Goalie goal, hat-tricks and fightbacks
The All-Star Game lived up to its billing with two entertaining semi-finals to round of Saturday’s action in St. Petersburg. The four teams shared 28 goals between them – with hat-tricks for Riley Barber and Maxim Shalunov, plus a rare goalie goal from Alexander Samonov.
Barber’s treble isn’t enough as Team Kharlamov fights back
Team Kharlamov 8 Team Chernyshev 6 (1-4, 7-2)
The first All-Star semi-final was a battle for the Eastern Conference. Historically, Team Chernyshev had the upper hand here but last year, for the first time, Kharlamov got the win. Today saw a repeat of that result in a typically high-scoring piece of All-Star action.
It didn’t look good for Andrei Razin’s Team Kharlamov at the first intermission, though. Chernyshev made a strong start and jumped to a 4-1 lead. Ironically, much of the damage came from Riley Barber, who was voted onto the team while playing for Barys but has since moved to Ak Bars. The American forward therefore found himself playing against his new clubmates as he rejoined some of his former colleagues from Kazakhstan. He showed no mercy, scoring twice in the first period and ending the game with a hat-trick.
Barber also had an assist on that rarest of events, a goalie goal, scored by Alexander Samonov into an empty net in the final second of the first period.
Alexander Samonov, Team Chernyshev goalie
They said my goal might have been just after the hooter, but I think the officials cut us a bit of slack today. The whole day has been great. We lost the game, but that’s not the most important thing. We all had fun, and I think the fans enjoyed themselves too.
But 3x3 hockey is fast-paced, unpredictable affair. After relying on Lada goalieVladislav Podyapolsky to keep it in the game in the first 10-minute period, Team Kharlamov wiped out the deficit in the second. Another Lada man, Troy Josephs, led the turnaround with two goals, and his double haul was matched by Nikita Grebyonkin. Nonetheless, it took late drama to turn the game around. On 17:25, Cam Lee gave Chernyshev a 6-3 lead and seemed to have settled the outcome. Then Kharlamov banged in five goals in 142 seconds, including one from Junior star Sergei Kolesnikov, to blitz its way into Sunday’s gold medal game.
Sergei Kolesnikov, Team Kharlamov forward
It’s just incredible. I’m so happy to get an opportunity like this, I’m so grateful to the league. It’s an incredible atmosphere here. I was happy with my game, and I liked the way my team-mates helped me. I think we won because of our character and motivation. On the bench everyone was talking about how we needed to get the win.
Yegor Yakovlev, Metallurg’s veteran defenseman, attributed his team’s fightback to the contribution of the coaching staff, especially former footballer Andrei Arshavin.
We got back into the game because our coaches told us the right things. Arshavin encouraged us to take more chances, shoot more. And it worked! There’s a real holiday feel. The size of the arena makes a big impression. It’s really cool and I’m happy that we have something like this in our country. It will bring more attention to the KHL.
Team Tarasov advances thanks to Shalunov hatty
Team Bobrov 6 Team Tarasov 8 (3-6, 3-2)
There was no repeat fightback, but there was a repeat of the 8-6 scoreline as Team Bobrov advanced to Sunday’s final thanks to a hat-trick from Maxim Shalunov.
Local sympathies leaned towards Team Bobrov. The Petersburg crowd got behind SKA’s goalie Nikita Serebryakov and prolific defenseman Alexander Nikishin. There was also a first chance for many to check out the progress of 19-year-old Matvei Polyakov, a rising star with SKA-1946 who earned his place here after impressing at last week’s Junior Challenge Cup.
That said, there were familiar faces on the other side: Nikita Gusev was a popular forward during his years with SKA, and behind the bench Alexei Kudashov, currently head coach of Dynamo, previously worked in Petersburg.
Kudashov’s team made a fast start, scoring five in Serebryakov in less than five minutes. Gusev was among the scorers, as was junior Vladimir Mikhalyov, who already has his first KHL goals for Sibir. In response, Spartak’s deadly due of Pavel Poryadin and Nikolai Goldobin combined for two goals in the opening frame, and Torpedo’s youthful partnership of Maxim Letunov and Maxim Atanasov also found Alexei Kolosov’s net. Shalunov got his second for Bobrov in the last minute, making it 6-3 at the intermission.
As in the first game, the second period brought a fightback. Bogdan Konyushkov pulled one back, Poryadin’s second made it a one-goal game and there were still three minutes to play. Torpedo defenseman Konyushkov tied the scores just 28 seconds later and there was 3:11 left on the clock for a dramatic finish.
Bogdan Konyushkov, Team Bobrov defenseman
It was a busy day and I think everyone enjoyed it. We were happy to win the skill show contests, but we wanted to win our game as well. It’s cool that we got so many people here to see the games, I think they all had a great time. It feels good to be part of the Fonbet KHL All-Star Game. I wouldn’t say it’s been easy for me, but it’s cool to hang out with guys like this.
Team Bobrov goalie Mikhail Berdin came into the game at the intermission and kept his goal intact until Brennan Menell restored Tarasov’s lead on 17:35, assisted by his Dynamo team-mate Gusev. Then, in the last minute, Shalunov completed his hat-trick to secure an 8-6 verdict for Team Tarasov.
In Sunday’s play, Team Tarasov will meet Team Kharlamov in the bronze-medal game. Then, as the climax of a great weekend’s entertainment, Team Bobrov takes on Team Chernyshev with gold on the line.
