Spartak climbs to second in the West, Ak Bars draws level in the East. October 14

The first game on Saturday brought an OT win for Ak Bars at Amur, lifting Kazan level on points with Metallurg at the top of the Eastern Conference. Those two are a point better off than Spartak, which moves second in the West thanks to a 4-2 win at Torpedo. CSKA edged Sochi 2-1, Lada snapped a four-game skid at home to Admiral and Neftekhimik edged Kunlun Red Star in overtime.

Radulov gives Ak Bars OT verdict

Amur Khabarovsk 2 Ak Bars Kazan 3 OT (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Ak Bars wrapped up its Far East tour with a fourth win from four games. However, this was the toughest test for Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team. Amur was boosted by Cam Lee’s return from the injury: the Canadian defenseman is a handy contributor at both ends of the ice and has been missed in recent games.

After a 3-5 loss two days earlier, the home team looked to establish more of a physical presence in Saturday’s action. Ak Bars coped OK with this until Maxim Bykov took the first penalty of the game and Dmitry Shevchenko opened the scoring on the power play. However, Amur’s joy was shortlived. Barely a minute after his team went in front, Evgeny Grachyov shot the puck over the glass and the delay of game penalty saw young Semyon Terekhov tie the scores. The 21-year-old claimed his second KHL goal as he looks to secure a spot with the Kazan team.

The Tigers’ power play proved far more dangerous today. On Thursday, Amur went 0-for-four with an extra man. Today, it was 2-from-2. Yegor Korshkov punished a delay of game infringement in the second period to put the home team back in front midway through the session. However, the lead was quickly cancelled out. Konstantin Luchevnikov returned from the penalty box and tied the scores a couple of minutes later.

Ak Bars had to soak up some third-period pressure to take the game to overtime. Viktor Baldayev came closest to winning it, but the Amur defenseman was denied by the goal frame. In the final seconds, Dmitrij Jaskin almost snatched the win for Ak Bars, only for Alexander Shchemerov to block his goalbound effort.

That sent us to overtime, and Ak Bars needed less than a minute to finish the job. Alexander Radulov got away from Shevchenko and fired home a backhand effort to complete a successive road trip.

Talaluyev, Goldobin lead Spartak to victory

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Spartak Moscow 4 (0-1, 2-1, 0-2)

Spartak grabbed an important win in Nizhny Novgorod, moving ahead of Torpedo into second place in the Eastern Conference.

This game was a coaching duel with some history behind it. As players, Igor Larionov and Alexei Zhamnov played together for Team Russia in Olympic and World Cup of Hockey action. More recently, both were part of the national program’s coaching staff in the 2020-2021 season, although Larionov spent more time working with Russia’s juniors that year. Today was their first time facing off against each other as head coaches in the KHL.

Both came into the game in good form. Spartak won its last four games, while Torpedo took six points from a possible eight on the road, slipping up only in a 0-1 reverse at table-topping Lokomotiv. With confidence high, both teams showed plenty of enterprise from the start. However, it soon emerged that Spartak enjoyed more control of the puck, with Adam Huska forced into frequent saves early on. It took some time for the visitor to get any tangible reward, but in the last minute of the opening stanza Ilya Talaluyev broke the deadlock.

Much of Spartak’s early season success has been powered by Nikolai Goldobin’s scoring form. He was at it again here, increasing the lead with a power play goal in the 29^th minute. However, Torpedo is not among the league leaders for nothing and after falling behind, the home team rallied. Bobby Lynch began the fightback with his second KHL goal, then Nikita Artamonov tied the game on a power play late in the middle frame.

That set the stage for a storming finale. Spartak made the livelier start to the third period, but midway through the period the visitor’s pace began to drop. It seemed that Torpedo was poised to go on and win the game, but a penalty on Denis Yan gifted the initiative back to the Red-and-Whites. Spartak could not convert the power play, but a rejuvenated offense managed to regain the lead in the 58^th minute through Talaluyev’s second of the game. Then Goldobin wrapped it up with an empty-netter, bringing up 30 points for the season in just 19 games.

Safin at the double for Lada

Lada Togliatti 3 Admiral Vladivostok 1 (1-1, 1-0, 1-0)

Two goals from Ostap Safin helped Lada snap a four-game skid to see off Admiral. The visitor’s third loss in a row leaves it on 12 points and it is now level with Neftekhimik at the foot of the Eastern Conference.

The Sailors survived an early penalty on Leonid Metalnikov and took the lead on their first power play of the game. Daniil Gutik’s consistent form has been one of the few bright spots in Vladivostok this season and he opened the scoring in the 14^th minute with his fifth goal of the season. The 22-year-old moves to 16 points.

After taking the lead, Admiral sought to consolidate, and came within five seconds of taking a lead to the intermission. However, just before the break, Nikita Popugayev tied the scores.

That was probably a fair reflection of an even first period, and the middle continued in similar vein. Neither team posed a huge offensive threat, and there was no big statistical difference between them through 40 minutes. However, a tripping call on Pavel Shen late in the session proved to be te turning point: Safin scored on the power play, and Lada had a lead that it would hold until the end.

In the third period, the balance of play remained even, although Lada was slightly more able to get pucks to the net. Midway through the session, Safin scored again – Popugayev adding an assist to his first-period goal – to give the home team some breathing space.

Wolves maintain improved form

Kunlun Red Star 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 OT (1-2, 2-0, 0-1, 0-1)

Red Star picked up its first point since Oct. 1, but could not snap a losing streak that now extends to nine games. Neftekhimik, meanwhile, recorded a second win in three games and has picked up at least a point in its last four.

The visitor made a fast start, scoring twice within a minute midway through the first period. Vladimir Bryukvin and Alexander Dergachyov (PP) were on target. Red Star got one back on its first power play of the game thanks to Brandon Yip.

The Dragons tied the game at the start of the second period with a shorthanded effort from Colin Campbell, and got ahead in the 34^th minute when Parker Foo scored his second of the season. However, the third period began like the second, with a shorthanded tally, and Bryukvin tied the scores.

The home team ran out of steam in the closing stages. Despite taking the game to overtime, there was little threat from Kunlun in the extras and Bulat Shafigullin got the winner for Neftekhimik.

Early salvo shoots down Sochi

CSKA Moscow 2 HC Sochi 1 (2-0, 0-1, 0-0)

The Muscovites got a third victory over Sochi this season, but the Leopards once again posed a greater challenge than they managed in the opening 1-7 loss to CSKA.

Sochi was once again without Matvei Michkov, who sat out a second game in a row due to injuries. CSKA, beaten by Spartak last time out, made several changes. Among the more striking was a call-up for goalie Dmitry Gamzin, who started his first game of the season.

Much of the first period was evenly contested in most areas. However, CSKA demonstrated some clinical finishing to open a two-goal lead. It all happened in the eighth minute, when Darren Dietz and Yegor Fateyev scoring twice in the space of 20 seconds. Fateyev, just arrived from Traktor after a trade that sent Danil Yurtaikin to Chelyabinsk.

Fateyev experienced downs as well as ups in today’s game. In the second period he was penalized for a cross check on Jesse Graham and Sochi took the opportunity to set up camp in the CSKA zone. It took time to force a breakthrough and when it came, the goal was a counterattacking play that started with goalie Mikhail Berdin and finished with Marat Khusnutdinov converting the rebound from Graham’s shot. For Khusnutdinov, this was also a first for his new club following his recent role in the move that sent Borna Rendulic to SKA.

The gave the visitor a lift and as the game progressed, CSKA was at times fortunate to stay in front. Sochi pushed hard to force a tying goal, but when Gamzin came up big to deny Michal Kristof’s one-timer with three to play, there was a sense that the game was done. The home team duly closed out the remaining moments to record a victory that lifts it two places to sixth, ahead of SKA and Dinamo Minsk.