SKA strikes at Lokomotiv, Dynamo beats Lada in thriller. October 23 round-up

SKA edged a 3-2 verdict at Lokomotiv, recording a first win of the season against the Railwaymen and prolonging the losing streak for the opposition. Neftekhimik was happier to see its streak continue: a 2-1 success over Traktor makes it five wins in a row for the improving Wolves. The highest-scoring game of the day came in Moscow, where Dynamo beat Lada in overtime after a 4-4 tie.

Wolves continue to improve

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (0-1, 0-0, 2-0)

The revival continues. Neftekhimik won its fifth game in a row, drawing level on points with today’s opponent and closing the gap to the playoff spots. Traktor remains in eighth, but only by virtue of more wins in regulation time so far this season.

The visitor came to town lifted by a derby win over Metallurg in its previous game. That lent itself to a confident start, with Traktor having the better of the first period and taking a deserved lead thanks to Maxim Shabanov’s power play goal.

At the start of the second, Buddy Robinson and Evgeny Kashnikov enlivened proceedings by dropping the gloves. It was hard to pick a clear winner: Robinson lost his helmet, but Kashnikov ended up on the ice before the officials could separate the pair. The visiting forward clearly felt that he had done his job to lift his team after Neftekhimik made a bright start to the second period.

After that, the play was fairly even. Traktor held its lead until midway through the third period before Artyom Serikov tied it up. Then came a crucial moment, with visiting goalie Sergei Mylnikov leaving the game due to an injury sustained shortly after the tying goal. Zach Fucale took his place, but within two minutes he was beaten by Dmitry Sokolov as Neftekhimik got in front.

Belatedly, Traktor began to push for another goal. However, despite absorbing some late pressure, the Wolves held on to take the win.

SKA beats Loko for first time this season

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (1-0, 0-2, 1-1)

It’s tough at the top, as Lokomotiv has found in the past week. After hitting top spot in the standings, the Railwaymen went off the boil. Three successive losses yielded just two goals – in between, Igor Nikishin’s team failed to score for seven periods in a row.

SKA, meanwhile, has flattered to deceive throughout the season. A slow start prompted an immediate rebuild for Roman Rotenberg’s team, which came into today’s game down in eighth place. That’s far short of expectations in Petersburg and an 0-2 loss at Neftekhimik was hardly ideal preparation for a third match-up against an opponent that has twice won the head-to-head this season.

In the first period, the penalty box was the hottest real estate in the building. The teams shared six penalties through 20 minutes, but neither power play was able to deliver. Instead, the only goal came during five-on-five play when Alexander Polunin put Lokomotiv in front in the 12^th minute thanks to a defense-splitting cross-ice feed from Martin Gernat.

Those penalties had an impact at the start of the second stanza, though. Georgy Ivanov remained in the box after his foul late in the first, and Vladimir Alistrov quickly converted the chance when he potted the rebound from an Alexander Nikishin blast. The defenseman was also involved in the second goal, which came midway through the game. However, his assist was a routine thing compared to the superb finish from Sergei Tolchinsky. He brought the puck into the zone, headed to the left-hand corner then described a long arc through the Loko defense to arrive at the net and beat Daniil Isayev.

In the third period, SKA increased its lead thanks to Alistrov’s second of the game. This time, he profited from a Borna Rendulic interception to get to the net and make it 3-1 in the 48^th minute. By now, the procession of penalties had largely come to an end. However, when Alex Galchenyuk was called for slashing, Loko’s power play found its teeth at last. It was done inside 30 seconds, with Maxim Shalunov dishing off the puck for Artur Kayumov to score.

Loko’s hopes of saving the game took a hit when Shalunov sat for another minor. It wasn’t so much the danger of the SKA power play as the loss of two valuable minutes of time to grab a tying goal. However, the tables were turned late on when Mikhail Vorobyov’s trip enabled the home team to play six-on-four in the closing stages. SKA dug deep, and not even that two-man advantage could force a breakthrough as Loko slipped to a fourth straight loss.

Weal strike gives Dynamo the edge

Dynamo Moscow 5 Lada Togliatti 4 OT (2-2, 1-2, 1-0, 1-0)

Both of these teams came into the game on the back of two straight wins, and both were looking to tighten their grip on third place in their respective conferences. More importantly, both played out an absorbing encounter in Moscow.

The first period was characterized by Dynamo on the attack, and Lada’s clinical finishing. The home team led the shot count 17-8, but the team’s were tied 2-2 after 20 minutes. For Lada, that meant a 25% conversion rate – two goals from eight shots at Ilya Konovalov.

The first of them went to Sergei Shumakov on 11:30 after he brought the puck out of a scrum on the boards and found his way clear to get to the slot and score. That was the forward’s first of the season for his new club after injury ruled him out for much of the opening months of the campaign. However, after a long wait he only had 14 seconds to celebrate before Dynamo tied it up through Pavel Kudryavtsev.

Before the intermission there was another quick exchange of goals when Eric O’Dell put the home team ahead, only for Dmitry Kugryshev to reply for Lada.

In the second period, Dynamo continued to have more puck possession and still enjoyed a noticeable territorial advantage. However, the Lada defense was beginning to learn how to handle this. It needed a few blocked shots, but suddenly Vladislav Podyapolsky was seeing rather less rubber in the visitor’s net. At the other end, the Motormen continued to take their chances: Evgeny Groshev made it 3-2 then Alexei Ozhgikhin grabbed a short-handed tally in the 33^rd minute to open a 4-2 lead.

It was the first time either side had led by two, but Dynamo set about recovering the deficit. A five-on-three power play late in the middle frame saw Dmitry Rashevsky make it 3-4, then Cedric Paquette tied it up in the 49^th minute. Again, the goal came on the power play as Lada took a fifth penalty in the game. Through 50 minutes, Dynamo’s players managed to stay out of the box altogether, a divergence that played a big part in making it a tie game.

Dynamo’s discipline disappeared in the 52^nd minute, though, amid angry scenes. A Lada counter sparked a brawl in front of the home net, and it ended with four players – two from each team – taking fighting majors. While those penalties were playing out, Lada got its first power play of the night following Jordan Weal’s foul but failed to take advantage.

Instead, the game went to overtime – but not for long. Just 69 seconds into the extras, Weal grabbed the winner for the home team. Dynamo takes third place in the West ahead of Torpedo, while Lada can console itself with moving a point clear of fourth-placed Avtomobilist in the East.