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Sibir wins key playoff battle. February 9 round-up
There were only two KHL games on Friday, but the clash between Neftekhimik and Sibir had big implications for the Eastern playoff race. Sibir grabbed an overtime win, leaving the three-way battle for eighth place tighter than ever. Neftekhimik’s point moves it back ahead of Amur into the top eight Elsewhere, Torpedo beat Sochi 5-3.
Andreoff’s double earns vital victory for Sibir
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Sibir grabbed a valuable win to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race – but after this game went to overtime the margins are tighter than ever.
At the start of play, both teams were chasing eighth-placed Amur. Neftekhimik, in ninth place, was a point adrift; 10th placed Sibir was two points further back. Now, Amur and Neftekhimik are level on 62 points and 19 regulation-time wins, with Sibir on 60, having played a game more than its rivals. Neftekhimik currently holds eighth place by virtue of winning more games in OT than the Tigers.
With so much at stake in Nizhnekamsk, both teams started cautiously. In the first period, Neftekhimik had more of the puck, but Sibir defended patiently to ensure that there was no scoring.
At the start of the second, the visitor showed more intent only to be caught on the counter. Jean-Sebastien Dea’s shot was saved, but the rebound went to Alexander Dergachyov. He fired the puck to the back door, where Bulat Shafigullin put it behind Anton Krasotkin to open the scoring.
Once the deadlock was broken, the teams played a more open game. In particular, Sibir had to commit more to its offense in order to get back on level terms. The visitor managed that just before the intermission when Taylor Beck set up Andy Andreoff.
In the third period, Neftekhimik had an early power play chance but could not take advantage. After that, with both teams aware of the increasing price of any error, the play slowed down and scoring opportunities were few and far between.
In overtime, the key moment was Dergachyov’s foul in the 64th minute. That enabled Sibir to finish the game on the power play and, with one second left on the clock, the visitor grabbed the winning goal. Vladimir Butuzov’s backhand feed off the boards fell nicely for Andreoff, and his one-timer brought him a second goal of the game and secured a second point for his team.
Back-to-back wins for Torpedo
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 HC Sochi 3 (0-0, 2-1, 3-2)
Nikita Artamonov scored twice to pace a second successive victory for Torpedo, while Dmitry Breus scored his first KHL goal. For Sochi, Friday’s defeat means its playoff hopes are almost entirely extinguished: the Leopards would need to win all seven remaining games in regulation and hope that Dinamo Minsk does not get another point.
The first period was goalless, but Torpedo took charge of the game at the start of the second. Artamonov opened the scoring on 23 minutes, and a couple of minutes later, Danil Veryayev doubled the lead. Sochi head coach Dmitry Kokorev called a time-out and, towards the end of the session, Matvei Michkov pulled a goal back.
That gave the visitor some belief and early in the third, Daniil Seroukh tied the scores. However, Torpedo responded with another quickfire double as Artamonov and Bobby Lynch built another two-goal lead. This time, the home team made no mistake. Breus, a 19-year-old defenseman from Kazakhstan, added a fifth midway through the session and Artur Tyanulin’s response was nothing more than a consolation effort.
