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Dynamo avenges Torpedo thrashing. January 13 round-up
Dynamo Moscow delivered some payback for a 1-7 loss at home to Torpedo back in October. Today, Alexei Kudashov’s team powered to a 6-1 win, with Cedric Paquette grabbing a hat-trick. Elsewhere, Avangard won 3-1 at Amur and Lada ended its losing streak with an overtime success in Yekaterinburg.
Hawks continue to soar on tour
Amur Khabarovsk 1 Avangard Omsk 3 (0-1, 1-2, 0-0)
For the second time in two days, Avangard got the win in Khabarovsk. With a short turnaround, Mikhail Kravets took the bold step of resting his top line forwards. Given their importance to the Hawks’ scoring this season, this felt like a calculated risk that also allowed game time for Denis Vengryzhanovsky and Mark Verba.
For the Tigers, goalie Igor Bobkov was left out after a costly error in the previous game. Dmitry Lozebnikov replaced him between the piping.
Those changes meant that Avangard had to look elsewhere for its scoring. Ivan Nikolishin was the first to rise to the challenge, breaking the deadlock here in the 18th minute. He converted a spell of pressure with a wrist shot from long range, taking advantage of Ivan Telegin’s work on the crease and sending the visitor into the intermission with a 1-0 lead.
At the start of the second, Amur raised its game and managed to tie the game. Alexander Shchemerov fired in a point shot and, with Dmitry Shevchenko providing the nuisance value in front of Andrei Mishurov’s net the puck found its way in.
But the home team was unable to build on that goal. Shortly afterwards Avangard got on the power play, and Damir Zhafyarov set up Nikolai Prokhorkin to restore the Hawks’ lead. That pair also combined for the third goal, with Zhafyarov putting away the rebound from a Prokhorkin shot to give Avangard some breathing space.
Hopes of a home fightback took a knock early in the third when Amur was reduced to three skaters. Although there was no further scoring, the penalties ate up valuable time for the home team. Back at equal strength, Avangard continued to wind down the clock diligently and closed out a fourth victory on its Far East tour.
Old boys haunt Avto as Lada snaps skid
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 Lada Togliatti 4 OT (1-2, 0-0, 2-1, 0-1)
Lada blew a 3-1 lead, but recovered to beat Avtomobilist in overtime and snap a five-game skid. It was also Togliatti’s first victory against its fellow “Motormen” this season, having lost the previous three meetings between the teams.
The home team enjoyed a rest after its 4-1 win in Togliatti, while Lada travelled to Yekaterinburg after a shoot-out loss to Lokomotiv. However, the visitor was accompanied on its travels by Danila Moiseyev and Nikita Popugayev, both making their first appearances since mid-October. They lined up with Ostap Safin.
Avtomobilist made a good start and had two stonewall chances in the opening moments. Alexei Makeyev fired wastefully wide on an odd-man rush, then Brooks Macek was denied by Vladislav Podyapolsky.
Lada responded by scoring on its first shot thanks to Popugayev. Midway through the first period, Sergei Shumakov doubled the lead but Danil Romantsev pulled one back with a short-handed goal just before the intermission.
The second period brought no further goals. Both teams adopted a direct, North-South game, but could not force a breakthrough. Then, early in the third, Andrei Altybarmakyan made it 3-1 for Lada, marking his 200th KHL appearance with an important short-handed goal. Avto then lost a goal after a video review found that Yegor Alexeyev impeded Podyapolsky while stuffing the puck into the net.
Nonetheless, the home team found a way back. Curtis Valk scored on the power play, tipping Nick Ebert’s shot into the net. Then, in the last minute, Valk turned provider as Stephane Da Costa dragged the game into overtime.
Those extras did not take long. Maxim Berezin got away on a two-on-one break to settle the outcome. And, in a statistical quirk he joined Shumakov and Pavel Kulikov on the scoresheet to ensure that all four Lada goals involved a former Avtomobilist player.
Paquette hat-trick downs Torpedo
Dynamo Moscow 6 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (3-0, 3-1, 0-0)
When Torpedo went to Dynamo in October and won 7-1, it was one of the most striking results of the season. Today, the Muscovites got their revenge with a similarly comprehensive win to move clear of Lokomotiv at the top of the Western Conference.
This one was settled almost immediately. Dynamo made a blistering start and led 3-0 on 3:27. Igor Chernyshov, Dmitry Rashevsky and Cedric Paquette got the goals, the latter on the power play. Not surprisingly, Torpedo swapped goalies and sent Adam Huska into the game in place of Ivan Kulbakov.
That halted the goal rush and the score remained 3-0 through 20 minutes. Midway through the third, Torpedo even managed to get a goal back thanks to Mikhail Orlov. However, that provoked Dynamo into another flurry of scoring. Paquette scored his second of the game, then assisted as Igor Ozhiganov made it 5-1. To complete the second period, a power play goal saw Paquette claim a hat-trick. The Canadian forward has scored in each of his last five games.
Nikita Gusev had a helper on each of Paquette’s goals and moves to 14 (3+11) points from his last five games. That purple patch from Nikita coincides with a five-game winning streak for the Blue-and-Whites that has moved them back towards the top of the standings after a minor wobble in late December.
After an intense 40 minutes of play, the third period was something of a comedown. There was no further scoring, although Torpedo had a great chance when Vladislav Firstov took a penalty shot. However, he lost control of the puck before he could get a shot at Maxim Motorygin.
