Lada survives, Amur ties, SKA eyes progress. March 7 playoffs
Avangard missed the chance to become the first team to advance to the second round. A 4-1 defeat at Lada sends that series back to Omsk for game five on Saturday. Like the Hawks, SKA will hope to complete its battle with Torpedo when it returns to home ice. Today’s victory in Nizhny Novgorod gives Roman Rotenberg’s team a 3-1 series lead. Earlier in the day, Amur enjoyed a 5-2 win over Eastern top seed Metallurg, tying that series at 2-2.
Tigers tie the series
Amur Khabarovsk 5 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (2-0, 2-2, 1-0)
Series tied at 2-2
Amur welcomed back Alex Broadhurst after injury and he responded with two assists in his first appearance in this year’s playoffs. That helped the Tigers grab an emphatic win over Magnitka to tie the series before heading to Magnitogorsk for game five on Saturday.
Broadhurst centered the second line, flanked by Alexander Khokhlachyov and Jan Drozg. Dmitry Shevchenko was rested for this one, handing the captaincy to Yegor Korshkov for the day. Metallurg made no changes to the team that won here on Tuesday.
The home team was looking for a fast start in a quest for a victory that would secure, at least, a return to Khabarovsk for game six. From the opening shifts, the Tigers generated plenty of offensive threat and pinned Metallurg back for long spells. That led to the opening goal in the 10th minute when Korshkov skilfully redirected a Evgeny Kulik shot. It wasn’t long before Khokhlachyov doubled the lead off a feed from Drozg.
However, after falling behind, Metallurg began to claw its way back into the battle. The latter stages of the first period brought plenty of pressure on Igor Bobkov’s net. An injection of pace into the visitor’s play created chances for Nikita Grebyonkin and Roman Kantserov, but the only incident of note in the closing stages was a fight between Luke Johnson and Viktor Baldayev, The home defenseman upset his Canadian opponent with a shove in the back, but the subsequent clash did little to appease the Metallurg man’s mood.
Amur missed a good chance to make it 3-0 at the start of the third, and was punished moments later when Artyom Minulin pulled a goal back for Metallurg. The visitor continued to press, but was undone by a breakdown during on of its attacks. Vyacheslav Gretsky sped down the ice to beat Ilya Nabokov and restore that two-goal cushion. A power play goal from Robin Press gave Metallurg renewed hope, but in the final second of the period Baldayev got himself open and fired home a pass from Khokhlachyov after Broadhurst set up a counterattack.
That goal left Magnitka with too much to do. The third period brought plenty of endeavor from the visitor, but Amur was able to defend its lead. Moreover, the home team had some great chances on the counter, with Khokhlachyov in particular close to putting the game out of reach. The knock-out blow came late on when Kulik scored into an empty net to complete the scoring.
Lada lives to see game five
Lada Togliatti 4 Avangard Omsk 1 (1-0, 1-1, 2-0)
Avangard leads the series 3-1
Lada picked up a win at the fourth attempt to escape a sweep at the hands of Avangard. As a result, all eight first-round series will go to at least five games for only the second time in KHL history.
Ahead of this win-or-bust encounter, Lada head coach Oleg Bratash scratched Sergei Shumakov and recalled Nikita Popugayev, Nikita Mikhailov and Artyom Ivanyuzhenkov.
Avangard was the first to create a chance, and the visitor was close to grabbing the lead in the opening seconds. Twice in one shift, Reid Boucher was denied by goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky, then the goalie stopped Igor Martynov. However, the home team quickly got into the game: Popugayev hit the post and Scott Kosmachuk found the side netting.
By the middle of the first period, the home team had the initiative. Active pressing forced the Hawks onto the defensive. Rewards came in the 16th minute when Popugayev opened the scoring, making the most of a kind bounce off the boards before neatly beating Pavel Khomchenko from close range. Lada had another great chance late in the frame when visiting forwards Boucher and Ryan Spooner followed each other into the box, but the five-on-three power play did not accrue.
Avangard made a brighter start to the second period, before the latest playoff fight of the season saw Ivanyuzhenkov square up to Nikita Kholodilin. The Lada man had the better of that bout, with Kholodilin retreating to the locker room while Mark Verba served his major penalty. Once that fight was finished, Avangard tied the game when Boucher fired a shot that flashed under the crossbar and bounced out of the net: a video review quickly confirmed that it was a good goal.
Now, the Hawks had the upper hand. There were big chances for Vladimir Tkachyov and Ivan Igumnov and the visitor was able to make itself at home in Lada’s zone. However, by the middle of the session, the Motormen got back in the race: the 33rd minute saw Kosmachuk restore the lead with a terrific point shot. A power play soon followed, but Lada was unable to build on its success as the special teams again appeared somewhat undercooked.
That kept the game firmly in the balance as the third period got underway. Lada invited trouble to its door with a couple of penalties at the start of the session, but the PK did its job to preserve the lead. Back at equal strength, Avangard still had more puck possession, but Lada was able to keep its opponent at arm’s length. Then, in the 53rd minute, Mikhail Gulyayev’s error enabled Popugayev to sprint clear and score his second of the night, giving the home team some breathing space at last. Another power play came and went without changing the scoreline, and when Damir Sharipzyanov returned to the game, Avangard still had almost four minutes to salvage something. However, after Khomchenko went back to the bench, Lada finished the job with an empty net goal from Yegor Babenko and ensured that the series would return to Omsk on Saturday.
SKA closes in first round victory
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (1-3, 0-0, 0-1)
SKA leads the series 3-1
SKA reeled off a third successive victory, putting its opening night loss firmly in the past and moving to within one win of wrapping up this first-round series. The visitor scored nine goals in its two games in Nizhny Novgorod. When the action returns to Petersburg on Saturday, that could be the end of Torpedo’s season.
The opening shifts saw Torpedo make a bright start. In the first minute, Vasily Atanasov came off the boards and fired the puck to the slot, but Sergei Goncharuk’s one-timer flashed wide of the target. Right away, the home team was back on the attack, but a two-on-two rush broke down when Igor Larionov’s feed to the back door evaded his team mate.
However, that was as good as it got for the host. SKA took complete control of Thursday’s game with three quick goals in the first period. In the seventh minute, a quick counterattack saw Zakhar Bardakov sling the puck in the from the boards and Alex Galchenyuk’s tip brought him his first goal of this year’s playoffs.
Then came two goals in 17 seconds. Arseny Gritsyuk doubled the lead after Vasily Glotov went around the net before finding Marat Khairullin in the center. Rather than shoot, Khairullin sprayed the puck to the post, where Gritsyuk was waiting to pounce. Then the visitor’s press forced a turnover and Artyom Zemchyonok released Bardakov down the right. The forward added to his assist on the opening goal with a shot from a tight angle that chased Adam Huska from the game after just 8:47 of his first post season outing.
Torpedo did not spend long licking its wounds. Before the first period was done, Arseny Varlakov pulled a goal back when he converted the rebound from a Bobby Lynch shot. Moments later, Nikita Serebryakov was beaten again, but this time a video review said ‘no’. Denis Yan’s shot deflected into the net of Sergei Sapego’s stick, but SKA challenged the play and the bench’s claim of offside was upheld by the officials.
A strong finish to the first period gave Torpedo hope. But it also sounded a warning to SKA, and the visitor responded with a powerful performance in the middle frame. The only thing that was missing was another goal as Kulbakov stopped 23 shots to frustrate a rampant visiting offense. Alexander Nikishin was a constant threat, quarterbacking repeated raids and creating good chances for Pavel Dedunov, Galchenyuk and Vasily Glotov. The defenseman was also involved in a collision that sent Torpedo’s Anton Silayev to the locker room, although the officials took a second look and concluded that there was no foul play.
The final frame was less frenetic. SKA saw less value in chasing further goals, while Torpedo initially struggled to make inroads on the visiting defense. The home team got a chance on the power play – and even had 38 seconds of five-on-three hockey – but found it hard to open up the SKA defense.
A second power play chance midway through the session brought more danger. Nikolai Kovalenko saw his shot beat Serebryakov, only for Stepan Falkovsky to clear it off the line. Then Yan raced onto a Kovalenko feed but saw his effort saved by the goalie.
In the 58th minute, Kulbakov went to the bench in favor of a sixth skater for Torpedo. However, it merely led to Khairullin scoring an empty-netter to finish off the job.
