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League leader Spartak wins again, Dynamo downs CSKA. December 19 round-up
A busy return to KHL action saw Spartak stay on top of the standings with a 5-2 win at Torpedo. Dynamo is level with its cross-town rival after a 4-1 derby verdict over CSKA, while SKA’s good form continues with a 7-2 drubbing of Sochi. In the East, Ak Bars won 4-0 at Avangard, Salavat Yulaev edged a nine-goal thriller against Barys and Sibir won again under interim head coach Sergei Krivokrasov. Victories for Severstal, Dinamo Minsk and Traktor completed the program.
Svechnikov treble spells trouble for Avangard
Avangard Omsk 0 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (0-0, 0-2, 0-2)
The action resumed in Omsk first of all, and it turned into a great return to the ice for Evgeny Svechnikov. He potted his first hat-trick in the KHL to lead Ak Bars to a 4-0 victory.
Avangard was without Belarusian forward Igor Martynov, who picked up a knock during the Channel 1 Cup. He was replaced by Anton Kovalyov, a prospect emerging from within the Omsk system.
Neither team was at its best in the first period and it seemed that the players were shaking off some of the rust from last week’s pause. The best chance of the opening frame came during the first power play of the night when Ryan Spooner and Semyon Chistyakov forced a couple of big saves out of Timur Bilyalov within seconds of each other.
Despite that boost, Avangard continued to stutter at the start of the second. The home team produced a toothless power play when Vadim Shipachyov went to the box in the 21st minute, then fell behind soon after the visitor got back to full strength. An effective counterattack found Kirill Semyonov in space and he fired past Ilya Proskuryakov from the deep slot. Soon after that, Svechnikov got his first of the game when he redirected a Mitchell Miller shot to make it 2-0.
Avangard should have halved the deficit before the second intermission when Vladimir Tkachyov found himself face-to-face with Bilyalov. Before the pause, Tkachyov was on a 16-game hot streak; today he missed his big chance. The visiting goalie made another big save to rob Valentin Pyanov of a seemingly certain goal.
That encouraged the home team to start the final frame on the front foot. However, Bilyalov remained an impregnable barrier. As the clock ticked down, Avangard pulled the goalie only to allow an empty-netter for Svechnikov. Mikhail Kravets persisted with the extra skater, even though the game was gone, and Svechnikov completed his treble with another empty net goal to make the final score 4-0.
Alexei on top in family affair
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 OT (0-0, 1-1, 1-1, 0-1)
The latest instalment of the Zavarukhin family coaching battle saw Traktor’s Alexei pick up a second victory in three games against his cousin Alexander at Avtomobilist. As we’ve seen in previous Ural derbies between the teams this season, it was a close game, but Anton Burdasov’s overtime goal sent the verdict to Chelyabinsk.
The visitor made the livelier start to the game, pressing hard and making it tough for Avtomobilist to generate offensive possession. However, neither team could make a breakthrough in the first period: Avtomobilist’s decision-making wasted a glorious chance midway through the session, presenting Traktor with a breakaway rush that forced a great save from Evgeny Alikin at the other end.
In the second period, the game’s first power play enabled Avtomobilist to make the breakthrough. Sergei Shirokov got the goal in the 23rd minute with a shot from between the hashmarks. Traktor could not profit from its first power play, but tied the scores on its second when Vitaly Kravtsov found the net.
The third frame again saw special teams come to the fore. Nick Ebert’s power play goal restored Avtomobilist’s lead midway through the session, but Maxim Shabanov conjured up a short-handed effort to tie it up in the last two minutes.
Overtime brought another penalty, this time on the Motormen’s Jesse Blacker. Burdasov took advantage, snapping his six-game goalless run to settle the outcome.
New coach can’t save Barys from defeat
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 Barys Astana 4 (2-2, 2-0, 1-2)
Barys played its first game under new interim head coach Oleg Bolyakin, but the Kazakhs could not escape a third successive defeat. Bolyakin, who started the season as GM, saw his team lead twice, then recover from 2-4 to tie the game. However, a late goal from Nikolai Kulemin gave Salavat Yulaev the verdict in an entertaining encounter.
The visitor showed some promising signs in the first period. Barys opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Pontus Aberg finished off a well-worked counterattack. Pavel Koledov’s defensive contribution was not the brightest on that play, but he quickly atoned by tying the game. However, Koledov continued to struggle to deal with the visiting forwards and gave Anthony Camara time enough to restore the lead. Salavat tied it up for a second time when a Kulemin shot took a deflection off Evgeny Timkin to beat Eddie Pasquale in the Barys net.
Salavat Yulaev appeared to have control of the game in the second period. Nicolas Meloche put the home team ahead for the first time with a power play goal, then Yegor Suchkov converted a delicate feed from Sergei Shmelyov to make it 4-2.
Barys battled back in the third, with Arkady Shestakov forcing home a goal early in the frame. With five minutes left, Evgeny Rymarev’s power play marker tied it up. However, with overtime in sight, Salavat Yulaev got on the power play and Kulemin scored the winner.
Krivokrasov wins again
Lada Togliatti 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Sergei Krivokrasov made it two wins from two games as interim head coach at Sibir, grabbing an overtime verdict at Lada. He was helped in Togliatti by the return of defenseman Trevor Murphy, out of action since Sep. 9 due to injury, but had to cope without import forward Andy Andreoff.
The first period produced no goals, but offered some hints of what was to come. In particular, the brightest performances for the home team came from Ostap Safin and Troy Josephs. Therefore, it was no surprise that they were both involved in the opener: Josephs with an assist, Safin with the 23rd-minute goal. It didn’t take long for Sibir to respond, and it Taylor Beck’s prominent line that created the goal for Maxim Sushko, back into action immediately after his return from international duty.
The game remained deadlocked to the second intermission, and after that both teams paid more attention to their defenses. The third period was not stuffed with scoring chances and it took overtime to separate the teams. In the extras, Lada had the first big chance but could not score. Sibir converted the next opportunity, with Georgy Belousov giving the visitor the win.
Prince strikes twice on return to action
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Spartak Moscow 5 (1-1, 0-2, 1-2)
Table-topping Spartak continued where it left off with a high-scoring victory in Nizhny Novgorod. Shane Prince, who recently signed a contract extension with the Red-and-Whites, led the way with two goals on his return from injury.
The visitor already had a couple of good chances under its belt before Prince opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Spartak kept up the pressure after that, but Adam Huska in the home goal did well to keep his team in the game. He, and Torpedo, got the reward after 15 minutes when Maxim Letunov stole the puck as goalie Dmitry Nikolayev went walkabout and Mikhail Orlov tied it up.
Spartak took control in the second period, turning its dominance into a 3-1 lead. Early in the session, Prince got his second of the night and, after several more good opportunities, Michal Cajkovsky added a third towards the end of the session.
Torpedo fell further behind at the start of the third, with Pavel Poryadin and Dmitry Vishnevsky scoring in the first nine minutes, the latter on the power play. That put the game out of reach, but there was still time for Alexei Kruchinin to get a late consolation tally for the home team.
Shugayev’s shut-out derails Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 Severstal Cherepovets 1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0)
The two previous meetings between these teams produced 12 goals and two Lokomotiv wins. Today, a solitary strike was enough to give Severstal the verdict, while Dmitry Shugayev celebrated his first shut-out of the season.
Shugayev was much the busier of the two goalies, facing 30 shots while his opposite number Daniil Isayev made 15 saves. The only one to get past the Lokomotiv man came late in the second period when Kirill Pilipenko’s one-timer ripped into the net from a tight angle. That finished off a neat passing move and continued the Severstal forward’s run of form: he’s picked up at least a point in 11 of his last 12 games.
After falling behind, Lokomotiv looked to start the third period on the front foot. The home team adopted its familiar high press, but struggled to create clear scoring chances. Although there were 11 shots at Shugayev in the final frame (compared with just three at the other end) Severstal was able to close out the win relatively calmly.
Bison outlast Vityaz
Dinamo Minsk 4 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 (0-0, 1-1, 3-0)
It took some time, but Dinamo wore down Vityaz to record a third successive victory. For the visitor, the international break did not bring much relief: this was a fifth defeat on the spin for Dmitry Ryabykin’s team.
After 40 minutes, the teams could not be separated. Neither side could break the deadlock in the first period, and they traded power play goals in the second. Andrei Stas opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, but Scott Wilson tied it up four minutes later.
The outcome was decided at the start of the third. Yegor Borikov restored Dinamo’s lead on 44:52, and 31 seconds later Alexander Volkov made it 3-1. That was too much for Vityaz, who found penalty troubles did little to boost an effort to fight back. Yegor Voronkov got the blood pumping for the visitors midway through the session in a fight with Stas, but that did not change much on the ice. Kodie Curran completed the scoring into an empty net to seal a good win for the Belarusians.
Vityaz remains stuck at the foot of the Western Conference, while eight-placed Dinamo opens a five-point gap to its closest rival for a playoff place.
Derby joy for Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow 4 CSKA Moscow 1 (2-0, 2-1, 0-0)
Dynamo remains level on points with league leader Spartak thanks to a convincing derby victory. Defending champion CSKA remains sixth in the table and continues to struggle to put together a winning run.
In today’s game, the Blue-and-Whites looked busier throughout the first period. Attacking pressure led to penalties for CSKA, and power plays led to goals for Dynamo. Cedric Paquette opened the scoring just 14 seconds after Yaroslav Dyblenko sat for the game’s first penalty. Nikita Gusev fed the puck to Brennan Menell on the blue line, and his blast was steered into the net by Paquette on the slot. Four minutes later, Gusev converted the home team’s second PP of the game, collected Igor Ozhiganov’s pass in the right-hand circle and shooting past Alexander Sharychenkov.
CSKA got a five-on-three chance late in the first period, but the visiting special teams were not up to Dynamo’s standards. A sluggish power play posed little threat and the score remained 2-0 at the break.
Nonetheless, back at equal strength CSKA reduced the deficit early in the second. After winning the puck on the boards, the visitor got it back to the danger zone and Kirill Dolzhenkov applied the finish. Dynamo challenged the play, citing offside, but the appeal was overruled and CSKA immediately had another power play chance.
That might have changed the game, but once again the home special teams made the difference. Late in the second, Dynamo’s power play shone once more. A couple of quick calls reduced CSKA to three skaters, and Dynamo proved clinical with its numerical advantage. Daniil Pylenkov converted the five-on-three PP, then Artyom Ilyenko added a fourth while Colby Williams waited to finish his major penalty.
A 4-1 lead was big enough for Dynamo to close out the third period with a minimum of fuss. There was no further scoring in the final frame, leaving the home team with a perfect return on the power play and a comfortable derby win.
SKA pummels Sochi
SKA St. Peterburg 7 HC Sochi 2 (1-0, 0-1, 6-1)
For two periods, this was a close-fought encounter that belied the gap between these teams in the standings. In the third, SKA cut loose to record a 13th win in 14 games.
Previous meetings between the teams this season ended in 5-4 wins for Sochi, with the Leopards finding Roman Rotenberg’s men very much to their liking. Today, though, that run of unexpected success came to an abrupt halt as SKA blasted six goals in the third period to romp to victory.
The first period saw some heroic goaltending from Maxim Tretyak as the home team absolutely dictated the play. The shot count read 33-1, goal attempts 41-4. Yet the only difference between the teams was Marat Khairullin’s seventh-minute tally.
Sochi could hardly have less of the game, and in the second period the visitor began to play more of a part. That led to the Leopards’ first power play of the night, and then a tying goal for Sergei Popov. Heavily overmatched for 40 minutes, the underdog was tied at the second intermission.
But there would be no miracle. Mikhail Vorobyov restored SKA’s lead 45 seconds into the final frame. Michal Kristof then missed a penalty shot for Sochi, and on 42 minutes Borna Rendulic scored on his former club to make it 3-1. There were just seven seconds between Kristof’s attempt and Rendulic’s goal, but that was long enough to end Sochi’s hopes.
The visitor wasn’t completely done. After killing a penalty, Sochi pulled it back to 2-3 thanks to Timur Khafizov. By now, though, the tank was empty. Khairullin’s second of the night removed any remaining intrigue, and the closing stages brought a goal for fit-again Arseny Gritsyuk, a second for Vorobyov and a final word from another ex-Sochi man, Vasily Glotov. Tretyak played the full game and faced 66 shots, SKA had more than 25 minutes of attacking possession.
