SKA storms to victory in new arena. February 11 round-up
SKA celebrated its first game in its new arena with a crushing 8-1 win over Sochi. The SKA Arena, which opened its doors at the KHL All-Star Game in December, is the biggest hockey arena in the world and a crowd of 21,481 saw the action. The win puts SKA level with Metallurg at the top of the overall KHL standings. The Steelmen lost in a shoot-out at home to Dynamo Moscow, which is two points behind the leaders. Avangard, 7-2 victors over Sibir, is also in the race to top the standings. Neftekhimik returned to the top eight in the East with an overtime win at Torpedo, while CSKA thumped Vityaz 5-1.
Hawks hit seven on Sibir
Avangard Omsk 7 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 (1-1, 5-1, 1-0)
A five-star second period led Avangard to victory in the final edition of this season’s Siberian derby series against Sibir. The 7-2 final score keeps the Hawks in the battle to top the KHL standings, while defeat leaves the visitor running out of games in its bid to secure eighth place in the East.
Yet Sibir led twice in this game. In the third minute Mikhail Nazarov opened the scoring somewhat fortuitously when he pumped the puck forward from center ice and saw a random bounce deceive Ilya Proskuryakov and send it into the net. The home players were quick to commiserate with their luckless goalie, but took longer to cancel out the misfortune. However, late in the frame Vladimir Tkachyov’s power play goal tied the game at the first intermission.
However, Sibir struck again 13 seconds into the second period with a short-handed goal. Andy Andreoff and Artyom Mikheyev galloped forward for the latter to score.
After that, another penalty left Sibir with three skaters. Avangard continued to press and, although one player returned, Tkachyov potted his second PP goal of the night to quickly tie it up again.
From that moment on, it was one-way traffic. Ivan Nikolishin put the home team in front for the first time in the 26th minute, then two more power play goals either side of midway point saw Valentin Pyanov and Ryan Spooner take the game away completely. Sibir’s Taylor Beck was the man at fault here: his double minor penalty handed the initiative to the home team.
Late in the second period, Nikolai Prokhorkin scored on his former club to make it 6-2. Then Ilya Reingardt added a seventh midway through the third. The 20-year-old celebrated the second goal of his rookie KHL season.
Dynamo holds nerve to snatch victory
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Dynamo Moscow 4 SO (2-0, 0-2, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
A rollercoaster of a game saw Dynamo rally from 0-2, only to allow a last-minute tying goal. However, the Blue-and-Whites shrugged off that disappointment to defeat Metallurg in a shoot-out and remain in contact with the Western Conference leaders.
Magnitka, meanwhile, was looking to stay out in front in the East and began the game effectively. Two goals in three first-period minutes put the home team in control, with Nikita Grebyonkin opening the scoring before Igor Geraskin doubled the lead. Towards the end of the session, though, Dynamo produced a dangerous power play, and that paved the way for the visitor’s fightback.
A second PP early in the second put Dynamo on the scoreboard. Despite the loss of Jordan Weal, who took a puck in the face, his team found the net thanks to Artyom Ilyenko’s effort on the rebound. That was the template for the tying goal as well, as Dynamo got the better of a battle on the slot and Ilya Kablukov was able to stuff the puck home from close range.
Midway through the third, an unlikely “own goal” put Dynamo ahead. Dmitry Rashevsky was credited with the tally, but in reality this was purely due to a crazy bounce off Valery Orekhov’s skate that got past Nikita Podskrebalin.
That would have been a cruel way to lose any game, but Metallurg had to wait until the last minute to save itself. Playing six-on-five, Magnitka tied it at 3-3 with 33 seconds left: Pavel Akolzin redirected a Robin Press blast to send the game to overtime.
In the extras, the Muscovites faced a five-on-three situation after Metallurg got a power play and withdrew Podskrebalin. However, the visitor defended heroically to get to a shoot-out. Before the penalty shots, Alexei Kudashov replaced Ilya Konovalov with Maxim Motorygin then, during the shoot-out, Andrei Razin sent Ilya Nabokov into the game in place of Podskrebalin. That change helped Metallurg recover from 0-2 to go to sudden death before Nikita Gusev won it for the visitor.
Neftekhimik returns to the playoff places
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 OT (0-1, 2-1, 1-1, 0-1)
Neftekhimik returned to the top eight in the Eastern Conference thanks to an overtime win at Torpedo. Kirill Urakov’s goal two minutes into the extras snapped a 3-3 tie in a game where the visitor led three times before finishing the job.
Neftekhimik got in front on the first power play of the game. Yegor Vinogradov sat for tripping and Andrei Belozyorov found the net in the seventh minute. That was all that separated the teams at the first intermission, and for much of the second period.
However, the middle frame exploded into life in the final minutes. Andrei Belevich brought Torpedo level on 35:58, but Jean-Sebastien Dea restored the visitor’s advantage almost immediately. Undaunted, Torpedo made it 2-2 through Igor Larionov – three goals in 59 seconds and we were no closer to picking a winner.
The third period saw the teams trade goals once more. Dmitry Zhukenov’s power play goal put the visitor up for the third time, but Nikolai Kovalenko cancelled that out. That sent the game to overtime, where Urakov gave the Wolves the verdict over his former club.
Steelmen edge Dinamo
Severstal Cherepovets 3 Dinamo Minsk 2 (0-0, 2-1, 1-1)
Dinamo missed the chance to confirm its place in the playoffs after falling to defeat at Severstal. The Bison led at the start of the second period but could not build on that. A five-on-three power play in the third period brought the winning goal for the Steelmen.
After a goalless opening frame, Dinamo broke the deadlock at the start of the second. Alexander Volkov found the net just six seconds after the restart, scoring for the third game in a row. However, Severstal turned it around in that middle stanza. Danil Aimurzin tied the scores, then Vladimir Grudinin’s 37th-minute tally sent the home team into the intermission with a slender lead.
Dinamo rather undermined its own chances midway through the third. Daniil Sotishvili took a double minor for high sticks and, in 30 seconds later, Volkov followed him to the box. The two-man advantage generated a two-goal advantage, with Yegor Stepanov grabbing the power play goal. Roman Gorbunov pulled one back with 90 seconds left, but despite a late surge the Belarusians could not save the game.
CSKA snaps skid
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 CSKA Moscow 5 (0-1, 1-3, 0-1)
CSKA snapped a four-game skid in emphatic style with a comfortable win at basement club Vityaz. The visitor got in front early in the game and never relinquished its grip.
That opening goal was a short-handed effort, Maxim Sorkin scoring while Prokhor Poltapov sat out the game’s first and only penalty. It was all that separated the teams in the first period, but after the break CSKA took complete control.
It started with Darren Dietz doubling the lead in the 22nd minute. A couple of minutes later, Pavel Karnaukhov made it 3-0 and when Andrei Svetlakov added a fourth, starting goalie Maxim Dorozhko left the game. Dmitry Shikin replaced him in the Vityaz net and the home team even got the boost of a goal from Nikita Goncharov before the second intermission.
A fightback never felt likely, though, and Takhir Mingachyov made it 5-1 early in the third. Defenseman Fredrik Claesson got his third assist of the game on that play as the defending champion wrapped up the win.
Happy housewarming for SKA
SKA St. Petersburg 8 HC Sochi 1 (1-0, 2-1, 5-0)
Opening night for SKA at its new arena turned into the party the home team was hoping for. A crushing victory over Sochi opens a two-point lead at the top of the Eastern Conference and gives the Petersburg club a share of the overall KHL leadership alongside Metallurg.
Meanwhile, a crowd of 21,481 spectators represents the biggest ever at a KHL game played indoors. The new SKA Arena, described by club officials as “the best in the world” is certainly the biggest currently in operation with a capacity of 21,500.
Many in that record-breaking crowd were still taking their seats when Sergei Tolchinsky opened the scoring after just 40 seconds. Happily, those who missed the first KHL goal in the new arena would get to see plenty more before the game was done.
Before that, though, Sochi deserves credit for hanging around in the game. Despite that awful start, the Leopards gave a good account in the first period and suffered no further damage. Even after Alex Galchenyuk doubled the lead on a power play early in the second, the visitor didn’t go away: Daniil Seroukh pulled one back a couple of minutes later.
However, when former Sochi man Vasily Glotov added a third late in the middle frame, this one was decided. And the third period was a procession of SKA offense. Tolchinsky and Galchenyuk each got their second, Marat Khairullin scored a shorty and Artyom Zemchyonok made it 7-1 in the 48th minute. At that point Sochi called a time-out, but persevered with starting goalie Mikhail Berdin. There was just one more goal after that, with Khairullin’s second of the night coming in the last minute.
