Avangard wins battle with Barys

Day two of the Blinov Cup saw a remarkable game between Avangard and Barys: goals, fights, refereeing controversy and a big fightback before an OT win for the home team in Omsk. Earlier in the same competition, Lokomotiv defeated Sibir in a more routine affair. Wednesday also saw three warm-up games, bringing wins for Dynamo Moscow, Admiral and Vityaz.

Blinov Cup

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)

The Railwaymen started their campaign in Omsk without Martin Gernat, who has joined team Slovakia ahead of Olympic qualification action next week. Injured trio Alexei Bereglazov, Rushan Rafikov and Artur Kayumov are also absent, while Maxim Shalunov did not feature today. The top line included summer signings Alexander Radulov and Byron Froese.

Sibir also had new faces on its first line with Sergei Shirokov and Maxim Karpov joining forces.

It took some time for this game to get going. The first period was sluggish, with few significant chances at either end. A one-on-one look for Loko’s Denis Alexeyev was the pick of the limited opportunities.

It didn’t change much in the second period until Sibir got on the power play in the 26th minute. There were still no goals, but at least the offense woke up. However, the opening tally came at the other end when Yaroslav Likhachyov broke the deadlock with a well-worked counterattacking play.

At the start of the third, Radulov rang the iron as Sibir lived dangerously. After that, though, the bulk of the play was around Daniil Isayev’s net. A scramble saw the puck hit the piping at the other end but Loko survived and an empty-net goal from young Yegor Surin secured the verdict.

Avangard Omsk 4 Barys Astana 3 OT (1-0, 2-2, 0-1, 1-0)

After dropping the opening game of its home tournament 2-5 against Traktor, Avangard bounced back to defeat Barys on day two. However, the performance still left questions unanswered as the Hawks blew a 3-0 lead before taking the verdict in overtime.

The home team opened the scoring midway through the first period. Cole Kassels, who had a goal and an assist in a recent game against Ak Bars, was on target once again.

In the 18th minute, a bizarre incident saw three reviews of the same play. Barys put the puck in the net, but the officials wanted to check the play and whistled off the goal. Immediately, a bench challenge from Barys sent the refs back for another look, and this time the goal was awarded. In response, Avangard’s coaching staff also challenged the play and, at the third time of asking, the goal was finally disallowed.

After that confusion, Avangard extended its lead at the start of the second period. Darren Dietz made it 2-0 on the power play moments after the restart, then Alexander Filatyev added a third in the 26th minute.

The Barys fightback began in unpromising circumstances. However, a short-handed goal from Connor Smith got the Kazakhs on the board. Twenty seconds later, a fight between Nathan Beaulieu and Mark Verba got everyone riled up. Beaulieu had the better of the bout, and while the antagonists cooled their heels, Vsevolod Logvin made it 2-3 seconds before the intermission.

Early in the third period Wade Ellison needed just four seconds to convert a power play after Dmitry Zlodeyev sat for tripping and the game was tied at 3-3. However, Barys could not ride that momentum to victory in regulation, nor could Avangard regain the initiative despite a couple of power plays in the closing stages. However, in overtime it took just 40 seconds for Cassels to get his second of the game and give the Hawks the verdict.

Warm-up games

Vityaz Moscow Region 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 OT (1-0, 0-2, 1-0, 1-0)

Vityaz welcomed Torpedo to Balashikha with pretty much a fell-strength roster. Only forward Derek Barach was a notable absentee from Pavel Desyatkov’s team. Torpedo used just one import, summer signing Keaton Thompson, and had no place for another big-name acquisition, Dmitry Kagarlitsky.

The home team made a fast start and opened the scoring in the third minute. Andrei Chivilyov got on the rush during a spell of four-on-four play and beat Ivan Bocharov from close range. Generally, Vityaz looked better in the first period but could not extend its lead.

Torpedo turned the game on its head midway through the second period with two goals in barely 90 seconds. First, Mikhail Abramov converted a penalty shot after goalie Dmitry Shikin was called for throwing the stick. Soon after that, Maxim Glinsky put Torpedo up for the first time in the game.

Early in the third, Vityaz tied it up when Alexander Daryin battled his way into a scoring position on the slot. Neither team could find a winner in regulation, but the host ultimately took the verdict thanks to Dmitry Buchelnikov’s overtime goal.

Dynamo Moscow 4 Dynamo St. Petersburg 2 (1-1, 1-1, 2-0)

After spending much of the summer in search of a new goalie, Dynamo unveiled Hunter Miska for the first time in today’s game. The visitor, despite plying its trade in the VHL, ensured that the new man got plenty of chances to show what he could do and, midway through the opening frame, the Petersburg team opened the scoring through Nikita Pukhov. Miska could do little about that one, but was at fault for the second after losing the puck behind his net and leaving an open target for Ivan Zinchenko to score.

That came late in the second period and brought the visitor back level. Earlier the Muscovites tied it up through 17-year-old Ivan Ryabin late in the first before Eric O’Dell made it 2-1 to the KHLers midway through the second. Kirill Adamchuk assisted on both.

In the final frame, the extra class of the KHL players told. Artyom Mikheyev restored Dynamo Moscow’s lead after jumping on a loose puck in center ice; Ryabkin’s assist made it a two-point game for the youngster. Then Anton Slepyshev wrapped up a 4-2 verdict, finishing off a great feed from another new signing, Max Comtois.

Admiral Vladivostok 5 HC Norilsk 2 (1-0, 3-2, 1-0)

Admiral’s fifth pre-season game of the summer brought a comfortable victory over VHL opposition. That in itself represents some progress for the Sailors, who started with a 0-3 loss against Dynamo St. Petersburg (albeit with a roster of players on try-out and two-way contracts). More importantly, perhaps, it also makes for three wins out of three for the full-strength team following earlier success against Vityaz and Avangard.

An early Dmitry Zavgorodny goal was the only score of the opening frame. In the second, though, both teams offered much more going forward. Vladimir Mikhasyonok doubled the lead in the 26th minute, claiming his third goal of the summer but Nikita Kolesnikov quickly halved the deficit. Admiral responded with two goals in a minute, Anton Sagadeyev and Nikita Anokhovsky finding the net just after halfway. Another goal for Norilsk kept the game alive going into the third.

However, when Giovanni Fiore made it 5-2 just 72 seconds into the final frame, it felt like the end for Norilsk. And that proved to be the case with no further scoring from either team.