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Dynamo joins the playoff party. January 20 round-up
Dynamo Moscow became the third team to confirm its place in this season’s playoffs thanks to a 4-1 win over Dinamo Minsk. Nikita Gusev had four points in the game, setting a new club record of 70 points in a regular season campaign. Elsewhere, Traktor powered to victory over Sochi thanks to a devastating second-period burst of scoring.
Gusev sets record, Dynamo confirms playoffs
Dynamo Moscow 4 Dinamo Minsk 1 (0-0, 2-1, 2-0)
Nikita Gusev had a hand in all four goals to set a new Dynamo scoring record. The forward moves to 70 (19+51) points for the season, overtaking the previous record of 68 set by Vadim Shipachyov in 2018-2019.
In addition, Dynamo secured its playoff spot with a home win over Dinamo Minsk. Alexei Kudashov’s team bounced back from Thursday’s disappointment against Neftekhimik and now joins Lokomotiv and SKA in confirming its place in post season.
The game began at 1300, Moscow time. That early start may not have gone down well with the players and neither team made a big impression in a goalless first period. After the break, though, things livened up. Nikita Gusev gave the Muscovites the lead in the 25th minute, picking a spot over Dylan Ferguson’s shoulder to find the top corner.
Dinamo replied. The visitor began to apply some pressure on Maxim Motorygin’s net and tied the scores in the 35th minute. Igor Ozhiganov was forced into a goalline clearance to preserve his team’s lead, but the puck went straight back to the Belarusians for Dmitry Korobov to fire home.
However, the game was settled either side of the second intermission. Dynamo regained the lead just before the break thanks to Yegor Rimashevsky, and Minsk’s problems were compounded when Kodie Curran took a cross-checking call on the hooter. Daniil Pylenkov converted that PP at the start of the third, reaping the rewards after Gusev’s tricky shot from the boards bounced right onto his stick. That was Gusev’s third point in the game, taking him to a club record 69 points in this regular season.
By the end of the afternoon, he was up to 70. In the last minute, Gusev released Jordan Weal into the Minsk zone and the Canadian beat Ferguson to make the final score 4-1.
Three goals in 83 seconds sinks Sochi
Traktor Chelyabinsk 6 HC Sochi 1 (1-0, 4-1, 1-0)
A second-period goal blitz saw Traktor climb to sixth in the Eastern Conference, overtaking Ak Bars with a big win at home to Sochi. The visitor snapped a 15-game losing streak on Thursday, but fell apart in the latter half of the second period having tied the game early in that middle frame.
The opening stanza brought one goal, with home forward Anton Burdasov breaking the deadlock in the seventh minute. Despite taking the lead, the home team never really took control of the game and Sochi was firmly in contention at the intermission.
After two minutes of the second period, Sochi tied the game. A spell of attacking pressure brought a flurry of shots at Zach Fucale’s net before Artur Tyanulin scored.
The balance of play remained fairly even, but suddenly the home team found its shooting form. In the 34th minute, Burdasov won a foot race to chase down Nikita Soshnikov’s clearance along the boards and get to the slot to restore his team’s lead. That triggered a blast of three goals in 83 seconds. Alexader Rykov and Maxim Shabanov took the game away from Sochi, prompting the Leopards visitor to replace starting goalie Nikita Bogdanov with Mikhail Berdin. Yegor Popov added a fifth for Traktor in the 39th minute and the host had four goals off just nine shots in a devastating middle session.
In the final frame, Vitaly Kravtsov added a sixth for Traktor to complete a convincing win. The home team got back on track after suffering losses to Dinamo Minsk and Severstal in its last two outings.
Shoot-out success for Lada
Lada Togliatti 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 SO (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
The Motormen remain in fifth place after edging Vityaz in a shoot-out. Lada is now just one point behind fourth-placed Avtomobilist in the Eastern Conference, while its visitor remains some way adrift of the playoff places in the West.
Lada got off to a great start, forcing an early power play and converting it thanks to a Scott Kosmachuk goal on 2:15. However, after that the home team was in danger of losing its way. Vityaz increasingly came to control the possession and ended the opening frame with a noticeable advantage on most stats – except, of course, the score.
In the second period, the visitor continued to have the better of the play and this eventually led to a tying goal midway through the session. Ivan Vorobyov was the scorer.
During the game, Lada was taking noticeably more penalties than the visitor. The Vityaz power play could not take advantage through the first 40 minutes, with the home PK neutralizing four chances in the first two periods.
In the third period, Vityaz continued to have the better of the play. The visitor got to 60 minutes with a 41-21 advantage in shots but could not find the go-ahead goal. It was a similar story in overtime, with the teams sharing six shots on goal but failing to score.
In the shoot-out, the first two attempts found the target. However, the winner went to Andrei Altybarmakyan. He converted the eighth shot, and when Vladislav Podyapolsky stopped Jeremy Roy’s effort that settled the outcome.
