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Spartak extends lead, Mattsson stops 50 shots. November 18 round-up
Spartak opened a four-point lead at the top of the Western Conference standings. The Red-and-Whites won 5-3 at home to Lada, while Dynamo lost at Torpedo. SKA goalie Johan Mattsson had the best individual performance of the day, making 50 saves as his team won 2-1 at Lokomotiv. Metallurg stays on top in the East thanks to a 2-0 win over goal-shy Barys, while Salavat Yulaev took the latest Green Derby after Alexander Chmelevski claimed only goal in Kazan. There were also victories for Traktor, Kunlun Red Star, CSKA and Sochi in an action-packed KHL Saturday.
Spartak stays out in front
Spartak Moscow 5 Lada Togliatti 3 (3-1, 1-1, 1-1)
The free-scoring Red-and-Whites suffered a blow ahead of the visit of Lada. Forward Ivan Morozov, part of the hugely prolific first line, was ruled out following an injury sustained in the previous game against Salavat Yulaev. The top line center was replaced by Alexander Burmistrov – and he quickly slotted into his new role.
Spartak opened the scoring in the third minute thanks to Alexander Pashin, then the top line got to work. Burmistrov made it 2-0 when he thumped home a Nikolai Goldobin feed. Then Goldobin scored himself after a move involving all three forwards on the first line. That’s Goldobin’s 23rd of the season, setting a new goal record for Spartak in KHL regular season play.
Lada, which faced Spartak a week ago in a clash of the Conference leaders, has already lost ground in the East. Today its problems might have got even worse when Vladislav Syomin took a major penalty. However, the visitor hung in there and reduced the arrears on a goal from Vladislav Chervonenko.
However, the visitor was never in a position to retrieve that early three-goal deficit. In the middle frame the teams traded goals: Maxim Tsyplakov added a fourth for Spartak, Dmitry Kugryshev pulled on back against his former club. Then, early in the third, Goldobin got his second of the night, this time on the power play to keep Lada out of reach. The visitor pulled a goal back through Nikita Mikhailov but never got closer as Spartak took a 5-3 verdict.
Traktor wins in family battle
Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (1-1, 1-0, 2-1)
The third Ural derby of the current campaign saw Traktor get the better of Avtomobilist for the second time this season, while home head coach Alexei Zavarukhin avenged a defeat at the hands of his cousin Nikolai in the teams’ previous meeting.
The previous encounters between these two were low-scoring affairs, but today saw an immediate focus on offense. Traktor looked dangerous from the start, but Vitaly Kravtsov could not make the most of the opportunities that came his way early in the game. Then came an opener for Avtomobilist, with Brooks Macek potting yet another power play goal. Both he and Stephane Da Costa extended their productive streaks to five games. However, they have some way to go to match Traktor’s Maxim Shabanov. His record-breaking run for Traktor is now at 12 games after an assist as Danil Yurtaikin tied the game before the intermission.
The middle frame was less incident packed. In place of frequent breakaways, the teams looked to establish territorial superiority. It took a power play to break the deadlock, with Anton Burdasov making it 2-1 to Traktor in the 38th minute with a cunningly-disguised wrist shot. Just before the hooter, only the post denied the home team a third goal.
Number three arrived early in the third period after Avtomobilist’s early attacking storm blew itself out. Charles Robinson reacted first to a rebound to finish off a good spell of Traktor pressure. The Motormen gave themselves hope in the 54th minute when Sergei Shirokov potted his first tally since Sep. 14, but there was no way back. An empty-netter from Vladimir Tkachyov wrapped up the win for the home team.
Seven in a row for Metallurg
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Barys Astana 0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0)
Magnitka recorded a seventh successive victory and consolidated its position at the top of the Eastern Conference after blanking Barys on home ice. Andrei Razin welcomed back forward Jean-Sebastien Dea after injury and promoted teenage defenseman Kirill Zhukov from the VHL. The 19-year-old made his KHL debut today. He was up against Eddie Pasquale in the Barys net, with the Canadian returning to the arena where he spent last season.
Neither team really seized the early initiative. The puck spent most of its time in center ice and there was rarely a sense that either goalie was under great pressure. Nonetheless, Metallurg managed to open the scoring after a rare spell of attacking possession concluded with Luke Johnson firing home. That makes it four goals in five games for the American forward, who seems to be getting hot as winter approaches. It might have been five in five, but a dangerous shot at the start of the second rebounded off the piping.
The home team continued to hold the initiative after that early effort. Nikita Mikhailis also found the post with a redirect before a Metallurg power play brought a second goal. Denis Zernov was the scoring, following up on a Maxim Karpov shot. That’s now six games in a row that Magnitka has potted a power play goal, with Sergei Mozyakin’s coaching contribution making itself felt.
Barys had failed to score in its previous game against Traktor (0-2) and those problems continued today. In the third period, when it was trying to save the game, the visitor managed just three ahots on goal in the first 10 minutes play. Frustration took over: Joey LaBate took a needless penalty to slow Barys’s progress, then Johnson got into a fight with Adil Beketayev in the closing stages. Ilya Nabokov kept Barys at bay until the end to record his second shut-out of the season.
Captain China sinks Sibir
Kunlun Red Star 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (1-0, 0-2, 1-0, 1-0)
This game started with a ceremony to mark Brandon Yip’s 300th game in the KHL. It ended with Yip grabbing on overtime winner to give Kunlun a hard-fought verdict. Captain China struck a minute into the extras, putting away the rebound from Ryan Sproul’s shot to separate the teams in Mytishchi.
Sibir will be frustrated that it didn’t get the lead in this game. The first period saw good chances for Nikolai Prokhorkin, Nikita Shashkov and Taylor Beck but Matt Jurusik denied each in turn. Then, in the final minute of the opening frame, Kyle Wood converted a delicious pass from Spencer Foo to send Red Star into the break with a 1-0 lead.
The middle frame saw Sergei Dubakin score twice to turn that around for Sibir. In between, Brandon McMillan thought he had a power play goal, but a video review wiped out his contribution due to a kicking motion.
Dubakin recently ended a long goal drought and has hit a run of form. The same is true of Red Star’s Tyler Wong. He found the net for the third game in a row after failing to score in his first 33 outings of the season. This one tied the scores at the start of the third period and moved him to 5 (4+1) points in his last three games.
Neither side could win it in regulation, but the extras saw Yip send Sproul into opposition territory, then follow up to tuck away the rebound after Anton Krasotkin stopped the defenseman’s initial shot.
Ufa takes derby honors
Ak Bars Kazan 0 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0)
A Green Derby is a matter of intense local pride, but today’s game was decided by Ufa’s imports. The three foreigners in Viktor Kozlov’s ranks combined for the only goal of a hard-fought battle, making it three wins from four for Salavat Yulaev in this series.
The first period was intriguing, with both teams throwing everything into the battle on every inch of the ice. There were few clear cut chances, but both teams played with great commitment – and kept the officials busy with frequent penalties.
That pattern did not greatly change in the second period and it was no surprise that it took a power play goal to break the deadlock. Dmitrij Jaskin sat for tripping in the 29th minute and this time Ufa took advantage. Nicolas Meloche found Josh Leivo in the left-hand circle, but his wayward shot was flashing safely wide of the target until it bounced off Alexander Chmelevski’s shoulder and bounced into Timur Bilyalov’s net. It was a somewhat freakish effort, but it proved to be vital.
Ak Bars struggled to generate much offense at the other end. The teams leaders – Jaskin, Vadim Shipachyov, Alexander Radulov and Dmitry Kagarlitsky – were seldom seen in prominent positions and it was generally too easy for the visitor to defend against an attack that lacked creativity. In addition, the home team took too many penalties. It rather summed up Kazan’s day when, after 56 minutes, Kagarlitsky took a double minor for high-sticking. That left his team shorthanded at precisely the moment it wanted to ramp up the pressure on Alexander Samonov’s net and contributed to a disappointing total of six shots on target in the third period. Samonov finished with 21 saves to record a shut-out; Salavat Yulaev goes home with two points and serious bragging rights.
Happy homecoming for Torpedo
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Dynamo Moscow 1 (1-0, 0-1, 2-0)
Both teams had slipped from the top of the Western Conference after losing their previous two games. For Torpedo, meanwhile, there was a point to prove after losing 7-1 in its previous encounter with Dynamo. The home team put that right tonight, while the visitor fell further behind city rival Spartak at the top of the standings.
It all added up to a happy homecoming for Torpedo, back in Nizhny for the first time in 22 days. Within two minutes, Alexei Kruchinin opened the scoring with the first shot of the game. Dynamo looked for a quick response but found Adam Huska in good form in the home net and could not tie the game in the first period.
Indeed, it was a long time before we saw a second goal here. Only in the final minute of the second period did Brennan Menell make it 1-1. That came after Alexei Kudashov made some surprise changes during the intermission: Ilya Konovalov replaced Maxim Motorygin in goal, and Nikita Gusev dropped from the second line to the fourth. Initially, Torpedo had the better of proceedings and only the crossbar denied Nikolai Kovalenko a second goal for the home team.
At the other end, Gusev settled into his new role and began to dictate the place. Late in the frame, Dynamo earned a four-on-three power play and took advantage when Menell converted Cedric Paquette’s feed.
However, Dynamo could not build on that foundation in the third period. Instead, Torpedo restored its lead through Bogdan Konyushkov in the 45th minute. A somewhat bad-tempered game broke out into open hostilities midway through the third, with a fight between Kirill Voronin and Kirill Gotovets triggering a rash of penalties on both sides. But the only remaining action of significance came in the final seconds when Vasily Atanasov’s empty net goal wrapped up the verdict for the home team.
Mattsson’s 50 saves deny Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 SKA St. Petersburg 2 (0-1, 1-1, 0-0)
Despite banging in 51 shots at SKA’s goal, the Railwaymen could not get at win in this game. Johann Mattsson, who did not enjoy the easiest start to his career in Petersburg, produced his best performance yet for his new club to stop 50 of those efforts and steal the win for the visitor.
The home team made a good start and might have gone in front in the eighth minute when Maxim Beryozkin set up a great chance for Artur Kayumov. However, his shot went wide and a power play shortly afterwards also produced little for Loko. The game was still fairly even overall when SKA went ahead on Valentin Zykov’s breakaway goal – and that saw the balance of play shift in Lokomotiv’s favor.
At the end of the first period, Loko was already flexing its attacking muscles and that pattern continued in the second. The middle frame saw the Railwaymen outshoot SKA 22-6 and Martin Gernat tied the game in the 36th minute. Given the extent of the home domination, it was reasonable to expect more to come, but Mattsson and his defense had other ideas. In addition to a half-century of saves in the game, SKA also blocked 23 shots to frustrate the home forwards.
The winning goal came late in the second period. Lokomotiv fluffed a power play, and Ivan Chekhovich’s penalty meant that SKA would get its own numerical advantage in due course. That saw Alex Galchenyuk restore the visitor’s lead with Zykov contributing an assist in a well-worked passing play.
In the third period, SKA did not produce a single shot on target. At the other end, there was a good chance for Sergei Andronov, whose miss set the tone for a frustrating 20 minutes for his team. The puck eventually got past Mattsson in the final moments, with Rushan Rafikov claiming the goal. However, the officials ruled that Pavel Kraskovsky won the face-off unfairly and the play was called back, denying Loko its last chance to save the game.
CSKA rallies to win in Sochi
HC Sochi 1 CSKA Moscow 3 (0-0, 1-0, 0-3)
Sochi snapped its nine-game losing streak with a shoot-out success over Lada, but had to make changes to that winning team. Leading forward Matvei Michkov was unavailable to face CSKA due to illness, while Michal Kristof, third in scoring, was absent for the same reason. That prompted a reshuffle of the home offense, while Sergei Fedorov could continue with a largely unchanged team after back-to-back wins.
The Leopards had plenty of defending to do in the early part of the game. CSKA quickly established a territorial advantage, limiting the home team to just three shots in the first period. However, there was no goal in the opening frame.
Midway through the second, Sochi was rewarded for an improved performance when Anton Sagadeyev opened the scoring. He got to the net to convert Jeremy Bracco’s feed and claim his first goal of the season. A couple of minutes later, Artyom Nikolayev missed a penalty shot for the Leopards, but the 1-0 lead lasted until the intermission with the home team dreaming of a second successive win.
However, CSKA had other ideas. The visitor began with a long spell of pressure and Nikita Nesterov tied the scores with his 22nd point of the season. Then Maxim Mamin scored two goals in the closing stages to put the defending champion in control and ensure that the visitor remains undefeated on its visits to Sochi.
Steelmen on top in key playoff battle
Severstal Cherepovets 6 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (0-0, 2-2, 4-0)
This was a big game in the race for the Western playoffs. In-form Vityaz moved off the foot of the table with a run of four straight wins. Eighth-placed Severstal had lost four in a row and went into back-to-back meetings with Dmitry Ryabykin’s team knowing that its playoff place would be in jeopardy if it could not get results.
The action really got started in the second period with the teams trading four goals. Alexander Skorenov put the Steelmen ahead early in the session, but Vityaz responded on markers from Scott Wilson and Vladislav Kara. With barely a minute left until the intermission, Skorenov turned provider as Ilya Ivantsov tied the scores – and that proved to be a big moment in the game.
Going level to the intermission gave Severstal a big lift and the home team made a fast start to the third period. Within seven minutes, the scoreline was 5-2 and Vityaz was all but beaten. Kirill Pilipenko put his team in front, then Christian Jaros struck on the power play. Twenty seconds later, Alexander Zhabreyev added the fifth to largely settle the outcome. Vityaz had no answer, and Pilipenko grabbed another power play goal to wrap up a big win.
