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CSKA youngsters impress in Minsk. November 24 round-up
Sergei Fedorov got a good look at the depth on his roster during Friday’s 4-0 win at Dinamo Minsk. In particular, 20-year-old goalie Dmitry Gamzin caught the eye with his first KHL shut-out, while teenage forward Kirill Dolzhenkov potted his first goal in the league. Earlier in the day there were home wins for the Far East clubs. Amur thumped Severstal 6-2, while Admiral beat Sochi 3-1.
Big win for Tigers
Amur Khabarovsk 6 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (3-1, 1-0, 2-1)
Both teams made changes ahead of this game. Amur shared a win and a loss with Far East rival Admiral in its previous two home games, while Severstal was looking to improve after defeats to Vityaz and CSKA before heading out East. Although the head coaches shuffled their lines, the changes affected the supporting cast, with the teams’ leaders in their usual roles.
The teams began at a lively pace. Amur aimed to get pucks to the net as often as possible, while Severstal favored a more measured approach. The Tigers’ direct style was the first to deliver results, with Vladislav Barulin opening the scoring in the seventh minute. Kirill Pilipenko soon tied the game, extending his productive streak to six games. However, the latter half of the first period belonged to the host, with Stanislav Bocharov and Sergei Lapin extending Amur’s lead. Yegor Korshkov picked up an assist, moving to 100 career helpers in the KHL.
In the second period, the game remained entertaining with plenty of good chances. However, the two goalies stepped up their game and there was only one more goal. It went to Amur, with Vyacheslav Gretsky making it 4-1 after a defensive lapse from the visitor.
At the start of the third, the Steelmen tried to find a way back into the game but without success. Instead, Cameron Lee added a fifth on the power play, effectively ending the contest. There was still time for the teams to trade further markers: Pilipenko got his second of the night before Evgeny Grachyov wrapped up a comfortable home win.
Sailors get win, Gorshkov gets club record
Admiral Vladivostok 3 HC Sochi 1 (0-0, 1-0, 2-1)
Before the game, there was exciting news for Vladivostok with confirmation that Czech defenseman Libor Sulak was heading back to Admiral from Avangard. Today’s game came too early for him to feature, but his imminent return gave a boost to everyone associated with the club.
It was also a big day for Alexander Gorshkov. The third line forward made his 252nd appearance for the Sailors, setting a KHL appearance record for the club.
In the early stages the game was one-way traffic and only visiting goalie Mikhail Berdin kept the Leopards afloat. It wasn’t until midway through the first period that the visitor managed to get some play together, and a power play for Sochi late in the frame changed the momentum without producing an opening goal.
After the intermission, Sochi looked the more composed team. Admiral was reduced to playing on the counter, but managed to parlay one of those into the opening goal when Yegor Morozov got free to beat Berdin at last.
Late in the middle frame, Sochi’s 18-year-old forward Gavriil Voloskov took a major penalty for a check to the head on Yury Pautov. That brought Admiral’s second goal, scored by Daniil Gutik shortly after the intermission.
Facing a fight to save the game, the visitor poured forward and pulled one back in the 49th minute. Amir Garayev fired home a one-timer off Jesse Graham’s feed to bring the game back to life. However, some careful work on defense from Admiral neutralized Sochi’s storm and Nikita Anokhovsky produced a great assist for Alexander Shevchenko to make it 3-1 and secure the win.
First goal for Dolzhenkov, first shut-out for Gamzin
Dinamo Minsk 0 CSKA Moscow 4 (0-0, 0-1, 0-3)
For Dinamo’s head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov, this was a first meeting with former club CSKA since he took on the job in Minsk. His team returned home from Yekaterinburg lifted by a first win in five games, but faced a stiff test against the defending champion. While CSKA has been far from its best so far this season, Sergei Fedorov’s team had four wins from five games and is showing signs of hitting form at last.
The early exchanges favored CSKA, even allowing for Dinamo’s power play when Fredrik Claesson took a penalty in the third minute for a foul on Vadim Moroz. However, the visitor could not make the most of its territorial advantage and Dinamo came into the game as the first period continued. Late in the opening frame, young goalie Dmitry Gamzin was twice called into action to deny first Roman Gorbunov then Brett Ritchie.
In the second period, Dinamo had plenty of the puck and created some more dangerous moments in front of Gamzin’s net. However, the finishing touch just wasn’t there and CSKA punished that profligacy when Pavel Karnaukhov opened the scoring in the 28th minute. The goal stemmed from some battling play behind the net from Andrei Svetlakov, who took the puck away from two defensemen to set up the chance.
CSKA increased that lead in the 47th minute through Maxim Sorkin. Dylan Ferguson managed to stop Marsel Ibragimov’s point shot, but the rebound fell to Sorkin who made it 2-0 from close range. Dinamo continued to create chances, but Gamzin continued to make the saves and in the closing minutes the visitor made the game safe. Kirill Dolzhenkov, a 19-year-old forward playing only his 14th game in the league, got his first ever goal to make it 3-0.
The only remaining task was to secure a first ever KHL shut-out for 20-year-old Gamzin. Dinamo applied some late pressure to try to deny him that achievement, but the youngster finished with 36 saves to backstop the visitor’s victory. At the other end, Vladislav Kamenev found the empty net to have the final word.
