Russians edge Belarus to lead Channel 1 Cup standings
A hard-fought victory over Belarus put Russia 25 in pole position at the Channel 1 Cup. With two wins from two games, the host nation can wrap up the trophy with a result against Kazakhstan on Sunday.
Late power play burst saves Russia 25
Russia 25 5 Belarus 3 (1-1, 1-1, 3-1)
Two power play goals in the closing minutes saw Russia 25 edge past Belarus to take control of the Channel 1 Cup standings.
Saturday’s match-up was the key game at this year’s tournament. Both teams began with victories on Thursday, and the Russians were eager to avenge last year’s loss. On that occasion, the Belarusians went on to win the cup, and Konstantin Koltsov’s team was keen to repeat that success in St. Petersburg.
There was a Petersburg accent to the opening goal, but not one that most of the 10,000 crowd would have hoped for. SKA’s Vladimir Alistrov won a puck battle on the boards and moved the puck into the danger zone. A kind bounce sent it to Stepan Falkovsky, another SKA man, and he fired Belarus in front from a central position.
Russia 25 responded in the 13th minute, with more SKA involvement. Mikhail Vorobyov won a face-off, Sergei Tolchinsky fired in a low shot and the rebound went to Metallurg’s Nikita Grebyonkin to finish it off.
The Russians might have felt a little disappointed not to lead at the intermission. Roman Rotenberg’s team had more possession and created the better chances, but Belarus proved more effective in front of goal. That scenario played out again in the middle frame. Roman Gorbunov took a rare chance for Belarus to restore the lead in the 37th minute. However, once again, Russia responded. SKA’s Vasily Glotov tied the scores moments later, scoring for the second game running in this tourney.
In the third period, the teams were more cautious. Even a spell of four-on-four hockey early in the frame did not generate a rush of scoring chances. However, midway through the session, Russia got caught out in the Belarus zone and gave up a three-on-one counter. A slick tic-tac-toe play set up Vadim Moroz, and the Dinamo Minsk man rifled a shot past Nikita Serebryakov to give his team the lead for a third time.
The Russians tried to battle back for a third time. However, Alexei Kolosov in the Belarusian net stood up well as the clock ticked down. In front of him, his team-mates looked to simplify their play, focussing on careful defense that kept the puck in center ice as much as possible. However, a penalty for Falkovsky late in the game handed Russia 25 a great chance to save the game.
That proved sufficient. Quickly, the puck got back to Alexander Nikishin on the blue line. He stepped forward and launched a wrist shot that got past Kolosov to tie the game.
And there was more to come. Another penalty, this time after an interference call on Maxim Sushko, saw Russia 25 grab a decisive late goal. Tolchinsky fired the puck towards Valentin Zykov at the back door, only for the puck to deflect off a Belarusian skate and bounce into the net for the winning goal. The closing seconds saw Ilya Safonov add a fifth into the empty net to seal the deal for the home team.
Mikhailis leads Kazakhstan to victory
Kazakhstan 3 VHL Stars 1 (1-0, 2-,1, 0-0)
A three-point game from Nikita Mikhailis led Team Kazakhstan to its first victory at this year’s Channel 1 Cup. The Metallurg forward had two assists and scored the game-winner late in the second period.
Defeated by Belarus in its opening game, Kazakhstan made a fast start as it looked to hit back on Saturday. The first power play of the afternoon saw Maxim Musorov open the scoring after 57 seconds.
However, Kazakhstan could not build on that lead and the score remained 1-0 through the first 20 minutes. After the intermission, VHL Stars got a power play chance an Yegor Stepanov tied it up after 23 minutes.
The VHL team was enjoying the better of the game – over the course of 60 minutes it would outshoot Kazakhstan 40-23. But there was some good goaltending from Nikita Boyarkin to neutralize that pressure, and at the other end Mikhailis restored his team’s lead in the 37th minute with the first equal-strength tally of the game. Two second before the intermission, Artyom Korolyov extended the lead off a Mikhailis assist and that proved enough to win the game. VHL Stars dominated the third period, but 21 saves from Boyarkin frustrated the Russian forwards and brought victory for Team Kazakhstan.
