KHL press office
exclusive for khl.ru
Top three all win. January 11 round-up
It was a good day for the KHL’s leaders. Top dog Metallurg beat Sochi 4-1, Western leader Lokomotiv edged Lada in a shoot-out and Dynamo Moscow stayed level on points with the Railwaymen after victory at CSKA. Elsewhere, Torpedo overpowered Dinamo to keep its push for a top-four finish alive.
Strong finish gives Magnitka the win
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 HC Sochi 1 (0-1, 0-0, 4-0)
After reaching the KHL summit, Metallurg took a chance to give 20-year-old Alexander Smolin a debut against Sochi. Andrei Razin also recalled Vladislav Yeryomenko, Danil Gololobov and Mikhail Grass, as well as the more experience Nikita Mikhailis for Thursday’s game. The visitor brought back Jeremy Bracco and welcomed Alexander Perevalov back from injury, while Mikhail Berdin once again had a busy time in goal.
However, it was the outsider who struck first, with Bracco spoiling Smolin’s debut inside seven minutes. The young goalie may feel his defense could have offered more protection and not left the Canadian forward unattended on the slot. Bracco might have had a second, but this time the post came to Smolin’s rescue. At the other end, Metallurg had possession but rarely managed to pose big questions of Berdin.
In the middle frame, the home team looked to resolve the situation by injection pace and aggression into its play. For a time, that put Berdin under greater pressure but by the middle of the session Sochi was already showing signs of weathering the storm. Razin called a time-out and shook up his lines in a bid to kickstart Magnitka’s performance but his team was still down going into the third.
The home breakthrough came in the 42nd minute when Artyom Minulin tied the game. Then came a power play but the Steelmen could not take that chance to move in front. Sochi also failed to capitalize on a man advantage, and once Nikita Grebyonkin left the box he walked right into a counterattack that saw him make it 2-1 with a great finish from Dmitry Silantyev’s pass.
Smolin continued to keep Sochi at bay, denying Artur Tyanulin’s solo rush. Then, in the closing stages, Danila Yurov’s empty-netter sealed the win before Grebyonkin sprinkled some glitter on the scoreline with a penalty shot at the death.
The result keeps Magnitka out in front, while Sochi suffered a 15th successive loss.
Shalunov earns shoot-out win for Loko
Lada Togliatti 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 SO (1-0, 1-2, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
After losing the league leadership with a 2-5 loss in Magnitogorsk, Lokomotiv responded to hand Lada a fifth successive loss and remain within two points of the summit.
Igor Nikitin made big changes after the Metallurg loss. The starting goalie was 19-year-old Sergei Murashov, while Yaroslav Likhachyov joined Artur Kayumov and Maxim Shalunov on the top line. Young defenseme Alexei Kozhevnikov and Raul Akmaldinov got their chance while Nikita Cherepanov found himself on the injured list.
This game did not get off to a fast start. Neither side was quick to create scoring chances and it wasn’t until the first power plays arrived that the action picked up. After both teams had chances with an extra man, Lada got ahead in the 14th minute through Troy Josephs. He finished off after fellow import Scott Kosmachuk fired a shot into Murashov’s pads. That separated the teams at the first intermission.
It wasn’t until late in the second period that the visitor started to put that right. Georgy Ivanov tied the game in the 36th minute and 68 seconds later Shalunov scored his first of the evening to put Lokomotiv in front on a delayed penalty. However, that lead did last long, with Dmitry Kugryshev’s power play goal making it 2-2 at the second break.
Neither team could win it in regulation and the game went all the way to a shoot-out before Shalunov secured the win for Lokomotiv.
Dynamo’s derby delight
CSKA Moscow 2 Dynamo Moscow 4 (0-2, 1-1, 1-1)
Both teams came into this game on winning runs, but Dynamo halted CSKA’s four-game hot streak after taking control in the first period. The victory makes it four in a row for Alexei Kudashov’s team and keeps the Blue-and-Whites level with Lokomotiv at the top of the Western Conference.
Given the significance of the game, it was perhaps surprising that both teams went with young goaltenders. CSKA’s Dmitry Gamzin lined up against Maxim Motorygin of Dynamo.
The visitor got an early lead with an odd-man rush in the sixth minute, converted by Yegor Rimashevsky. Then, in authentic derby fashion, a fight soon followed: Andrei Nikonov stepped in to grapple with Kirill Dolzhenkov after a scrummage on the Dynamo slot. Later, the Blue-and-Whites got on the power play and Nikita Gusev doubled the lead. Eric O’Dell set him up with a pass while sitting on the ice, and Gusev maintained an impressive streak of 11 (3+8) points four games to move clear in the KHL scoring race.
In the second period Dynamo extended its lead on a 25th minute goal from Ivan Muranov before the home team finally got on the board. Colby Williams, claimed his first since joining the Muscovites from Admiral and, for that matter, his first of the season.
The third frame saw CSKA push for a way back into the game. However, Dynamo’s defense held out and protected its two-goal advantage until the last minute. Then, with Gamzin already on the bench, Anton Slepyshev pulled one back. With 52 seconds left, salvation was possible. However, Dynamo did not let go and settled the outcome with an empty-net goal from Cedric Paquette.
Torpedo blanks Belarusians
Dinamo Minsk 0 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (0-2, 0-1, 0-0)
A decent start to 2024 has Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team looking good for a playoff place. Today, though, Dinamo suffered a comprehensive loss against Torpedo as the visitor improved a sticky run of one win in four. Those losses included a 2-5 reverse at home to Minsk, a result firmly avenged here.
Clearly, Torpedo was motivated for this game: the visitor scored twice from its first two shots to hold a solid lead after just 110 seconds. Bobby Lynch opened the scoring, then Kirill Kirsanov doubled the lead to leave Dinamo wobbling. However, the home team steadily got back into contention. By the first intermission, the shot count was 14-5 in Dinamo’s favor.
That didn’t change the score, and the next goal also went to the visitor. Madison Bowey, returning to the club where he began his KHL career at the start of the season, scored his first goal since joining Torpedo from Traktor on deadline day. Although his marker was against the run of play, it gave Torpedo a convincing lead.
In the third period, the visitor had to absorb more Dinamo pressure. By the end of the game Ivan Kulbakov had 34 saves for his shut-out. He was also helped by the post when Yegor Borikov produced a great shot, but held on to complete a revenge win for his team.
