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Spartak snatches top spot, SKA beats Ak Bars. November 14 round-up
There was late drama in Tuesday’s big KHL games. Spartak claimed an OT win over Dynamo after tying the scores in the 58th minute. The result sees Alexei Zhamnov’s team leapfrog its Moscow rival into top spot. SKA also needed late goals to see off Ak Bars, winning 4-2 in Kazan. Metallurg went top of the East with a 4-1 win at Dinamo Minsk. Maxim Shabanov set a club record for Traktor, but his team lost out to Salavat Yulaev. Elsewhere in the East, Evgeny Alikin blanked Amur on his return to his former club, Sibir shot down Torpedo and Avangard recorded a seventh successive victory. In the West, Sochi suffered an eighth loss in a row, falling to Vityaz for the second time in two days.
Winning return for Alikin
Admiral Vladivostok 0 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (0-0, 0-1, 0-2)
Evgeny Alikin returned to Avtomobilist’s net for the first time in almost two weeks and celebrated with a shut-out to deny Admiral. The goalie made 30 saves as the Motormen recorded a third successive victory on its Far East tour.
The Sailors looked to test Alikin early on. The home team had two power plays at the start of the game, and Avtomobilist had to dig deep to avoid giving up an early goal in those four minutes. The visiting PK worked hard to slow Admiral’s power play and, once back at equal strength the play steadily moved towards the other end of the ice.
Neither team could find a goal in the first period, but the second saw Avtomobilist enjoy more control of the play. The breakthrough came in the 33rd minute when Brooks Macek struck on the power play. That was a big boost for the Ural team, which has misfired on the PP this season and, moments earlier, spurned a five-on-three opportunity.
Once in front, Avtomobilist was happy to slow the game down and protect its advantage. Sitting and center ice, it invited Admiral to attack – but the home team seemed too weak to punish that and there were few good chances. Then came the counter-punch, with a three-on-one rush ending in a goal for Curtis Valk. That was the center’s first marker in 21 games and his 48th minute effort was also his team’s first shot on goal in the third period.
Admiral’s best chance of saving the game arrived in the 55th minute when it got on the power play. This time, Leonids Tambijevs gambled on a sixth skater and saw his players create several good chances. However, after three minutes without a goal, Stephane Da Costa put the puck in the empty net to wrap up the win.
Nemirovsky defeats former club once again
Sibir Novosibirsk 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (1-1, 1-0, 2-0)
David Nemirovsky led Sibir to victory over his former club Torpedo for the second time this season. Earlier, the teams traded eight goals in Nizhny before Sibir won a shoot-out. Today, the Siberians enjoyed a more comfortable success on home ice.
The host got a boost when leading scorer Taylor Beck was cleared to play after missing a couple of games through illness. He has a good track record against Torpedo and added to that early in the game with an assist as Sergei Dubakin opened the scoring in the fourth minute. However, the visitor more than held its own in the first period and tied the scores before the intermission through Denis Yan.
In the second frame, Torpedo again had more of the play. However, Sibir was resolute in defense – nine blocked shots in the session – and grabbed the go-ahead goal late in the session through Nikita Shashkov. That was a nice way to celebrate the forward’s 200th KHL appearance; all of those games have been for Sibir, and he’s scored 24 goals in that time.
It was a blow for the visitor, which was playing its eighth successive road game. In the third period, Torpedo visibly tired and Sibir was able to take advantage. Nikolai Prokhorkin increased the lead and young defenseman Artyom Zhukov wrapped it up off another assist from Beck.
Seven straight wins for Avangard
Avangard Omsk 5 Severstal Cherepovets 4 OT (1-2, 2-1, 1-1, 1-0)
The Hawks recorded a seventh successive victory after a rollercoaster of a game against Severstal. The visitor, beaten in its last two outings, led three times but still needed a last-gasp leveller to drag the game into overtime. In the extras, Ryan Spooner grabbed the winner and extended his productive streak to eight games with seven goals and 12 helpers.
It took some time for this game to get started, with the only early danger coming on an Avangard power play. However, midway through the first period Severstal began to ask some questions and Nikolai Burenov opened the scoring in the 13th minute.
That lead was short-lived. Another home power play saw Reid Boucher tie the game with help from a deflection off Christian Jaros’s skate. However, Severstal took a lead into the intermission thanks to Kirill Pilipenko’s goal four seconds before the hooter.
The second period brought a rush of goals around the midway point as Avangard tied the game at 3-3. Ilya Ivantsov restored the Steelmen’s advantage within two minutes of Nikita Kholodilin’s goal, but another couple of minutes saw Artyom Chmykhov on target. The 25-year-old defenseman got his first goal for Avangard against the team he briefly represented in 2021-2022.
At the start of the third period, Severstal played like a team trying to save the game rather than one looking for a winning goal. In the opening exchanges it was one-way traffic, and it wasn’t until the eighth minute that Avangard managed to get to the other end and shoot at Dmitry Shugayev. However, the home team created dangerous chances: Vladimir Tkachyov’s solo effort would have been the goal of the game were it not for the crossbar coming to Shugayev’s rescue. And in the 56th minute, Avangard got in front for the first time when Ivan Nikolishin set up Igor Martynov for a one timer that beat the goalie short side.
That felt like the game-winner, but Severstal would not give up. The visitor managed to tie it with four seconds to play, Pilipenko grabbing his second of the game in dramatic fashion. However, Avangard would not be denied twice and in overtime it took Spooner just 36 seconds to settle the outcome.
Shabanov sets club record, but ends on losing side
Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 (1-1, 1-2, 1-1)
Maxim Shabanov set a club record for Traktor after stretching his productive streak to 10 games. However, while he beat the likes of Petri Kontiola and Lukas Sedlak, his two-point game could not bring his team victory over Salavat Yulaev.
Shabanov wasted little time in setting that record. He opened the scoring after 28 seconds of Tuesday’s game, finishing off a rush that starting with Danil Yurtaikin blazing down the wing. Vladimir Tkachyov might have doubled that lead when he was given space in front of the net a few minutes later, but Salavat Yulaev tied it up through Nikolai Kulemin in the seventh minute.
The visitor finished the frame the stronger, and carried that into the second stanza. Yegor Suchkov quickly put Ufa up 2-1 before Salavat Yulaev killed a penalty and looked to consolidate its lead. Alexander Sharov added a third late in the period, but right on the hooter Vitaly Kravtsov pulled one back to keep the game very much alive.
There was another early goal in the third period, with Salavat Yulaev taking advantage of a power play thanks to Ivan Drozdov’s marker. That was almost the last sighting of the visitor as an attacking force: in the third period, home goalie Nikita Podskrebalin faced just two shots on his net. At the other end, Traktor got one back thanks to Sergei Telegin midway through the frame, but could not find the tying goal.
Late goals give SKA the edge
Ak Bars Kazan 2 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (0-0, 2-2, 0-2)
SKA avenged its loss at home to Ak Bars, despite blowing a two-goal lead in bizarre fashion. Ak Bars got a generous bounce on both of its goals, but could not escape a third successive defeat. SKA tightened its grip on a playoff place thanks to two goals in the last five minutes, grabbing a 4-2 verdict and recording a fourth win in five games.
The first period was goalless, but things woke up in the second. SKA jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals from Vasily Glotov and Marat Khairullin. The visitor might have added a third soon after when Andrei Chivilyov found himself wide open in front of the net but steered a back-hand shot wide of the target.
Then Ak Bars began to court the hockey gods. Artyom Lukoyanov got the home team on the board with a shot from the circle that deflected off two defensemen to leave Nikita Serebryakov bemused. Ninety seconds later, Serebryakov was cursing another freakish bounce: the goalie thought he’d forced Artyom Galimov too far wide of the goal to convert Stanislav Galiyev’s feed, but a shot from a tight angle bounced off the netminder’s skate and found its way into the net.
That meant the game was tied at the intermission, even though SKA outshot Ak Bars 28-15 across 40 minutes’ play. And the visitor showed even more dominance in the third, leading the shot count 13-5. Nonetheless, it took time to break down the home defense. It wasn’t until the 55th minute that Glotov broke free and fired in an early shot at Artur Akhtyamov in the home net. The goalie’s block was unconvincing, and the forward jumped in to convert the rebound. Next came a penalty on Kristian Khenkel and a power play goal for Valentin Zykov to open a two-goal margin that was too big to bridge.
Metallurg’s power play shoots down Dinamo
Dinamo Minsk 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 (0-1, 1-2, 0-1)
Metallurg returned to the top of the Eastern Conference with a comfortable road win in Minsk. It’s the second time Andrei Razin’s team beat the Bison, having earlier enjoyed a 5-1 scoreline on home ice.
In a first period of relatively few chances, Metallurg’s first power play made the difference. Nikita Mikhailis took advantage to open the scoring midway through the session.
Dinamo replied early in the second with Vadim Moroz tying the scores. However, there was little time for the home team to consolidate. Yanni Kaldis took a penalty within a minute, and that enabled Danila Yurov to score Metallurg’s second power play goal of the night. Midway through the session, Pavel Akolzin made it 3-1, this time with the teams at equal strength.
With Dinamo chasing the game, the final frame saw most of the action take place in front of Ilya Nabokov’s net. However, the Metallurg defense protected the young goalie well and he faced just nine shots. At the other end, Magnitka rarely posed a major threat. However, another power play late in the game brought Yurov’s second of the night, this time into an empty net, to seal the verdict.
Back-to-back wins by the Black Sea
HC Sochi 1 Vityaz Moscow Region 3 (0-2, 0-1, 1-0)
Vityaz won at Sochi for the second time in 24 hours, improving to three successive victories. On Monday, the visitor won the game thanks to two short-handed goals on the same penalty kill. Today, another quickfire salvo made the difference.
The double blast came in the first period. Derek Barach opened the scoring on 13:56, continuing a productive streak that’s now worth seven points from three games. Then Alexander Yaremchuk doubled the lead on 15:13 to leave struggling Sochi with a mountain to climb.
The home team was heading for a ninth successive loss and rarely looked like changing the outcome. The second period saw little attacking play from the Leopards, and Vityaz extended the lead through Scott Wilson. Barach added a helper on that one.
There was little more than pride to play for in the third, and Sochi regained some of that when Kirill Rasskazov got a consolation goal in the 47th minute. The home team had more of the play in the final third, but never seriously threatened to trouble Vityaz.
Spartak snatches top spot in dramatic fashion
Spartak Moscow 4 Dynamo Moscow 3 OT (2-2, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0)
A table-topping Moscow derby produced late drama as Spartak battled back to win in OT. The verdict puts the Red-and-Whites back to the top of the KHL standings, albeit by the narrowest of margins over a Dynamo team that can match their 45 points.
The visitor led three times in this game, but failed to get it over the line. Spartak pressed for a saving goal throughout the third period and tied it up in the 58th minute. Pavel Poryadin won possession behind the net and tried to set up a team-mate on the slot. His feed was wild and went right back to the blue line, where Dmitry Vishnevsky collected the puck, picked his moment and launched a powerful shot past Ilya Konovalov in the Dynamo net.
That took the game to overtime, and in the extras Spartak moved fast. It took just 16 seconds for the home team to pot the winner. Maxim Tsyplakov burst into the zone, headed to the right-hand circle and went five-hole on Konovalov. The goalie got a pad to the shot, but could not keep it out as the Red-and-Whites returned to the top.
Earlier, Dynamo had its own chances to win the game and consolidate in first place. In a lively first period, Dmitry Rashevsky put the visitor in front, only for Tsyplakov to tie it up almost immediately on the power play. It didn’t take long for Dynamo to regain the lead, this time through Andrei Mironov. By now, the game was turning into a firefight and Spartak levelled once more when Yegor Filin’s attempt to find Ansel Galimov at the back door was deflected into his own net by a Dynamo defenseman.
Level at the first intermission, Dynamo took the lead for a third time. The visitor began the period with two players in the box, but Spartak could not take advantage and then lost a man of its own to a bench penalty. That helped Pavel Kudryavtsev make it 3-2, albeit with a goal scored just as Ilya Talaluyev was leaving the box. After that 24th-minute effort, the rapid exchange of goals came to an end. For more than 30 minutes the score was unchanged, until Spartak salvaged the game with a late flourish.
