Severstal maintains scoring streak

It’s 14 goals in two games for Severstal, form that suggests Andrei Kozyrev’s team is poised to emulate last season’s club record scoring form. Today, Sochi was the victim and Daniil Davydov moved to 7 (5+2) points in two games. Also in the Puchkov Tournament, Russia U23s beat a youthful Ak Bars roster 4-2. Admiral suffered a 1-4 reverse against Yunost Minsk in Monday’s only warm-up game.

Puchkov Trophy

Severstal Cherepovets 7 HC Sochi 4 (2-1, 3-2, 2-1)

For the second day in a row, Severstal hit seven goals. And, once again, Daniil Davydov led the way. On Sunday he had 4 (2+2) points against Kunlun Red Star, today he followed that with a hat-trick against the Leopards.

Davydov, 20, is new to Severstal and to the KHL. Previously, he featured just once in the league for Dynamo Moscow as he worked his way up to the top table. Now, on loan in Cherepovets, he’s looking to prove that he’s ready for a longer stay in the KHL.

Today, he potted Severstal’s second goal, building on the lead that Ilya Ivantsov gave the team early on. Sochi responded within 20 seconds to halve the deficit, but early in the second Davydov struck again. Sochi still hung around in the game, recovering from 1-4 to 3-4, but late in that middle frame a power play marker saw Davydov complete his hat-trick and establish a 5-3 lead.

That proved to be decisive. Although Kirill Rasskazov got Sochi back within a single goal one more time, Severstal did not relinquish its advantage. There were two further goals, with Ivan Podshivalov wrapping it up with his second of the game into an empty net.

Russia U23 4 Ak Bars Kazan 2 (1-1, 1-0, 2-1)

Russia’s youngsters had a point to prove after Saturday’s mauling at the hands of Kunlun Red Star. Against a similarly youthful Ak Bars team, the national U23 line-up got back on track with a 4-2 scoreline, handing Kazan a second loss in two days and all but eliminating it from trophy contention.

Artyom Galimov became the fifth player to captain Ak Bars this summer. Aged 25, he was a virtual veteran among a roster largely comprised of 19- and 20-year-olds. There was more experience on the Dynyak-Katelevsky-Babenko line, which had a combined age of 75.

Two young teams produced a lively encounter. The opening goal arrived in the 10th minute when Yegor Morozov put Russia up with a power play goal. That woke up Ak Bars, and Ildan Galeyev tied it up a minute later.

There were mixed feelings for Kazan fans at the start of the second period. Ak Bars allowed a second goal, but it was scored by Denis Komkov, a player from the Ak Bars system currently on the books at Neftyanik Almetevsk.

The game remained very much alive going into the third period and when Rasim Shakirov tied it up midway through the final stanza, it could have gone either way. However, Russia’s youngsters stepped up in the last 10 minutes, winning it on goals from Daniil Lazutin (ably assisted by Ivan Demidov) and an empty net effort from Romanov.

Warm-up game

Admiral Vladivostok 1 Yunost Minsk 4 (0-1, 0-0, 1-3)

The Sailors aren’t involved in any of the seven pre-season tournaments this year. Instead, they are staying in Belarus and playing one-off games, often against local opposition.

Today, Yunost came to camp and enjoyed an impressive win. The Minsk team took control of the first period, giving goalie Ilya Konovalov plenty to think about. However, it was a counterattack goal from Alexander Kulagin that opened the scoring for the Belarusians.

In the middle frame, Admiral improved but struggled to find a way past Georgy Kuznetsov in the Yunost net. Dmitry Zavgorodny finally got the better of him after 46 minutes, but by then Yunost had a second goal. There was no way back for the Sailors, with the Belarusians adding two more in the closing stages.