Nikulin leads Loko to victory. February 7 round-up

A hat-trick from Stepan Nikulin saw Lokomotiv rally from 0-2 to defeat Sibir in overtime. For the visitor, dropping a point was a bitter blow: victory here would have put Sergei Krivokrasov’s team just two points behind eight-placed Neftekhimik before going to Nizhnekamsk on Friday. For 22-year-old Nikulin, meanwhile, it was his first career hat-trick.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (0-2, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0)

Sibir’s power play made the difference in the opening frame. After seven minutes, Nikita Cherepanov went to the box and Andy Andreoff converted the first power play chance of the evening. All three Sibir imports were involved, with Trevor Murphy spraying the puck wide to the right where Taylor Beck drilled it across the front of the net for Andreoff to score at the back door. Lokomotiv challenged the play, claiming interference on Daniil Isayev, but the video review found nothing wrong.

A second Sibir power play followed immediately, but this time the home penalty kill did its job. Late in the frame, though, Alexander Polunin’s foul gave Sibir another chance with the extra man. This time, Beck was the scorer as he fired home a Murphy feed to the left-hand circle.

Lokomotiv hit back at the start of the second when Nikulin scored within a couple of minutes of the restart. That set up a session that the home team dominated: almost 10 minutes of attacking possession and a 13-7 advantage on the shot count. Sibir defended hard, blocking eight shots in an effort to keep the Railwaymen to the perimeter.

However, the home team continued to press in the third period and got its reward midway through. Nikulin scored his second of the night, bringing the puck to the center of the zone after an extended attack and placing his wrist shot beyond Anton Krasotkin to tie the game.

There was no further scoring in regulation, although Lokomotiv still had the better of the game. In overtime, neither side managed to get a shot on goal until the clock reached 63:00. Then Nikulin finished the comeback that he started: Martin Gernat’s precise pass from the right-hand boards picked out the forward in the center of the Sibir zone and Nikulin’s shot did the rest.

Photoalbum