonkin’s hat-trick paced the league leader to a convincing success.
In recent games, Magnitka has found a habit of scoring early goals. Today kept up that tradition in the sixth minute: the promising partnership between Grebyonkin and Mikhail Grass combined once again, with Grebyonkin converting the rebound from his colleague’s attempt. Salavat Yulaev wasted a good chance to recover when it failed to score on a five-on-three power play.
Metallurg built on that lead in the middle frame, adding two more unanswered goals to take control of the game. Ufa survived a five-on-three power play, but Nikita Mikhailis scored after play went to five-on-four. Then, right on the hooter, Alexander Petunin converted another power play to claim his second goal since his recent arrival from Severstal.
For Salavat Yulaev, that meant five consecutive periods without scoring on Artyom Zagidulin. However, at the start of the final frame today, the visitor finally solved Metallurg’s goalie. Zagidulin lost his position and Yegor Suchkov took advantage to get Ufa on the board. When Ivan Drozdov grabbed a short-handed marker in the 49th minute, the game was back in the balance. However, Metallurg still had the power play and Grebyonkin quickly made it 4-2.
When Roman Kantserov potted his long-awaited first KHL goal to make it 5-2 it seemed that the last five minutes would be a peaceful epilogue. However, Danil Alalykin pulled another goal back for the visitor before Grebyonkin completed his hat-trick into an empty net.
Vityaz posts back-to-back wins
Vityaz Moscow Region 3 Barys Astana 2 OT (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)
After the departure of Alexander Zavyalov as head coach, Vityaz has seen its fortunes improve. Today, under interim chief Alexei Tertyshny, the Balashikha team picked up a second victory with an overtime verdict against Barys.
The visitor, also struggling early this season, led twice. However, Andrei Skabelka’s men could not hold onto that advantage fell to a fifth successive loss.
The first period saw the opponents trade quick goals. Pontus Aberg gave Barys the lead on 5:51. However, the next shift saw Vityaz reply through Alexander Yaremchuk. In the middle frame, the teams again shared two tallies. Kirill Savitsky struck early in the stanza to restore the visitor’s lead, but this time Stanislav Yarovoi tied it up in the 36th minute.
The third session was goalless, but Vityaz got the winner after 62 seconds of the extras when Ruslan Pedan fired home.
Shorthanded goal gives SKA an important win
CSKA Moscow 2 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (1-1, 1-1, 0-1)
This was an unusual clash between CSKA and SKA. Typically, these two powerhouses are duking it out at the top of the Western Conference. Today, though, the visitor needed a win to get into the playoff places, while CSKA was just over the line in sixth place.
The big team news saw Nikita Serebryakov make his debut for SKA. Last season’s top goalie moved from Admiral during the week amid some fanfare. He was swiftly brought down to earth: just 40 seconds into life as a SKA player, and Vladislav Kamenev beat him to give the Muscovites the early lead.
Serebryakov’s teammates had his back. Within three minutes SKA tied the game. After provoking a foul from Andrei Svetlakov, the visitor scored on the power play thanks to Arseny Gritsyuk. That fast start saw the teams continue in similarly intense vein throughout the first period, but there was no further scoring, despite Maxim Mamin hitting the SKA post.
After an early goal in the first period, CSKA did it again in the second. This time, Pavel Karnaukhov’s point shot got through Serebryakov’s defenses to make it 2-1. The goalie then got himself into trouble after fumbling a long-range effort, struggled to retrieve the puck, but got himself out of trouble with a big save to rob Sergei Plotnikov of a shot to the open corner. That missed chance was soon punished: Alexander Kadeikin released Sergei Tolchinsky, who elegantly beat Ivan Fedotov.
SKA began the third period on the PK, but CSKA was unable to repeat its trick of scoring an early goal. Instead, Mikhail Vorobyov won a face-off in his own zone and galloped off to the races. Artyom Sergeyev picked out his surge with a stretch pass and beat Fedotov to put SKA in front for the first time. CSKA did not make much of the rest of the power play, then Serebryakov had another big save to deny Prokhor Poltapov.
For the rest of the game, CSKA dominated the puck but could not force a way through. SKA held on for a 3-2 verdict and moves back into the top eight after ending a two-game losing streak.
Kvartalnov’s revenge win
Dinamo Minsk 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 SO (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)
Western Conference leader Lokomotiv was pegged back in Minsk as former Yaroslavl head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov got the better of his old club. The Bison improved to four wins from five, avenging their 1-4 loss beside the Volga earlier in the season.
Lokomotiv arrived on the back of a 5-2 win at Dynamo Moscow that lifted the team clear at the top of the West. Igor Nikitin was able to bring back Stepan Nikulin after injury, playing as the 13th forward, but left out Georgy Ivanov after he suffered a painful hit in the previous game. Dinamo handed a debut to Canadian defenseman Rob Hamilton, who recently arrived from Traktor.
In the early stages, both teams defended carefully and allowed little scope for offensive flair. Not even a home power play could change the pattern, but late in the frame Vitaly Pinchuk put away a rebound to give Minsk the lead. Lokomotiv managed just two shots at Alexei Kolosov.
That prompted a rethink in the Loko locker room and the second period saw the visitor step up the pace. However, Dinamo’s defense still kept chances to a minimum and gradually pushed the Railwaymen into penalty trouble. Nonetheless, the next goal went to the visitor when Alexander Volkov scored against the run of play to tie the game. It was his first KHL goal, and Dmitry Simashev’s assist earned him a first KHL point.
Loko might have got to the intermission with the scores level. However, another penalty helped Vadim Moroz restore Dinamo’s lead. Hamilton collected his second assist of his debut game.
Although penalty trouble hurt Loko, it also undermined Minsk in the third. Yaroslav Likhachyov tied it up on a power play soon after the restart and the game finished 2-2 in regulation. Towards the end of the 60 minutes, the teams played more than eight minutes without a break but could not find a decisive goal. Overtime resolved nothing, but in the shoot-out Sam Anas came up with the winning shot.
