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Loko hits the front. January 5 round-up
There’s a new leader in the KHL standings: Lokomotiv’s 2-1 win at SKA, coupled with Spartak’s derby loss at CSKA, puts the Railwaymen into first place. Elsewhere, the Eastern Conference saw plenty of overtime: Salavat Yulaev won in the extras at Sibir, while Neftekhimik and Ak Bars had 2-1 verdicts over Metallurg and Admiral respectively. Traktor put five past Barys, avenging last month’s 1-5 loss in Astana and a Brooks Macek hat-trick lifted Avtomobilist past Sochi. There were also wins for Severstal and Amur.
Drozdov at the double
Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 OT (1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 0-1)
Salavat Yulaev produced a late turnaround to grab an OT victory in Novosibirsk. Down 1-2 in the closing stages, the visitor tied the game in the 58th minute. Then Ivan Drozdov got his second of the evening to win it in the extras.
Both teams won their opening games of the New Year, but Ufa had to reshuffle its line-up due to an injury for Sergei Shmelyov. His absence saw Danil Alalykin moved onto Alexander Sharov’s line, while Alexei Pustozyorov and Gleb Kuzmin returned to the offense. Veteran D-man Evgeny Biryukov also got involved. Sibir handed a debut to 25-year-old right-winter Maxim Marushev, a deadline day signing from Traktor.
The action kicked off right away. Inside three minutes, Sibir had the lead when a great pass from Nikita Shashkov set up Nikita Korotkov for the opener. Gradually Salavat Yulaev came into the game, and home goalie Anton Krasotkin had a busy time as the intermission approached. Right on the hooter Alalykin found the net, but a video review determined that his shot beat Krasotkin but not the buzzer.
Undaunted, the visitor continued to press and got its goal in the second period. Alexander Chmelevski went behind the net to set up Drozdov for a close-range finish. Subsequently, Krasotkin remained the busier of the two goalies as he kept his team level.
Midway through the third, Sibir got its first power play of the game and Taylor Beck converted it in some style. That brought up 100 goals for the Canadian in the KHL and restored the home lead. However, as the clock ticked down, defenseman Alexei Vasilevsky thumped home a tying goal to frustrate Sibir’s hopes of victory.
In the extras, Salavat Yulaev finished the job when Drozdov potted his second. Visiting goalie Alexander Samonov returned to the bench to set up a four-on-three situation, and his team responded with the decisive play.
Revenge win for Traktor
Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 Barys Astana 1 (1-0, 1-1, 3-0)
Just before the New Year, Barys handed Traktor a 5-1 drubbing in Astana. Today, in Chelyabinsk, Traktor returned the favor. In the process, the home team snapped a four-game winning streak that lifted Barys off the foot of the Eastern Conference and moved itself to within a point of the top four.
Traktor got a couple of early power play chances, and that led to the opening goal in the sixth minute. Nikita Tertyshny found space on the slot and coolly converted his chance. Subsequently, Barys had the edge, outshooting the home team 10-7 and dominating on the draw (16-5). However, there was no tying goal in the first period.
The visitor managed to level the scores midway through the second period when Nelson Nogier advanced down the wing and powered a shot past Sergei Mylnikov in the Traktor net. But it took Traktor a mere 46 seconds to regain the lead through Alexander Sharov, whose deflected shot brought him goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
At the start of the third, everything was still in the balance. However, a defensive error invited Danil Yurtaikin to make it 3-1 and from that point on Traktor dominated. Vitaly Kravtsov and Ilya Karpukhin added further tallies to give the final score a commanding look.
Pastukhov’s first of the season sinks Metallurg
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
Eastern Conference leader Metallurg ran up against two old boys in Nizhnekamsk, and slipped to an OT loss. Neftekhimik claimed a fourth successive victory thanks to Ilya Pastukhov’s first goal of the season.
Last month saw forward Jean-Sebastien Dea and goalie Artyom Zagidulin move from Magnitka to Neftekhimik. Both featured today against their former club. Zagidulin found himself under pressure early on: in the first five minutes of play, Metallurg had 11 attempts on goal. Four of them got to the netminder, and five more were blocked. However, the first power play of the game went to Neftkehimik, and the home team put the puck in the net only for the play to be ruled out due to a high stick.
Metallurg continued to have the bulk of the possession, but could not maintain the same offensive intensity and the first period ended goalless.
In the middle frame, the Neftekhimik defense continued to block shots diligently. At the other end, the home team managed to break the deadlock in the 37th minute, with Yegor Korbit on target. Soon after that, though, Zagidulin left the game due to injury and Filipp Dolganov replaced him in the Wolves’ net.
Dolganov was beaten at the start of the third when Luke Johnson tied the game. There was an anxious moment for the home team midway through the session when Dolganov and Dmitry Silantyev collided and the goalie took his time to recover. Fortunately for Neftekhimik, he was able to continue and made some big saves to take the game to overtime.
In the extras, Denis Zernov had a good chance to win it for Metallurg. However, he fluffed his opportunity and Neftekhimik punished that lapse. Pastukhov grabbed the winner to snap Magnitka’s three-game winning streak.
Shipachyov breaks his drought, lifts Ak Bars to victory
Ak Bars Kazan 2 Admiral Vladivostok 1 OT (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0)
Vadim Shipachyov got his first goals since Nov. 30 as Ak Bars came from behind to defeat Admiral in overtime. That makes it two wins from two for Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team, but the Eastern Conference standings still show last year’s finalist in seventh place. Expectations in Kazan are much higher, and today’s win will need to be the start of a prolonged run of form if those hopes are to be fulfilled.
This was far from a vintage Ak Bars performance. Admiral, rock bottom of the table, proved an obdurate opponent. The visitor had less than half of the attacking possession Ak Bars mustered in the opening frame. However, after blocking 11 shots, the Sailors went to the intermission ahead on 10-8 on the shot count.
There was a similar pattern in the second, but this time Admiral augmented its defensive hard work with the opening goal. Kirill Petkov’s strike in the 35th minute gave the visitor the lead at the second break.
Ak Bars faced more problems at the start of the third when Nikita Dynyak followed Dmitry Yudin into the box. The home PK managed to kill that three-on-five situation and it wasn’t long before the visitor ran into similar penalty trouble. That led to Shipachyov tying the game in the 48th minute.
By now, Ak Bars was getting shots on Sergei Ivanov’s net with the kind of regularity its possession demanded. Nonetheless, Admiral held on to take the game to overtime. Once into the extras, though, Shipachyov settled the outcome.
Macek on song to sink Sochi
HC Sochi 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 (0-0, 0-3, 1-1)
A Brooks Macek hat-trick led Avtomobilist to victory at Sochi. Indeed, Macek had a hand in all of his team’s goal, picking up an assist on Curtis Valk’s power play effort as the Motormen cruised to victory.
Sochi’s struggles this season are well-known. However, the home team made a solid start to the game. The Leopards had more of the puck in the first period. A couple of Avto penalties late in the frame helped Sochi get a good grip of the game, but there was no scoring in the opening frame.
At the start of the second, Macek opened the scoring just 10 seconds after the puck drop. Then Sochi’s discipline wavered and the visitor added two power play goals – Valk and Macek on target – to open a 3-0 lead.
That effectively settled the outcome. Avtomobilist could afford to reduce its attacking intensity in the final frame and concentrate on getting this one over the line. That didn’t mean there was no further ambition from the visitor – a delayed penalty midway through the period saw Macek complete his hat-trick. In the closing stages, Artyom Volkov potted a consolation goal for Sochi, but his team still fell to a 12th successive defeat.
Pilipenko completes fightback for Severstal
Severstal Cherepovets 4 Vityaz Moscow Region 3 (0-2, 1-1, 3-0)
Severstal rallied from 0-2 and 1-3 to overcome Vityaz in the third period. That made it back-to-back victories for the Steelmen for the first time since Nov. 28, while denying Vityaz a chance to close on the playoff spots.
The visitor went into the first intermission with a two-goal advantage. Vladislav Tsitsyura and Ruslan Pedan scored late in the opening frame. However, that flew in the face of the pattern of play, with Severstal outshooting Vityaz 23-5 in the first period, only to find Maxim Dorozhko at his best to keep his goal intact.
Early in the second, Kirill Pilipenko pulled one back on a power play, and it felt like Severstal could build a lead from here. However, Vityaz learned from the first period and tightened up its defensive work. Severstal had a similar amount of possession, but far fewer scoring opportunities. At the other end, Derek Barach made it 3-1 to the visitor.
In the third period, the balance of possession evened out. However, the home defense worked hard to block shots and frustrate the Vityaz forwards. At the other end, Severstal offense finally found its range. Danil Aimurzin’s power play effort reduced the deficit then, midway through the session, Nikita Korostelyov tied the game. The momentum was now with the host, and 10 seconds before the hooter Pilipenko potted his second of the evening to snatch a 4-3 win.
Loko hands Moisevich his first KHL loss
SKA St. Petersburg 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (1-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Lokomotiv came from behind to beat SKA and move to the top of the KHL standings. The Railwaymen join Spartak on 66 points, but claim top spot thanks to winning more games in regulation.
SKA started with Pavel Moisevich in goal. The 19-year-old featured in six KHL games before finally allowing a goal (Ivan Vorobyov of Vityaz ended that streak after more than 240 minutes of game time) but remained in place for his third start of the season. This was also the first time the youngster was trusted to start a game against a team competing with SKA at the top of the Western Conference, having previously played 60 minutes against Kunlun Red Star and Vityaz from outside the playoff spots.
Moisevich saw plenty of action in the first period, and made a big save in the fourth minute when another youngster, Daniil But, got face-to-face with the goalie. SKA regained the initiative to take the lead midway through the session on a goal from Zakhar Bardakov, but penalty trouble in the closing stages saw Lokomotiv increase the pressure.
The Railwaymen failed to capitalize on two power plays in that first period and SKA began the middle frame on the front foot. At one point, an unbroken sequence of more than seven minutes’ play had the visitor under intense pressure. However, Daniil Isayev kept Lokomotiv in touch, helped by some hard work from his defense. Late in the session, a slick combination between Maxim Beryozkin and Artur Kayumov saw the latter tie the game.
At the start of the third, SKA Nikita Kamalov took a double minor for high sticks and Lokomotiv got in front. Igor Nikitin’s team hadn’t always looked its most fluent on the power play in this game and needed more than three-and-a-half minutes to convert this chance. However, in the end the pressure paid off. Alexander Polunin’s shot was blocked, but the rebound went to Georgy Ivanov. He kept his composure to take the puck around the goalie and into the empty net.
After that, Loko played out the remaining time impressively. SKA had possession, but struggled to create scoring chances. The opportunities that the home side created were comfortably dealt with by Isayev and his defense, enabling the visitor to secure its third win over SKA this season.
Derby loss knocks Spartak off the top
CSKA Moscow 3 Spartak Moscow 1 (0-0, 2-1, 1-0)
The latest big Moscow derby saw defending champion CSKA grab a win against this morning’s leader Spartak. As a result of this game and Lokomotiv’s win at SKA, the Red-and-Whites lost top spot in the standings while CSKA stayed ahead of Severstal in sixth place in the West.
Both teams welcomed back significant players. For the host, Darren Dietz played his first game since Nov. 24. The visitor saw Ilya Kovalchuk return after missing the last two games.
Spartak recovered from a slow start to have the better of the first period. Mikhail Maltsev enjoyed some good chances but could not beat Ivan Fedotov in the home net. Later, CSKA posed a threat on the power play but neither team could force a breakthrough in the first period.
The home team began the second period with a successful penalty kill, then went ahead in the 24th minute. Vladislav Kamenev produced a great set-up for Mikhail Grigorenko, who had no difficulty in converting an inch-perfect pass. Later, the scorer went close to a short-handed goal and CSKA continued to have the better of things when back to equal strength. Those missed chances looked costly when Pavel Poryadin tied the game, somewhat against the run of play. However, a minute before the hooter, Kamenev restored the lead with a tip on Nikita Nesterov’s point shot.
In the third period, Maltsev blotted an otherwise impressive performance when he took a penalty that resulted in a third CSKA goal. Kamenev was again the scorer, collecting his third point of the game and giving the home team some breathing space.
Spartak responded by redoubling its attacking efforts and outshooting CSKA in the closing stages. However, Alexei Zhamnov’s team struggled to open up the home defense and there was rarely any sense that a comeback was imminent.
Late comeback falls short for Dinamo
Dinamo Minsk 2 Amur Khabarovsk 3 OT (0-0, 0-1, 2-1, 0-1)
A late fightback from Dinamo salvaged a point after the Belarusians trailed 0-2 with five minutes to play. However, it wasn’t enough to win the game as Amur recovered to get the overtime win.
After a goalless first period saw Dinamo dominate without scoring, the Tigers took the lead early in the second stanza. The visitor killed a penalty before Anatoly Nikontsev opened the scoring on 22:14. Shortly after that, Amur had a power play chance of its own. That came to nothing and there was no further scoring in an evenly-contested frame.
When Artur Gizdatullin doubled Amur’s lead in the 47th minute, it seemed that Dinamo was drifting out of contention in this game. And when the visitor survived 90 seconds of three-on-five penalty kill, many felt that the host’s best chance of salvation was past. However, Alexander Bryntsev was called for throwing the stick on 56:50 and Sam Anas converted the penalty shot to reignite the contest. Emboldened, Dinamo went for the jugular and got its reward 19 seconds from time when Anas set up Andrei Stas for a dramatic tying goal. The third period saw the home team outshoot its opponent 26-2 on its way to saving the game.
However, Dinamo could not find the momentum to carry on and win in the extras. Bryntsev, whose earlier mistake opened the door for the home team to fight back, had the final say when he potted the winner.
