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Hawks fly to Eastern summit. February 17 round-up
The big game in the east saw second-placed Avangard move in front of leader Metallurg with a 3-0 win. The same scoreline saw Ak Bars triumph at Spartak and Lokomotiv defeat Salavat Yulaev. That keeps the Railwaymen in the hunt for the Continental Cup, but Dynamo Moscow stays second behind SKA thanks to a 6-3 win at Vityaz. Dinamo Minsk defeated Kunlun in Saturday’s other game.
Avangard goes top
Avangard Omsk 3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
This battle of the Eastern Conference’s top two ended in a convincing victory for Avangard. As a result, the Hawks leapfrogged their opponents into top spot with 88 points. That’s a point clear of Magnitka, although the teams will meet again next Monday, but three points adrift of overall KHL leader SKA.
There’s more encouragement for Avangard, albeit somewhat paradoxical. Leading goalscorer Reid Boucher went for a fourth game without a goal. Earlier in the season, with the Hawks reliant on one line for almost all its scoring, that might have halted the team. Now, though, goals are coming from elsewhere and Boucher’s team-mates have put up 14 goals during his quiet spell.
However, in the first period, Pavel Khomchenko was the key man for the home team. With Magnitka dominating the game, he made 15 saves to keep the scoreboard blank at the first intermission. At the other end, Avangard’s best chances came early in the session, and Ryan Spooner’s shot against the post was the closest to breaking the deadlock.
The breakthrough arrived in the 26th minute. Defenseman Artyom Murylyov was the architect, with a fine play to set up Ivan Nikolishin with a straightforward finish.
Metallurg responded by trying to establish territorial dominance. The visitor spent plenty of time in the Avangard zone but ran into some robust home defense.
That pattern continued until midway through the third. Then Avangard took control. Damir Zhafyarov’s goal had an element of fortune as his attempted pass took a deflection into the net before it reached Nikita Kholodilin at the back door. A couple of minutes later it was 3-0 after Nikolishin and Ivan Igumnov set off on a counterattack and Artyom Chmykhov fired home.
It wasn’t Metallurg’s day. The visitor had chances, but could not beat Khomchenko. When the puck finally found itself in the Avangard net, Luke Johnson’s effort was ruled out for a high stick.
Dinamo downs Dragons
Kunlun Red Star 2 Dinamo Minsk 4 (0-1, 2-1, 0-2)
Despite blowing a 2-0 lead, Dinamo recovered to win at Red Star and continue a run of eight games alternating victories and defeats. The home team saw Devin Brosseau equal a club record for goals in a regular season but could not convert that into a win.
The visitor opened the scoring midway through the first period. The goal came a second after the end of the first power play of the game, with Vyacheslav Osnovin scoring just as Nikita Parfenyuk stepped back on the ice.
Early in the second period, we saw two goals in 30 seconds. Pavel Denisov doubled Dinamo’s lead, but Brosseau struck back. He potted his 21st of the season after good work from Luke Lockhart left Dylan Ferguson over-committed on his near post. There was another concentrated flurry of activity late in the middle frame. First, Daniil Sotishvili missed a penalty shot after Vitaly Pinchuk was fouled by Ryan Merkley. Within a minute, what might have been 3-1 was suddenly 2-2: Tyler Graovac scoring on his former club to tie the game.
Dinamo made it safe in the third period. A power play goal from Alexander Volkov restored the lead, and Kodie Curran’s empty-netter finished the job.
Gusev hits new heights
Vityaz Moscow Region 3 Dynamo Moscow 6 (1-4, 1-0, 1-2)
This was the last home game of the season for Vityaz, and fans in Balashikha saw an entertaining conclusion to the season. Although the final score was not what the home crowd was hoping for, a nine-goal game brought plenty of incident.
Dynamo, meanwhile, finished its regular season road games on a high, taking a win that keeps its prospects of winning the Continental Cup very much alive. The Muscovites are just a point behind SKA at the top of the standings.
The visitor settled this game quickly, rattling in four goals in 16 first-period minutes. Yegor Petukhov opened the scoring in the third, Jordan Weal potted a double and Nikita Gusev collected a goal and an assist. That saw Gusev set a new personal best for regular season scoring: his previous high was 82 points in 2018-2019, by the end of this game he was up to 84 (22+62).
It felt like game over, but Vityaz showed plenty of spirit to fight back. Vladislav Kara got one before the intermission, then Scott Wilson potted the only goal of the second period. When Ivan Vorobyov beat Ilya Konovalov five minutes into the third, suddenly we had a one-goal game.
That was as close as it got, though. With five to play, a short-handed goal gave Petukhov his second of the night and Gusev wrapped it up with an empty net marker. Thus, three Dynamo players scored twice to complete the win.
Koshelev’s double sinks Spartak
Spartak Moscow 0 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (0-1, 0-1, 0-1)
This was billed as a battle between Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov. In the event, though, it was decided by Semyon Koshelev. His two goals led Ak Bars to a victory that finally ends Spartak’s slim hopes of topping the Western Conference. The visitor, meanwhile, is closer to securing fourth in the East and, with it, home ice advantage at the start of the playoffs.
The outcome was settled by a goal in each period. In the 14th minute, Ak Bars got ahead when Vadim Shipachyov brought the puck into Spartak territory before turning to set up Mitch Miller for a point shot. His effort was steered into the net by Kirill Petrov, who planted himself firmly in front of goalie Andrei Kareyev.
There were chances for both teams, and in the second period Kovalchuk produced a flash of his brilliance. Deft stickhandling took him past Kirill Adamchuk and on to Amir Miftakhov’s net, but he couldn’t get his shot away. The next play saw Ak Bars increase its lead. Koshelev’s initial rush was halted by a foul, but he recovered to convert a penalty shot and make it 2-0.
Koshelev got his second of the game – and his fourth in the last three – to wrap up the result midway through the third period. Stanislav Galiyev was the creator, storming down the left and going around the back before popping up a great pass to the slot where Koshelev was waiting to score.
Spartak kept pressing in search of a way back, but Miftakhov was unbeatable in the Ak Bars goal. His 28 saves completed a shut-out as his team enjoyed a fourth win in five games.
Isayev blanks Salavat Yulaev
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 0 (1-0, 0-0, 2-0)
The Railwaymen blanked Salavat Yulaev to keep their hopes of topping the regular season table alive. After suffering three straight losses, Igor Nikitin’s team now has back-to-back wins over CSKA and Salavat Yulaev, suggesting that it is getting back to form just in time for the playoffs.
Today, Lokomotiv got a huge boost early on. Maxim Shalunov opened the scoring after just 28 seconds, firing home a pass from Maxim Beryozkin that found him in the right-hand circle.
However, the home team was unable to build on that fast start. By the first intermission, there was little to choose between the teams in term of balance of play, but despite some scoring chances for Salavat Yulaev it remained 1-0.
In the middle frame, Lokomotiv spent far more time on the attack – 7:31 against 3:29. However, not for the first time this season, puck possession did not easily lead to more goals for Yaroslavl. Alexander Samonov faced just nine shots in the Ufa net and not even the first home power play of the game could offer any breathing space.
It all changed at the start of the third. Lokomotiv again got itself set in Salavat Yulaev territory and this time the pressure paid off. Denis Alexeyev sent the puck to the blue line, Dmitry Simashev fired in from the point and Stepan Nikulin’s redirect on the slot was enough to take it away from Samonov. Midway through the session it was 3-0, and the game was all but settled. Once again, Simashev’s shot gave Ufa problems and Artur Kayumov found time and space on the slot to beat Samonov at the second attempt.
At the other end, Daniil Isayev secured his fourth shut-out of the season as Lokomotiv closed out the win. Ufa’s frustrations were summed up by a simmering feud between Gleb Kuzmin and Martin Gernat, which finally boiled over in the closing seconds but never quite exploded into open combat.
