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Sibir holds onto playoff spot, SKA’s PP sinks Vityaz. January 10 round-up
Sibir was Wednesday’s big winner, avenging Monday’s loss at Amur and reinstating a three-point gap over its ninth-placed rival. Avangard also won in the Far East and, for the first time since Feb. 2020, did not need overtime to settle a game against Admiral. Later in the day, SKA’s power play lifted it past Vityaz in the only Western Conference action.
Vital win for Sibir
Amur Khabarovsk 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 (0-1, 1-1, 0-2)
After defeating Sibir on Monday, Amur had a chance to leapfrog its opponent into the playoff places with another victory today. However, Sibir learned from its 0-4 loss and bounced back with a convincing win of its own. As a result, the visitor now has a three-point cushion over the ninth-placed Tigers.
The home team was largely unchanged, but had to make do without Canadian defenseman Cam Lee, who picked up an injury. Sibir started with Denis Kostin in goal and brought back D-man Ziyat Paigin.
In the early stages, Amur continued where it left off in the previous game. The Tigers took control of the puck and outshot Sibir two-to-one. However, the visitor withstood that onslaught before taking the lead thanks to Nikita Shashkov’s 17th-minute goal.
Subsequently, Sibir’s players seized the initiative. Wave upon wave of attacks fell on Igor Bobkov’s net and that inevitably led to more goals. Taylor Beck doubled the lead in the 29th minute, converting a great pass from Pavel Gogolev. Kirill Spitsenko gave the home team hope with a swift response to that effort, but Sibir continued to have the better of the game.
The third period brought two unanswered goals as the visitor wrapped up the win. Andy Andreoff made it 3-1 on the power play, then Beck scored his second of the night into an empty net.
Avangard edges Admiral again
Admiral Vladivostok 1 Avangard Omsk 2 (0-1, 0-1, 1-0)
For the first time since Feb. 2020, these teams managed to settle their differences in regulation. The previous nine encounters between the two all went to overtime, most recently on Monday when Avangard took a 2-1 verdict thanks to a brace from Reid Boucher.
Today, the KHL’s leading goalscorer took up a supporting role. After seven minutes, Vladimir Tkachyov kickstarted another attack from Avangard’s prolific top line, Boucher moved play down the left and sent the puck to the center for Ryan Spooner to put a wrister past former Avangard goalie Vasily Demchenko.
After that, the Hawks looked to build a commanding lead. Damir Zhafyarov missed a good chance after more impressive work from Tkachyov, while Nikolai Prokhorkin and Tomas Jurco both tested Demchenko. With the Sailors looking sluggish, the goalie made several big saves to keep them in the game.
It wasn’t until late in the first period that Admiral began to ask some questions of its own. Alexei Solovyov even had the puck in the net, but his effort was immediately ruled out for offside after one of his team-mates failed to clear the zone.
After the break, Avangard resumed its territorial advantage. Although Admiral created some danger on the counterattack, the visitor doubled its lead in the 27th minute through Valentin Pyanov. Admiral continued to press in an open game, but there was no further scoring in the middle frame.
At the start of the third, the home team thought it had the goal it was looking for. Mikhail Gulyayev’s error invited Prokhor Korbit to speed towards Pavel Khomchenko’s net. The first attempt was denied, but the follow-up found the net. However, the celebrations were cut short: the Avangard bench challenged the play and a review found that Khomchenko was impeded.
Admiral continued to press after that misfortune and Khomchenko went on to face 17 shots in the final frame. He was close to securing a shut-out at his former club, but with five seconds left on the clock Alexander Shevchenko potted a consolation goal for the Sailors after Damir Sharipzyanov broke his stick and lost possession to Dmitry Zavgorodny.
Vityaz pays the penalty against SKA
Vityaz Moscow Region 0 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (0-0, 0-3, 0-1)
SKA shrugged off a couple of back-to-back losses with a comfortable win at lowly Vityaz. The home team was competitive in the first period but came undone amid penalty trouble in the second. SKA scored three goals on the power play in the middle frame and went on to complete a fourth win in four games against today’s opponent.
The first period saw SKA have the bulk of the possession, while Vityaz tried to respond on the counterattack. Despite that, the visitor’s best chance came on a breakaway midway through the session when Brendan Leipsic’s speed took him clean through on Dmitry Shikin’s net only to put his shot wide of the target.
Late in the frame, Vityaz took two penalties on one shift, giving SKA a five-on-three advantage at the start of the second. The two-man power play paid off: Borna Rendulic moved the puck for Alexander Nikishin, whose pass into the center found Sergei Tolchinsky. The forward got to the puck and wired a wrister to the top corner to open the scoring.
Midway through the second, another Vityaz penalty brought a second SKA goal. Nikishin was involved again and after his point shot, Valentin Zykov won a puck battle on the slot. The puck dropped for Vasily Glotov to score. Glotov was close to his second a few minutes later, jumping on another rebound but firing a backhand effort against the post. However, when Vladimir Galuzin became the latest Vityaz man into the box, SKA’s power play clicked for a third time. Arseny Gritsyuk potted a third goal to take the game away from the home team.
There was no further scoring until the final minute. Glotov hit the post for a second time with SKA’s best opportunity. At the other end, Vityaz came close to a late consolation when Ivan Yezhov’s tip from a Ruslan Pedan shot flashed just wide of Nikita Serebryakov’s net. However, the final word went to Gritsyuk, who potted the only equal-strength goal of the game when he guided a Maxim Fedotov shot into the net.
