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SKA back on top in the West, Amur boosts playoff hopes. February 8 round-up
Thursday’s big stories came from shoot-out wins. In Togliatti, Amur held Lada goalless through 65 minutes before taking a win that moves it up to eighth. In Astana, SKA came from behind to defeat Barys in a shoot-out and return to top spot in the West. Elsewhere, Ak Bars goes fourth in the East after beating Traktor, Spartak survived a wobble to beat Avangard 5-3 and there were victories for Vityaz, Admiral and Dinamo Minsk.
Hawks fightback falls short
Avangard Omsk 3 Spartak Moscow 5 (0-3, 1-1, 2-1)
This game did not produce the kind of goal rush we saw in Avangard’s 9-5 win over SKA, but there was still no shortage of incident in a lively eight-goal affair. Spartak raced into a 4-0 lead but almost found itself overhauled before Maxim Tsyplakov made the game safe in the 55th minute.
The visitor started on time. Within half a minute, Nikolai Goldobin was clear on goal and could only be halted by foul play. The first power play of the game saw Shane Prince fire the puck in from the boards and Ansel Galimov turned it past Andrei Kareyev. It wasn’t long before Prince scored one of his own, then Dmitry Vishnevsky made it 3-0 in the 11th minute to chase Ilya Proskuryakov from the home net.
His replacement, Andrei Mishurov stemmed that flow of goals, but Avangard could not make any progress at the other end. In the 34th minute, one of several dangerous Spartak counter-attacks saw Mishurov halt Pavel Poryadin’s clean break, but Alexander Belyayev followed up to make it 4-0.
Late in the middle frame, the fightback got underway. Reid Boucher pulled a goal back before the intermission, then potted his second of the night 24 seconds after the restart. Suddenly, the Hawks scented blood. Midway through the frame, Ryan Spooner got it back to 3-4 and the game seemed there for the taking. However, Tsyplakov calmed Spartak nerves when he made it 5-3, taking the momentum out of Avangard’s game and securing a win for the visitor.
Shoot-out win puts SKA back on top
Barys Astana 1 SKA St. Petersburg 2 SO (0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
After eight successive losses, Barys came within 42 seconds of defeating a SKA team whose hot streak ended in that memorable 5-9 loss at Avangard last time out. The visitor, still targeting top spot in the Western Conference, welcomed defenseman Andrei Pedan and forward Artyom Svets-Rogovoi back to the team after injury-disrupted seasons.
For much of the game SKA lived up to its billing as pre-game favorite, dominating much of the game but failing to put the puck beyond Eddie Pasquale in the home net. The first big chance for Barys came early in the second period when Roman Starchenko tested Pavel Moisevich at the end of a three-on-two rush.
However, it was the home team that broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute. Starchenko fired in a shot from the left and Nelson Nogier managed to evade the clutches of Stepan Falkovsky to steer the puck home. With a lead to defend, Barys dug deep and battled to keep SKA away from its net. However, with 42 seconds left, Alexander Nikishin fired in a tying goal.
Overtime could not separate the teams. However, in the shoot-out, Marat Khairullin potted the decisive effort. That send his team back to the top of the Western Confernce thanks to Lokomotiv’s loss at home to Admiral.
Vital win for Amur
Lada Togliatti 0 Amur Khabarovsk 1 SO (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Amur moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference after the tightest possible victory over Lada. A goaltending duel kept this one scoreless through 65 minutes, but the Tigers grabbed a vital shoot-out verdict.
That could be huge in the context of a fascinating playoff battle involving Amur, Neftekhimik and Sibir. Today’s victor currently has a one-point advantage, but its two closest challengers play tomorrow with Neftekhimik looking to regain the initiative. At the foot of the table, meanwhile, this win means that Barys is officially unable to reach the playoffs.
In the first period, the visitor took the game to Lada, and Vladislav Podyapolsky was much the busier goalie. His 14 saves went a long way to keeping the scoreboard silent in the opening, although neither team created many clear-cut chances.
The second saw Lada rev up a little. The home team tried to dictate the game by building long spells of attacking pressure on the Amur net, but found Igor Bobkov as obdurate as his opposite number.
That pattern remained through the third, but in overtime Amur’s Andrei Martemyanov threw caution to the wind and replaced Bobkov with an extra skater. There was added drama, but still no goal. Bobkov returned for the shoot-out, and saw Alex Broadhurst secure the win for his team.
Kazan climbs to fourth
Ak Bars Kazan 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (0-0, 1-0, 1-1)
A win at home to Traktor puts Ak Bars back into the top four in the East, moving ahead of Avtomobilist and denying Traktor the chance to further its own bid to start the playoffs on home ice.
Whichever team won this game would overtake the Motormen. In the first period, Traktor got the first opportunity to shine when Alexander Radulov went to the box early on. However, the visitor’s power play was undercooked and Vladimir Tkachyov quickly followed his opponent off the ice. Indeed, when Radulov returned to the fray, the short home power play created a great chance for Semyon Koshelev, who forced Zach Fucale into a big save from point blank range.
Chances came and went at both ends, but eventually Koshelev managed to open the scoring midway through the second period when he finished off a well-worked counterattack. However, despite a flurry of shots at both goalies, neither team could move the scoring until a Traktor power play early in the third. Then Maxim Shabanov hauled the visitor level.
It didn't take long for Ak Bars to regain its lead. A couple of minutes after Shabanov’s goal, Artyom Lukoyanov showed off all the center’s dark arts on the slot to restore his team’s advantage. Traktor clearly felt Lukoyanov’s artistry was too dark to qualify, but a bench challenge was overruled and the visitor continued on the PK. In the closing stages, Traktor tried in vain to tie the game, with Ak Bars surviving a late penalty and closing out the final seconds while playing four against six.
Leggy Loko loses at home
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (0-0, 0-1, 1-1)
Admiral arrived at Lokomotiv knowing that a loss in regulation would end even a theoretical chance of making the playoffs. After edging a 2-1 verdict, the calculations say that the Sailors can still get to the top eight, albeit only by plotting a course that would redefine the term ‘improbable.’
Lokomotiv, meanwhile, was hoping to consolidate its position at the top of the Western Conference, where it is battling with SKA for supremacy. In the first period the Railwaymen did most things right: more pucks to the net, more attacking possession. However, when it came to hitting the target, or indeed seriously threatening Vasily Demchenko, there was nothing much to show.
For a while, that was also the story of the second period. However, Admiral began winning more center ice possession and gradually managed to shift the momentum. A counterattack in the 25th minute ended with Dmitry Zavgorodny opening the scoring and suddenly the visitor had renewed purpose. Lokomotiv looked leggy, possibly feeling the effects of yesterday’s game against Sibir.
Despite that, the home team managed to tie the game in the third period thanks to a point shot from Rushan Rafikov. Then Loko had a goal disallowed before Admiral made the most of that reprieve to smuggle a winning goal from Giovanni Fiore.
Wilson double snaps Vityaz skid
Vityaz Moscow Region 2 Severstal Cherepovets 1 OT (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 1-0)
After seeing its playoff prospects officially ended, Vityaz snapped a four-game skid with a hard-fought win over Severstal. Despite trailing to a first-period goal, the host tied it up before taking an overtime verdict.
With Severstal’s playoff place also secure, there wasn’t a huge amount riding on this one. Nonetheless, visiting forward Kirill Pilipenko will surely remember his opening goal – it took him to 30 for the season, his best ever in the KHL.
However, Pilipenko was not destined to finish on the winning team. Scott Wilson turned the game around for Vityaz, tying the scores early in the third period then scoring the winner. That moves the Canadian to 19 goals for the season, and he’s scored in each of his last three. Derek Barach assisted on both tonight.
Three-goal salvo sinks CSKA
Dinamo Minsk 4 CSKA Moscow 1 (0-0, 3-0, 1-1)
The Bison move ever closer to securing their playoff spot after tonight’s big win over CSKA. Although Dinamo was consistently outshot over the 60 minutes, the home team created better chances and was more effective at putting them away, scoring four goals on Ivan Fedotov from just 23 shots.
Things might have gone differently if CSKA had turned its small but measurable first period superiority into a goal. However, Alexei Kolosov was in strong form between the pipes for Minsk and the opening frame ended with neither team able to break the deadlock.
In the middle stanza, Dinamo opened a 3-0 lead. The home team hit a purple patch midway through the session, with Alexander Volkov’s 30th minute power play goal opening the scoring. After that, Danil Sotishvili scored twice in 90 seconds to take the game away from CSKA.
The visitor gave itself a chance at the start of the third when Maxim Mamin pulled a goal back. However, that did not trigger any kind of comeback. Instead, Dinamo dealt with the pressure and sealed the win late on when Dmitry Pyshkailo made it four.
