First-time shut-outs for Lozebnikov, Akhtyamov. October 10 round-up

Tuesday’s play began with two young goalies recording their first KHL shut-outs. Dmitry Lozebnikov blanked Lada as Amur won 3-0, then Ak Bars’ Artur Akhtyamov did the same in the game at Admiral. The day ended in Ufa, where Salavat Yulaev overpowered Avtomobilist.

Amur too strong for Lada

Amur Khabarovsk 3 Lada Togliatti 0 (1-0, 2-0, 0-0)

The Tigers pounced for a second successive victory over Lada. The visitor made several changes after its 2-3 reverse on Sunday: Nikolai Demidov, Mislav Rosandic and Donat Stalnov were replaced by Artyom Borodkin, Evgeny Kalabushkin and Evgeny Groshev. Amur, meanwhile, had to deal with an injury to leading defenseman Cam Lee, but welcomed back Vladislav Barulin and Evgeny Kulik.

Kulik quickly made an impact on his return, opening the scoring in the second minute after he got on the end of a counterattack to score from the deep slot. However, that fast start did not push Amur to bigger things. Penalty trouble slowed the home team’s progress and late in the frame it even had to kill a three-on-five situation. Lada, though, struggled to generate much danger despite its numerical advantage.

The visitor came closer to tying the game after the intermission. However, Amur doubled its lead in the 25^th minute when Yegor Korshkov stuffed the puck home from the slot after Kulik’s shot. Korshkov almost repeated the trick on the power play shortly afterwards, but Vladislav Podyapolsky made a big save to deny him.

At the other end, Andrei Altybarmakyan dinged the post but Lada could not break through. Then Stanislav Bocharov extended the home lead, extending his productive streak to four games.

On Sunday, Amur almost let a 3-0 lead slip. This time, the host learned from its errors and closed out the game on the front foot. There was no more scoring in the third period, despite Evgeny Grachyov having a penalty shot in the 54^th minute. At the other end, Dmitry Lozebnikov secured his first career shut-out, making 31 saves.

Ak Bars sinks Admiral again

Admiral Vladivostok 0 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (0-2, 0-0, 0-1)

Like Amur, Ak Bars had defeated today’s opponent in its previous game. However, Admiral had some grounds for optimism after a solid performance let down by its finishing. As a result there were no big changes for the host, with the arrival of new signing Nikita Anokhovsky probably the main talking point. Ak Bars continued with the team that won two days earlier.

The visitor took control of the game in the first period. Vadim Shipachyov opened the scoring after Dmitrij Jaskin blocked a shot in his own zone, brought the puck down the ice then dropped it off for his team-mate to beat Pavel Khomchenko. Then Kazan’s fourth line doubled the line when Dmitry Katelevsky screened the goalie and stopped him from seeing Nikita Dynyak’s shot. That ended Khomchenko’s game, bringing Sergei Ivanov to the crease for his Admiral debut.

In the second period, the Sailors raised the tempo. Akhtyamov faced 14 shots and 11 more were blocked by the visiting defense. But there was no way through, even with a five-on-three power play. At the other end, Shipachyov was close to his second of the night when he beat Ivanov from a tight angle. However, the video showed that the puck squeezed through a hole in the side netting and the goal was ruled out.

The visitor did get a third goal in the third period, with Jaskin on target. He got the redirect to a Nikita Lyamkin point shot after Daniil Gutik’s foul, snuffing out Admiral’s efforts to save the game. Akhtyamov completed his first KHL shut-out, making 35 saves.

Avto runs out of road in Ufa

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 (2-0, 2-1, 0-0)

The third game of the day saw Salavat Yulaev halt Avtomobilist’s four-game winning streak. Viktor Kozlov’s team built on its big win in Magnitogorsk to put four goals past the Motormen and climb to fifth in the Eastern Conference.

The six-goal show at Metallurg clearly gave Salavat a lift. The home team leapt out of the blocks at the start and jumped to a 2-0 lead inside six minutes. Artyom Pimenov opened the scoring in the fourth, taking Danil Bashkirov’s feed down the right and surging into the zone before beating Evgeny Alikin in the visitor’s net.

A couple of minutes later it was two. Bashkirov, a hat-trick hero last time, was involved again and this time Dinar Khafizullin was the beneficiary of his efforts. Alikin was called into action once again as Josh Leivo went close to his first KHL goal before Khafizullin tested the goalie on the rebound.

A strong first period was followed by a strong start to the second. Sergei Shmelyov added a third when he finished off Vladislav Yefremov’s rush. Then came a too many men penalty on Avto and Alexander Chmelevski made it 4-0.

That was the end of Alikin’s evening, and Vladimir Galkin replaced the Avtomobilist goaltender. He kept his goal intact for the remainder of the game, and the visitor managed to reduce the deficit through Brooks Macek midway through the session. But there was no way back as Ufa avenged last month’s loss in Yekaterinburg.