Shock results in the West. January 14 round-up
Lokomotiv missed the chance to book its playoff ticket ahead of all the rest. A 1-2 loss at home to struggling Vityaz means Igor Nikitin’s team must wait to formally confirm its post season. SKA also suffered a surprise defeat, going down 2-3 at Severstal. And Spartak’s dismal recent form continued with a 2-6 reverse at home to Metallurg. There was a high-scoring game for Salavat Yulaev, winning 5-3 at Kunlun Red Star, while Admiral put five past Sibir to snap a seven-game skid. The other action brought victories for Dinamo Minsk and Ak Bars.
Sailors win at last
Admiral Vladivostok 5 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 (0-0, 2-0, 3-2)
The home team snapped a seven-game losing streak and avenged Friday’s 2-4 loss to Sibir thanks to an assured performance. The victory lifts Admiral off the foot of the Eastern Conference, putting the Sailors one point clear of Barys.
Admiral had the better of the first period, outshooting Sibir 12-6 but failing to open the scoring. Sibir defended well, blocking 10 shots, and Denis Kostin dealt with everything that came his way.
In the middle frame, the host made the breakthrough even though Sibir seemed to be getting more into the game. Anton Berlyov opened the scoring midway through the session, off an Alexander Gorshkov assist. Gorshkov moves to 62 helpers for the Sailors, a club record. Late in the frame Berlyov got his second to double Admiral’s lead.
At the start of the third, goals from Alexander Shevchenko and Prokhor Korbit took the game away from Sibir. However, in the closing stages the visitor gained some consolation: Andy Andreoff and Trevor Murphy found the net either side of a Kirill Petkov effort for Admiral.
Magnitka romp extends Spartak slump
Spartak Moscow 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 (0-0, 0-3, 2-3)
Eastern Conference leader Metallurg enjoyed a big win at Spartak, adding to the Muscovites’ woes. The Red-and-Whites slipped to a sixth successive loss, continuing to lose ground on the West’s top teams. Moreover, Alexei Zhamnov’s men have allowed 11 goals in their last two games.
The first period produced no goals, but plenty of attacking play. Metallurg had the game’s first power play, midway through the session, and looked impressive with the extra man. Nikita Mikhailis had the best chance to score, but Patrik Rybar kept him out.
Early in the second, Spartak got on the power play but could not take advantage. And once Robin Press came off the bench, Magnitka found its scoring form. Danila Yurov opened the scoring, then Denis Zernov doubled the lead a couple of minutes later. Midway through the session, Daniil Vovchenko’s power play effort made it 3-0 and had the visitor looking comfortable.
Home hopes took another big blow at the start of the third. Michal Cajkovsky’s penalty saw Igor Geraskin set up Mikhailis for another power play effort. Although Nikolai Goldobin set a new record for Spartak goals in one regular season – 179 and counting – it felt like scant consolation. Mikhailis and Yurov scored their second goals in the game before Maxim Tsyplakov had the last, somewhat empty word for Spartak.
Salavat’s fast start floors Red Star
Kunlun Red Star 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 (2-3, 0-1, 1-1)
A fast start from the visitor did just enough to secure a revenge win over Kunlun Red Star. The Dragons were playing in Mytishchi for the first time in 2024 against a team they beat in Ufa earlier in the week, but in they looked anything but at home in the opening stages.
Salavat Yulaev got ahead on a shorthanded goal from Nikita Zorkin after five minutes. Then came a power play effort from Sergei Shmelyov and a third strike from Nikolai Kulemin to make it 3-0 on 11:25.
Red Star responded by swapping goalies – an unusual gambit for this team – and called a time-out to reset the players. And it worked. Salavat Yulaev ran into power play trouble and Gemel Smith had a goal and an assist to help the home team back to 2-3.
The visitor secured some breathing space at the start of the second when Pavel Koledov made it 4-2, but had to absorb plenty of pressure for the rest of the game. Ilya Ezhov was on top form in the Ufa net to protect his team’s advantage, but even he could do nothing when Brandon McMillan got to the rebound from a Teemu Pulkkinen effort with five to play.
Now Kunlun believed it could save the game, but its efforts were undone in the final minute when Vladislav Yefremov’s empty net goal made the points safe for Salavat Yulaev.
Narrow derby win for Ak Bars
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 0 Ak Bars Kazan 1 (0-1, 0-0, 0-0)
This Tatarstan derby had plenty of significance for both teams. Ak Bars, unusually, is in something of a battle to secure its playoff spot. Despite a run of four victories, defeat at Traktor last time out keeps an air of uncertainty around last year’s runner-up.
Neftekhimik, meanwhile, has six wins from seven but still cannot break into the top eight. The Wolves are four points adrift of Sibir after blanking Salavat Yulaev in the previous game. After that encouraging result, the home team started fast here and got two shots on target in its first shift. But maybe Neftekhimik was a bit too energetic: Dmitry Sokolov was called for tripping after two minutes, and Dmitry Kagarlitsky opened the scoring 17 seconds later off a great Vadim Shipachyov feed.
After that high-octane start, few in the arena would have anticipated that they had seen the game’s only goal. However, that was how it turned out. Although both teams created plenty of chances, goalies Andrei Tikhomirov and Timur Bilyalov performed superbly to keep it at 1-0. In total they made 58 saves.
Perhaps the biggest of those came in the third period when Andrei Belozyorov had a fantastic chance to tie the game. Bilyalov stopped his first shot but could not reach the second attempt. Salvation came from defenseman Artemy Knyazev, backing up on the goal-line to preserve his team’s slender lead.
Vityaz ends skid, surprises Lokomotiv
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (0-0, 0-2, 1-0)
A surprise defeat for Lokomotiv cost Igor Nikitin’s team the chance to guarantee a playoff spot before anyone else in the KHL. Instead, the Railwaymen remain second in the Western Conference behind Dynamo.
Vityaz also needed this victory. A run of four defeats had the Balashikha team 11 points adrift of eighth-placed Dinamo Minsk and starting to run out of games.
The first period saw Lokomotiv on top, but the Vityaz defense did everything to keep the scoresheet blank. The home team had almost three times as much attacking possession, but hard work and seven blocked shots ensured there were few chances to open the scoring.
That came back to haunt Loko in the second. A rare Vityaz foray forwards saw Ivan Vorobyov open the scoring in the 24th minute. Then, after Ivan Yezhov took a major penalty for a check to the head, Lokomotiv not only failed to capitalize, but fell further behind. Jeremy Roy joined an odd-man rush and potted a short-handed goal.
Then came confusion in the 39th minute. Lokomotiv thought it had the puck over the line, and a video review overturned the on-ice call to award a goal. However, the Vityaz bench challenged, citing goalie interference, and the outcome was reversed once again. No goal, 0-2 at the second intermission.
In the final frame, as expected, the home team poured everything forward. Lokomotiv outshot Vityaz 23-4 and spent far more time on the attack. However, it wasn’t until the last minute that Alexander Polunin managed to turn that pressure into a goal. By then it was too late, and his effort was little more than a consolation tally.
Steelmen stun SKA
Severstal Cherepovets 3 SKA St. Petersburg 2 (2-0, 0-1, 1-1)
SKA suffered a surprise defeat in Cherepovets. After back-to-back wins at Vityaz (4-0) and Spartak (5-1), it seemed that the Petersburg team was back on track. However, the Steelmen laid an effective ambush on that march up the Western Conference standings and moved closer to securing its own playoff spot.
The first period was evenly-matched, with few scoring chances. However, at the end of the session Severstal produced a sensational two-goal blast, stunning its in-form visitor. First, the Steelmen won a big puck battle on the boards and Adam Liska set up Nikita Korostelyov for the opening goal. Then, 38 seconds later, Yegor Stepanov doubled the lead. Again, a puck battle was the catalyst before Stepanov converted Nikita Sedov’s hard-hitting feed to the back door.
That forced SKA to step up its game in the second period. Despite some hard-working Severstal defense, the visitor began creating chances. Brendan Leipsic almost set up a goal for Andrei Chivilyov, but home netminder Alexander Samoilov managed to stop the shot. However, a couple of minutes later he was powerless when Nikita Kamalov’s stretch pass released Arseny Gritsyuk into the danger zone. His wrister was too good for the goalie and SKA halved the deficit.
However, SKA was unable to build on that. Severstal held a 2-1 lead until the end of the second period, and carefully protected it in the third. Strikingly, SKA kept its imports on the bench in the final frame as it looked to force the pace. However, the visitor could not turn attacking possession into clear scoring chances, never mind the goal it desperately needed.
Severstal continued to ask questions on the counterattack and managed to put the game beyond reach with an empty-net goal from David Dumbadze. SKA kept pressing and Gritsyuk got his second of the night 19 seconds from time – awarded via a video review – to put the issue in doubt until the very end, but the home team held on.
Bison bounce back after Torpedo loss
Dinamo Minsk 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (1-0, 1-0, 1-1)
Dinamo maintained its 11-point gap to ninth place with a goal in each period to see off Traktor. That improves Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team to three wins from four as the Belarusians look to secure a playoff spot once again.
Defeat to Torpedo last time out was a tough one to take in a game that saw Dinamo produce plenty of chances but fail to score. Today, Pavel Denisov put that right in the 13th minute, opening the scoring in first period that the home team dominated.
Traktor was more competitive in the middle session, but could not make inroads on the home defense. Moreover, Roman Gorbunov doubled the lead on 24 minutes to give the Bison a measure of control.
A penalty at the start of the third helped Traktor get back into the game. Vitaly Kravtsov’s power play goal ensured a nervous finish. For the first time, the visitor enjoyed more possession and edged in front on the shot count for the frame. However, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev took a holding call in the 58th minute to slow the charge. With two seconds left, Daniil Sotishvili scored into an empty net to clinch the win for Minsk.
