Dragons’ fightback falls short, winning start for Avangard

Monday’s warm-up action brought a first look at Avangard and Kunlun Red Star this summer.

Kunlun Red Star 3 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (0-2, 1-1, 2-1)

Ak Bars picked up a second pre-season win, but had to hold off a big fightback from Kunlun to edge the verdict.

The Dragons are one of the most intriguing teams in the league for the coming season, with Mikhail Kravets taking over as head coach and several promising summer signings. Two of them, Jayden Halbgewachs and Chris Wilkie, scored their first goals for the club today.

However, by the time they struck, Ak Bars had already scored three. The visitor broke the deadlock when Dmitrij Jaskin converted the first power play of the game. Then Ilya Safonov doubled the lead in the first period and a breakaway goal from Albert Yarullin – now back at his hometown club after a spell with Traktor – built a dominant 3-0 lead midway through the game.

Red Star battled back. The newbies scored either side of the second intermission, and when Parker Foo swept home a loose puck to make it 3-3, Kunlun scented a big comeback win.

However, it was not to be. Ak Bars regained its composure and a power play tally from Semyon Koshelev in the 57th minute proved sufficient to clinch the win.

Dinamo Minsk 1 Avangard Omsk 2 (1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Ten days after a heavy loss to Metallurg’s farm club, Dinamo Minsk returned to pre-season action with a far stronger line-up. On Monday, Dmitry Kvartalnov called upon some of his imports – Rob Hamilton, Josh Brook and Xavier Ouellet on defense, Sam Anas on offense. There was also a first taste of life with the Bison for Vadim Shipachyov, perhaps the club’s biggest summer signing.

Avangard was playing its first pre-season game and also used its imports. That meant a debut for American forward Cole Kassels and action for Linden Vey on his return to the KHL. Reid Boucher also featured.

We got off to a fast start at the Olimpik Arena in Minsk, with Ivan Nikolishin putting Avangard ahead in the third minute. Dinamo tied it up thanks to Vitally Pinchuk after 14 minutes and for a long time the teams remained deadlocked.

However, late in the game, Ilya Reingardt restored Avangard’s lead. Last season, Reingardt caught the eye in pre-season but did not fully establish himself in the first team. Now less than a month away from his 21st birthday, he’ll be looking to build on a handful of playoff appearances and stake a claim for a serious role in the KHL for the first time.