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Six-shooting SKA downs Dragons. October 25 round-up
In a high-scoring game dominated by the two power plays, SKA recovered from 1-3 to win at Kunlun Red Star. Earlier, Traktor won its second South Ural derby of the season as Anton Burdasov made a scoring return from injury. Lada blew a 3-0 lead on the road in Cherepovets, but dug in to secure a shoot-out verdict over Severstal.
Traktor claims second derby win
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (0-1, 0-3, 2-0)
Traktor shrugged off the after-effects of a difficult journey to win the second South Ural derby of the season. After weather-related delays in leaving Nizhnekamsk, the visitor got to Magnitogorsk just a few hours before today’s game. The draining trip may have encouraged Alexei Zavarukhin to change things up: 25-year-old goalie Nikita Podskrebalin made his KHL debut, while Anton Burdasov and Maxim Marushev returned after injury.
For Magnitka, Andrei Razin recalled Artyom Zagidulin to the starting line-up, only to replace him 12 minutes into the game. Unusually, it took just one goal to persuade the head coach he’d seen enough: Semyon Der-Arguchintsev’s shot came off the glass and bounced into the net off Zagidulin’s back.
Traktor extended its lead in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals. Burdasov celebrated his return with a well-taken tally to double the lead, and late in the frame Maxim Shabanov took Artyom Blazhiyevsky’s pass and beat Ilya Nabokov. There was still time for Der-Arguchintsev to get his second of the game before the intermission, stripping Yegor Korobkin of the puck and advancing to score on the goalie’s short side.
Traktor scored three goals off six shots in the middle frame, so Razin reversed his earlier goaltending switch and restored Zagidulin to the game. That ensured no further goals for the visitor. At the other end, Maxim Karpov got the home team on the board in the 46th minute and Pavel Akolzin added a second a couple of minutes later. Suddenly, there were hopes of a fightback, especially when Traktor ran into penalty trouble. However, the home power play was unable to complete the job.
Steelmen fightback but can’t take win
Severstal Cherepovets 3 Lada Togliatti 4 SO (1-3, 2-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Despite blowing a 3-0 lead, Lada managed to scrape a win in Cherepovets. Severstal recovered to tie the scores early in the second period and threatened to take control thereafter. However, there was no further scoring until Lada edged the verdict in the shoot-out.
The Motormen seemed to have the game under control after a rush of goals midway through the first period. Georgy Solyannikov opened the scoring, then exactly one minute later Ostap Safin made it 2-0. He then turned provider, getting an assist as Sergei Shumakov made it two goals in two games. Lada’s third goal chased starting goalie Dmitry Shugayev from the net in the 14th minute, and Konstantin Shostak took over.
That change halted the scoring at one end, and late in the first period Severstal pulled one back thanks to Adam Liska. At the start of the second, Solyannikov took the first penalty of the game and Ilya Ivantsov made it 2-3. Then Kirill Pilipenko tied the scores in the 24th minute of a lively encounter.
After that, Severstal continued to press and outshot Lada 18-5 in the second period. However, there was no way through with Vladislav Podyapolsky keeping his team level. And in the final frame, neither team generated sufficient offense to impress. Severstal continued to have the lion’s share of the puck, but managed just six shots on goal from 6:18 in the O-zone as the game drifted to overtime.
The extras could not separate the teams, but Lada prevailed in the shoot-out after Safin produced the only successful attempt on goal.
Dragons pay the penalty
Kunlun Red Star 3 SKA St. Petersburg 6 (3-1, 0-3, 0-2)
An entertaining game in Mytishchi saw SKA recover from 1-3 to beat Kunlun. The action was dominated by the two teams’ power plays, with seven of the nine goals coming on the PP and two of them arriving on a two-man advantage. For SKA, 19-year-old goalie Pavel Moisevich made his KHL debut after coming off the bench to replace Artemy Pleshkov. He completed his first engagement without allowing a goal. Red Star forward Teemu Pulkkinen scored his 100th KHL goal in a losing cause.
The opening goal arrived early. SKA got on the power play right at the start of the game and Arseny Gritsyuk took advantage to claim his first of two goals in this game. The youngster, who joined the club from Avangard in the summer, has been used sparingly by Roman Rotenberg, but after five goals this month may be hoping for a bigger role in future.
However, SKA’s immediate role was defense. Parker Foo tied the game after five minutes when he slammed a loose puck home from between the hash marks. Then came penalty trouble for the visitor: it took just four seconds for the Dragons to convert a five-on-three power play when Pulkkinen got his first for the club and 100th in the KHL. Then Ryan Sproul stretched the lead to 3-1 as the home PP continued.
That saw Artemy Pleshkov called to the SKA bench. Incoming goalie Pavel Moisevich, 19, found himself making his KHL debut in an awkward situation. However, his team rallied around the youngster magnificently. SKA allowed just three shots on its net in the middle frame as it turned the game around.
Vasily Glotov pulled an early goal back for SKA, then power play tallies from Sergei Tolchinsky and Stepan Starkov put the visitor in front. Red Star found itself hamstrung by penalties and struggled to make an impact.
And penalties continued to hurt the host in the final stanza. Gritsyuk got his second of the game, Alexander Nikishin added another with a five-on-three PP. KRS tried to challenge that call, but the video review saw no evidence of interference on goalie Jeremy Smith, and the delay of game penalty restored SKA’s two-man advantage.
By now, though, the game was done. The visitor did not look to add to its spoils and played out the final minutes with relatively little fuss. KRS swapped out Smith for understudy Matt Jurusik in the closing moments.
