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Ufa joins playoff party, Amur wins thriller against Magnitka. January 29 round-up
Salavat Yulaev is the latest team to confirm its place in the playoffs. A 2-1 win at Admiral was enough to seal the deal for Viktor Kozlov’s team. Eight of the 16 post season spots are now taken, with eight more still up for grabs. Amur gave its hopes of snatching one of them a boost in a 13-goal thriller against Metallurg. A 7-6 win snapped a long losing streak for the Tigers at just the right time in the Eastern playoff battle. The other action affected the race for top spot in the West. SKA’s win over Lokomotiv, coupled with a surprise loss for Dynamo at home to Vityaz, sees the Petersburg team move two points clear. There were also victories for Spartak over Torpedo and Kunlun Red Star at Sochi.
Goals galore in Khabarovsk
Amur Khabarovsk 7 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 (2-2, 3-2, 2-2)
For much of this enthralling battle, Khabarovsk was the land that defense forgot. The teams traded 13 goals in a pulsating spectacle, but Magnitka head coach Andrei Razin was left frustrated by his team’s carelessness in its own zone. Razin’s concerns were surely all the greater after he handed only a second KHL appearance to goalie Alexander Smolin – and must have hoped the youngster would enjoy greater protection from his more experienced team-mates before he was hooked early in the middle frame.
By that time, the score was already 3-2 in Amur’ favor. The goals flowed from the start. Dmitry Silantyev put Metallurg up in the third minute, but Kirill Kapustin tied it up midway through. Then came two goals in 26 seconds as Danil Gololobov briefly restored the visitor’s lead, only for Yegor Korshkov to make it 2-2.
Although it was level at the intermission, Amur outshot Magnitka 18-7 and had substantially more attacking possession. So it wasn’t entirely surprising to see the home team get ahead in the 23rd minute through Vladislav Barulin. That saw Nikita Podskrebalin take over from Smolin, but the new goalie was beaten by Kirill Panyukov a couple of minute later. Once again, though, we saw a quick response: Nikita Mikhailis needed just eight seconds to pull a goal back and prompt Amur to send Igor Bobkov into the game in place of starting goalie Dmitry Lozebnikov. In keeping with the day’s general theme, Bobkov allowed Nikita Grebyonkin a goal from the first shot he faced and it was 4-4 on 27:15.
All too often, there was slapstick defense on the slot and that enabled Dmitry Shevchenko to send Amur to the second intermission with a 5-4 lead. And the capers continued, with only some generous finishing from Alex Broadhurst denying the Tigers a bigger lead at the break.
With 10 goalless minutes at the end of the second period, the next marker was overdue. However, 16 seconds into the final frame, another defensive lapse helped Kapustin pot his second to make it 6-4 for Amur. Valery Orekhov pulled one back for Magnitka, but Stanislav Bocharov got the game-winner in the 47th minute. Although Denis Zernov scored Metallurg’s sixth with 10 to play, that proved to be the end of the scoring.
Salavat Yulaev confirms playoff spot
Admiral Vladivostok 1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (1-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Salavat Yulaev booked its place in this year’s playoff with victory over Admiral today. Viktor Kozlov’s team avenged a 4-5 loss yesterday in a game that was relatively calm compared with Sunday’s antics.
Admiral, which climbed off the foot of the Eastern Conference standings thanks to yesterday’s success, started in a similar competitive vein. Dmitry Buchelnikov was agonizingly close to an early goal when his shot hit the post then rolled along the goalline before a defenseman got the puck clear. A few minutes later, the Sailors were in front. Giovanni Fiore’s shot punished Ufa for some unconvincing play in the center ice. After that, Salavat Yulaev had three power plays in a row but could not find a tying goal before the first intermission.
After that break, Admiral got its first power play chance but didn’t manage to extend its lead. Finally, a power play led to a goal after 31 minutes when Danil Alalykin’s unstoppable shot flashed under the bar. Both teams had chances for more goals, but netminders Sergei Ivanov and Ilya Ezhov did well to keep the game at 1-1 through 40 minutes.
In the third, Ufa stepped up the pressure. The visitor had the initiative for almost all of the period, but a combination of solid defense and excellence from Ivanov kept Admiral level until the 55th minute. Then 19-yer-old Yaroslav Tsulygin potted his first ever KHL goal and that was enough to win it for his team.
Lockhart torments Leopards again
HC Sochi 2 Kunlun Red Star 4 (0-3, 1-1, 1-0)
Kunlun’s Luke Lockhart continues to enjoy his encounters with Sochi. Yesterday he scored twice on the Leopards in an overtime win, today he potted two more as the Dragons made it back-to-back victories by the Black Sea. In total, Lockhart has six goals in four games against this opponent.
Red Star’s win also lifts the Chinese franchise to ninth place in the Western Conference, having arrived in Sochi at the foot of the standings. However, with 13 points to make up on eighth-placed Dinamo Minsk, and just 10 games left this season, it’s hard to see how the Dragons will secure a playoff campaign from here.
For the second time in two days, Kunlun made a fast start. Spencer Foo opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and Devin Brosseau added a second after 15. Previously, Red Star had blown a 3-0 lead and needed overtime to win. Today, Lockhart made sure lessons were learned. He scored either side of the first intermission to build a 4-0 lead that was too big to fail.
For Sochi, which had hit a decent run of form after snapping a painful 15-game losing streak, there was little sign. Mikhail Berdin made the most notable contribution of the first period for the home team. The goalie picked a fight with Brosseau on 17 minutes after the visiting forward’s interference infringement.
Michal Kristof got the home team on the board with a wrister midway through the second period, but Red Star held its three-goal lead until the second intermission. Early in the third, a Daniil Seroukh power play goal raised some hope of a home revival, but Red Star was able to see out the game and get its fourth win of the season over Sochi.
Dorozhko denies Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow 1 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (0-0, 1-0, 0-2)
The Blue-and-Whites paid the price for wasteful finishing at home to Vityaz. Dynamo should have had the game settled after dominating the first two periods, but managed just one goal. That left the door open for the visitor and a quickfire double early in the third produced a surprise win.
The first period was a frustrating oen for the home team. Dynamo outshot Vityaz 17-6 but could not find a way past Maxim Dorozhko in the visitor’s net.
Those frustrations continued in the second. Dynamo continued to dominate the game, but we saw a fight – Andrei Mironov vs Yegor Zubov– and a missed penalty shot for Igor Chernyshov before the deadlock was finally broken.
The opening goal came in the 36th minute when Eric O’Dell battled behind the net, Igor Ozhiganov whipped a feed to the crease and Pavel Kudryavtsev steered the puck past Dorozhko.
Vityaz managed just nine shots in the first two periods, so the opening goal felt like it might prove decisive. However, the visitor awoke in the third. Nikolai Timashov tied the scores and just over a minute later Alexander Daryin made it 2-1. Dorozhko finished with 47 saves as Dynamo’s forwards once again failed to make the most of their chances.
Prince effort beats Torpedo
Spartak Moscow 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 (1-1, 1-1, 1-0)
An entertaining battle in Moscow saw Spartak take the verdict. The home team twice took the lead but could not hold on to its advantage until Shane Prince potted the winner midway through the third.
Torpedo had a tough start to the game, taking a penalty in the first minute, then playing three-on-five after Nikita Artamonov and Nikita Shavin followed each other into the box in the fifth. The visitor survived that scare, but fell behind midway through the first period to a Nikolai Goldobin goal. The response was swift: 31 seconds later, Madison Bowey tied the scores and it remained level until the intermission.
The second period scoring followed a similar pattern. German Rubtsov restored the home lead – Goldobin with an assist this time – but Torpedo levelled 47 seconds later through Bogdan Konyushkov. The visitor managed to stay out of the box in the second period and enjoyed a greater share of the game as a result. However, the tied scoreline was a fair reflection of 40 minutes’ play.
In the third period, both teams approached the game more carefully. As a result, the first 10 minutes of play lacked some of the excitement that had gone before. However, midway through the session, Spartak regained the lead. Maxim Letunov’s attempt to clear his lines was halted by Ansel Galimov. He sent the puck to Maxim Tsyplakov behind the net, and Shane Prince raced to the slot to collect the pass and go around Adam Huska to score the winning goal.
Nikishin inspires SKA win
SKA St. Petersburg 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 (0-0, 2-0, 1-0)
Alexander Nikishin had a hand in all three goals as SKA stayed on top in the Western Conference thanks to victory over Lokomotiv. The Railwaymen were the first team to clinch a playoff place this season, but are now on a three-game skid. By contrast, SKA recorded a third successive victory and a fifth win in six games.
The first period was fast-paced and brought chances at both ends. Lokomotiv slightly outshot SKA, 13-11, but neither team could force a breakthrough.
That changed early in the second. SKA got on the counterattack and Valentin Zykov broke the deadlock when he put away the rebound from Alexander Nikishin’s shot. The 28-year-old is hitting form as the regular season draws to its close: that was his fifth goal and eighth point in seven games. Then, late in the frame, Nikishin scored himself to give the home team a 2-0 lead. Lokomotiv was still in the game, but wasn’t creating as many clear-cut scoring chances as Igor Nikitin would have wanted.
The visitor didn’t always help its own cause. Alexei Bereglazov took a penalty late in the second period, handing SKA the initiative as the third got underway. The same player went back to the box with five on the clock, stymying a prospective late Lokomotiv surge. Nikishin completed the job with an empty-netter.
At the other end, Nikita Serebryakov finished with 28 saves to record his second shut-out in three games. SKA has allowed just one goal in its victories over Barys, CSKA and now Lokomotiv, and has a two-point advantage at the top of the West.
