KHL press office
exclusive for khl.ru
Lokomotiv books playoff spot, Torpedo sets scoring record. January 16 round-up
Lokomotiv is the first team to confirm its place in this year’s playoffs. The Railwaymen’s 4-2 win over Neftekhimik, combined with Vityaz’s loss at Spartak, ensures that Yaroslavl will have post season hockey once again. Elsewhere, Torpedo and Metallurg shared nine goals in the second period of a high-scoring game, Sochi snapped a long losing streak and Barys got its first home win of 2024. Dinamo Minsk romped to a 5-1 success against Kunlun Red Star.
Victory at last for Barys
Barys Astana 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 SO (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)
A first home victory of 2024 moved Barys off the foot of the Eastern Conference standings. Oleg Bolyakin’s team bounced back from yesterday’s 0-3 loss to Lada and edged Salavat Yulaev in a shoot-out.
Bolyakin reshaped his first line for this game, putting Arkady Shestakov and Pontus Aberg alongside Anthony Camara. They were up against 20-year-old Semyon Vyazovoi, playing only his second game in the KHL.
After failing to score in two games, the home team got off the mark here early on. Dmitry Gurkov pinged in a wrister from long range in the seventh minute to record his first KHL goal in two seasons. At the other end, Alexander Chmelevski had two stonewall chances but failed to beat Andrei Shutov.
At the start of the second, Kirill Savitsky doubled the home lead. The middle frame saw Ufa create more chances, but it wasn’t until 10 seconds before the hooter that Mikhail Naumenkov got the visitor on the scoreboard.
Nikolai Kulemin tied the scores in the 49th minute, with Ivan Drozdov’s assist moving him to 100 KHL points. Now, Salavat Yulaev looked capable of going on to post a fourth win over Barys this season. However, the home team dug in and took the game to overtime. There was no deciding goal, and the game was settled in a shoot-out where only Aberg could find the net.
Goal rush in Nizhny Novgorod
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 7 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 (0-0, 6-3, 1-1)
Scoring records tumbled in Nizhny Novgorod as Torpedo ended table-topping Metallurg’s four-game winning streak. A crazy, action-packed second period saw the home team rattle in six quick-fire goals on the way to a 7-4 verdict.
Metallurg remains clear at the top of the standings, while Torpedo tightens its grip on fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
After a goalless first period, the second smashed records. It was the first time two teams traded nine goals in a single period. Moreover, those nine goals came in a span of 12 minutes, 46 seconds. Previously, the fastest nine-goal burst took 15:41 in Salavat Yulaev’s 11-3 victory over Sochi in 2017. Torpedo potted its six goals in 8:37, setting a new club record. Only one team has scored six quicker goals: Salavat Yulaev, in that 2017 Sochi game, did it in 7:49.
Yet it all started with two shorthanded goals for Metallurg. Denis Zernov and Maxim Karpov found the net just 43 seconds apart while Dmitry Silantyev sat for tripping. The next Torpedo power plays were more successful, with Maxim Letunov and Bogdan Konyushkov bringing the home team level. That started a run of six goals in less than nine minutes. Igor Larionov Jr and Bobby Lynch built a lead for the host, then Andrei Belevich scored twice. Understudy goalie Nikita Podskrebalin replaced Ilya Nabokov, but returned to the bench after allowing three goals in 2:22. A frantic session finally settled down a little after Vladislav Yeryomenko pulled one back for Magnitka.
At the start of the third, Denis Yan got a seventh for Torpedo. After that, the game calmed down once again, although Nikita Mikhailis potted a late consolation goal for Magnitka.
Likhachyov at the double for Loko
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 (0-0, 2-1, 2-1)
Tuesday was the second chance for Lokomotiv to guarantee a playoff spot. To do so, Igor Nikitin’s team had to beat Neftekhimik and hope that Vityaz lost in regulation at Spartak.
The Railwaymen delivered their side of the equation with relatively little fuss. After enjoying the better of a scoreless first period, the home team got ahead in the second. Artur Kayumov released Maxim Beryozkin for the opening goal in the 27th minute, then Yaroslav Likhachyov doubled the lead with a power play tally midway through the stanza, banging in a rebound after Artyom Serikov blocked a shot from Pavel Kraskovsky. The visiting bench challenged that play, but a review found no evidence of interference on the goalie and Neftekhimik faced a penalty kill.
Late in the second, the visitor got on the scoreboard through Nikita Buruyanov but there was rarely any threat of a fightback. Instead, Likhachyov got his second in the 48th minute when he capitalized on Dmitry Zhukenov’s error. In the closing stages, the teams traded goals: Dmitry Sokolov gave Neftekhimik a fighting chance of saving the game, but Kayumov’s empty-netter finished the job for Loko.
Spartak Moscow 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 (0-0, 1-1, 1-0)
After six straight losses, Spartak finally got back on track. Today’s result moves the Red-and-Whites back up to third in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, this win also secured Loko’s playoff berth.
Neither team was in flying form ahead of this game, although Vityaz enjoyed a confidence-boosting win in Yaroslavl on its way to Moscow. The first period was cautious and offered little to excite the crowd.
That all changed at the start of the second. Michal Cajkovsky sat for slashing and Alexander Yaremchuk put Vityaz up on the power play. Earlier in the season, Spartak’s free-scoring style would have seen the home team shrug off that setback. However, recent struggles meant the goal was greeted with greater anxiety than before.
For once, the worry was misplaced. Spartak was level three minutes later. Yegor Zaitsev sent the puck to Maxim Tsyplakov behind the net. He moved the puck to the slot, where Alexander Belyayev shot home.
It took some persistence for Spartak to get ahead in the third period. First, the home team killed a penalty. Then, as Zaitsev emerged from the box, Alexander Pashin got clear on the breakaway. His first shot was saved by Maxim Dorozhko but he got to the rebound and tried again. Another save, another rebound and this, despite falling under the challenge of Alexander Daryin he managed to force the puck into the net.
That proved to be the winner, bringing some much-needed relief to Alexei Zhamnov’s team. Vityaz, meanwhile, drops 13 points behind eighth-placed Dinamo Minsk.
Anas hat-trick too hot for Dragons
Dinamo Minsk 5 Kunlun Red Star 1 (1-1, 1-0, 3-0)
This is the first of two back-to-back meetings between the Bison and the Dragons, and it very much went Dinamo’s way. The win opens a 13-point comfort zone for the Belarusians over their closest pursuers in a race for the top eight. With less than two months of the season to go, it’s tempting to see that advantage as decisive.
Current form also favors Minsk. This was a fourth win in five games for Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team. Red Star has just one victory all year, with Vityaz offering little more of a challenge. Today, although it took some time to subdue the visitor, the end result was comfortable for the home team.
Dinamo took the lead when Sam Anas converted the first power play of the game. The home team might have extended that advantage, but ended up level at the intermission after Kyle Wood struck two minutes before the hooter.
The second period brought some problems for the Bison. After five minutes play, Dinamo had a goal ruled out following a bench challenge. Then Anas save a penalty shot saved by Matt Jurusik. The visiting goalie performed heroically, stopping 19 shots in the middle frame. However, Minsk got the lead it deserved in the last minute, thanks to a short-handed goal from Daniil Sotishvili.
A Daniil Lipsky goal at the start of the third, only the 19-year-old’s second in a brief KHL career to date, left KRS with too much to do. The rest of the game was dominated by Anas, who scored twice more to complete his hat-trick. Tanner Fritz assisted on all three of those goals, moving to five points in five games since joining the club.
Utkin’s double ends Sochi’s long skid
HC Sochi 3 Ak Bars Kazan 1 (2-0, 0-1, 1-0)
After 15 successive defeats, Sochi finally got a win. Moreover, Tuesday’s victory over last season’s defeated finalist adds to the pressure on Ak Bars. Although the visitor surely has enough to make this year’s playoffs, standing nine points clear of ninth-placed Neftekhimik, the Tatars’ recent form has been far from convincing.
Results like this merely compound the sense of vulnerability around Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team. Although there were some good things in the performance – outshooting the home team 32-18, completing 60 minutes without a penalty – that cannot compensate for failing to defeat a manifestly weak opponent.
However, the failure was total. In the first period, Sochi scored twice off seven shots on target. Dmitry Utkin got both of them, his first markers of the season and only the fourth and fifth of his career.
In the middle frame, Ak Bars was unable to generate the kind of offense it would have wished for. Sochi defended stoutly, and also managed to match the attacking threat it faced from the visitor. It wasn’t until late in the frame when Roman Manukhov was serving the only penalty of the night that Ak Bars scored. Alexander Radulov collected his 11th goal of the season.
That at least gave the visitor a foundation for a third-period push. Now Nikita Bogdanov earned his fee. The home goalie sustained relentless pressure in the final frame and stopped 15 shots to preserve his team’s lead. Nikolai Chebykin’s empty-net goal sealed the win and snapped a long losing streak that dates back to Dec. 1.
