Loko close to ending title defense, Ak Bars stays alive with big win. March 6
Friday’s action kept five series bubbling away nicely. Ak Bars got the biggest result of the day, thrashing Avtomobilist 5-0 to avoid a sweep. Last season’s other finalist, CSKA, is also down 1-3 after suffering a second home loss to Lokomotiv. Spartak’s OT win against Severstal put the Muscovites up 3-1 in that pairing. Salavat Yulaev’s win at Traktor ties that battle at 2-2, while Dinamo Minsk improved to 1-2 after a home victory over Dynamo Moscow.
Ak Bars hits form to stay in the series
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 0 Ak Bars Kazan 5 (0-2, 0-1, 0-2)
Avtomobilist leads the series 3-1
After losing the first three encounters, Ak Bars was in danger of crashing out of the first round in four games when it returned to action in Yekaterinburg. However, having settled down in the last chance saloon, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team produced a sensational performance. Wednesday’s 5-0 victory not only keeps the series alive, but give Ak Bars a real foundation on which to build when the action returns to Kazan on Friday.
Desperate situations called for desperation measures, and Bilyaletdinov made some big calls. Alexei Marchenko appeared in the playoffs for the first time this season, as did Evgeny Svechnikov. The latter took his place on Vadim Shipachyov’s line. Alexander Radulov returned from suspension. Avtomobilist welcomed back Stephane Da Costa, who centered the fourth line after missing the first three games of the series.
The visitor got off to a fast start. After struggling for goals in the first three games, Ak Bars found the net with its first significant attack. Stanislav Galiyev’s hit dumped Sergei Shirokov on the ice and with Avtomobilist effectively a man short the visitor put together a combination that ended in Semyon Koshelev firing home. A couple of minutes later, Dmitry Yudin’s slap shot found the net while Dmitrij Jaskin screened Evgeny Alikin. After scoring just two goals in three games, Ak Bars had two in seven minutes here.
After that barrage, Alikin made way for Vladimir Galkin in the home net. This was his first taste of KHL playoff action, and it came in difficult circumstances. In front of him, the defense continued to wobble until the first commercial pause gave Avto a chance to regroup.
There was no further damage in the first period, and the Motormen got a couple of chances to use their power play at the start of the second. In the previous games, special teams had been a potent threat but today things did not go to plan. Even though the momentum moved in the home team’s favor, attempts to push Ak Bars back into its zone proved chaotic. It wasn’t a huge surprise that Nikita Dynyak got a breakaway and extended the lead midway through the frame.
The third period was relatively calm. Avtomobilist tried to attack, but there was a sense of going through the motions in a game already decided. Ak Bars defended calmly, recognizing that there was little serious threat to its lead. However, there was still time for Galiyev to ding the crossbar before Svechnikov to pick up a couple of late goals. The second of those came on the power play in the last minute, underlining an unhappy day for Avtomobilist.
Drozdov’s late goal ties up the series
Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3
Series tied at 2-2
For the third time in four games, these teams played out a 3-2 scoreline. That’s how tight this series is, and there’s no surprise that we’re locked at 2-2 ahead of Friday’s return to Ufa. Today, the visitor needed a late turnaround to claim the verdict in a stomy encounter that ebbed and flowed as much as the rest of the series.
Viktor Kozlov freshened up his third and fourth lines. Nikolai Kulemin returned to action after a minor injury, while Evgeny Timkin returned in place of Daniil Ogirchuk. With Charles Robinson suspended, Traktor moved Jack Rodewald to the top line.
Robinson’s suspension came after some big fights in the two previous games. However, the Canadian’s absence did not mean there was any less willingness to drop the gloves. Every check was hard-hitting, and as early as the seventh minute Sergei Telegin and Grigory Panin went toe-to-toe.
The opening goal took longer to arrive, but in the 16th minute Danil Yurtaikin’s pass from behind the net found Mikhail Kotlyarevsky in space and his shot found the target to put Traktor in front. Salavat Yulaev had a chance to tie the game before the intermission, but Zach Fucale denied Danil Bashkirov after the visiting forward got into a dangerous position.
However, Salavat Yulaev was getting more of the puck and in the second period Ivan Drozdov tied the scores. Traktor went back in front midway through the session when Rodewald won the faceoff and Anton Burdasov quickly wired a shot to the far corner.
The third period brought more fighting, as Timkin traded blows with Albert Yarullin. Salavat Yulaev had to kill a minor penalty after that one, but when Rodewald went to the box the visitor took advantage. Josh Leivo’s power play goal tied the scores with 11 minutes to play.
The closing stages saw Ufa pushing for the winner. The visitor got the chance it needed late in the game when Vitaly Kravtsov took a major penalty for a check to the head. In keeping with the general theme of this series, Kravtsov’s hit on Yefremov sparked yet another fight – Ilya Karpukhin vs Nicolas Meloche this time – but Drozdov used the power play to get his second goal of the night and win the game for Salavat Yulaev in the 58th minute. Expect this fight – in all senses – to continue at full throttle on Friday.
Belarusians hit back
Dinamo Minsk 3 Dynamo Moscow 1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0)
Dynamo leads the series 2-1
After dropping both games in Moscow, Dinamo needed to start turning promising performances into playoff wins on home ice in Minsk. Wednesday saw Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team do exactly that, finally getting the reward for some competitive hockey with a 3-1 verdict over the Muscovites.
The Bison got into the game fast, and that aggressive start unnerved the visitor. Dmitry Rashevsky took a penalty in the second minute, inviting more pressure on Maxim Motorygin’s net and although his team-mates held on, nobody could stop Roman Gorbunov from opening the scoring in the fifth minute. It could have been more: regular counterattacks carried plenty of menace, and there were further opportunities for Gorbunov, Sam Anas and Tanner Fritz as Minsk looked good in the opening frame. At the other end, Dynamo fired in plenty of shots, but rarely got into positions to give serious problems to Alexei Kolosov.
Things changed in the second period. Dynamo Moscow began to generate more offense and started to test Kolosov more frequently. However, the home goalie was up to the task and when Andrei Pribylsky went to the box midway through the session, the home team took full advantage. A fine passing move saw Anas go close, but the next minute saw Nick Merkley double the lead off a cross-ice feed from Anas.
The visitor eventually found a way back into the game with a power play goal of its own in the 35th minute. Vadim Moroz was the offender, and the Dynamo PP delivered. Nikita Gusev fed the puck to Brennan Menell on the blue line, he stepped forward to shoot and Cedric Paquette applied the finishing touch from the slot to score on his former club. The goal inspired the Muscovites to finish strongly in the second period, but Minsk held its 2-1 lead until the intermission.
After the break, the home team increased its advantage on Merkley’s second of the night. A swift transition from defense to offense saw Kodie Curran beat two opponents down the wing before firing the puck to the back door for his fellow import to score.
The two-goal lead was too big for Dynamo to claw back. The visitor struggled to stay out of the box in the closing stages, and rarely looked likely to turn this game around. So far, all three games in the series have gone to the home team: can Alexei Kudashov’s men break the sequence with a road win in game four on Friday?
Defending champion stares elimination in the face
CSKA Moscow 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (1-0, 0-2, 0-0)
Lokomotiv leads the series 3-1
CSKA head coach Sergei Fedorov has never lost a playoff series in his time behind the bench. However, that record is now in serious jeopardy. Although the defending champion won the opening game in this series it has now suffered three successive losses and the whole thing could come to an end in Yaroslavl on Friday.
It might have been different if the home team had made more of a good first period. CSKA outshot Loko 12-6 but found Daniil Isayev in resilient mood. The goalie’s defense helped him out, blocking nine shots in the opening frame. As a result, the home team was limited to a solitary goal, scored by Vladislav Kamenev in the 15th minute after a big hit from Vladislav Provolnev set up an odd-man rush involving Mikhail Grigorenko.
The intermission came at the right time for Lokomotiv. Igor Nikitin found the right approach during the break and his players responded with a goal 36 seconds after the restart. Artur Kayumov got the puck on the left and fired a wicked feed between two defensemen. Maxim Shalunov’s one-timer from the circle was good enough to beat Ivan Fedotov and change the entire complexion of the game.
The Railwaymen continued to push forward and soon got on the power play. Yaroslav Dyblenko’s trip quickly led to a second goal. Daniil But caused trouble in front of Fedotov’s net, taking up all of Provolnev’s attention as Denis Alexeyev got the puck in the right-hand circle. With the goalie unsighted, Alexeyev’s shot found the target and the game had turned upside down in the space of four minutes.
That double blast left the Muscovites reeling. Suddenly Fedotov found himself struggling to keep his team in the game as CSKA’s offense was subdued until midway through the period. It was only in the latter stages of the frame that the visitor began to threaten again, but Isayev was not about to give away the advantage his colleagues worked so hard to secure.
And Isayev had plenty to do early in the third as a series of penalties pushed Lokomotiv back. His biggest save came in the 45th minute when Maxim Mamin had plenty of time and space in front of goal but could not find a way past the netminder. The third period saw CSKA had 15 shots to just two from Lokomotiv, but Isayev ensured that the visitor took the win and is now one win away from knocking out the team that ended its last three playoff campaigns.
OT thriller puts Spartak in control
Severstal Cherepovets 4 Spartak Moscow 5 OT (0-1, 2-1, 2-2, 0-1)
Spartak leads the series 3-1
This series was expected to produce goals, and today’s game delivered in full. The teams were tied 4-4 at 60 minutes before Spartak grabbed the winner in overtime. That makes it two road wins for the Red-and-Whites, who can now wrap up the series on home ice on Friday.
The winning goal here came in the 68th minute from Slovak defenseman Michal Cajkovsky. Andrei Loktionov’s behind-the-back pass brought Maxim Tsyplakov into the game, and he spread the puck to the right-hand circle for Cajkovsky to fire home.
However, it could have gone the other way: Yegor Savikov’s penalty at the start of overtime gave Severstal a great chance to grab the decider, and Danil Aimurzin dinged the crossbar with an effort that almost gave him a game-winning hat-trick.
Spartak led this game four times in regulation, and Severstal replied each time – including a goal from Yegor Stepanov with 15 seconds remaining to tie the scores at 4-4 and send the game to overtime.
The carnival started early with Pavel Poryadin getting clean through on Alexander Samoilov’s goal on his first shift. However, the Severstal netminder kept that one out, and the home team soon had the first power play of the game when Tsyplakov sat for hooking.
It took until the 10th minute for Spartak to open the scoring, with German Rubtsov firing home Alexander Pashin’s feed from the left. That lead held until the intermission, but it never felt comfortable. And the second period began with Severstal on the attack: Aimurzin, lively in the opening frame, scored after 23 seconds.
Midway through the session, a shorthanded goal from Loktionov restored Spartak’s lead. However, Severstal had a visible advantage in the second period and Aizmurzin potted his second of the night to tie it up once again.
The third session saw Ivan Morozov twice put Spartak in front. However, Kirill Pilipenko added to his two second-period assists to make it 3-3, then another Tsyplakov penalty was combined with an extra skater in the final moments to help Stepanov force the game into the extras.
