SKA wins Puchkov Tournament

In Petersburg, the summer tournament came to an end with SKA and Russia U23s going to a shoot-out. That was enough for SKA to secure the title once again, even though it lost the shoot-out. In Moscow, meanwhile, the final contest of the summer was just starting and there were two more shoot-outs to be decided. CSKA edged Vityaz after a 2-2 tie before Spartak and Dynamo shared six goals ahead of a Red-and-White success .Admiral won Thursday’s only warm-up game, defeating Belarusian team Metallurg Zhlobin 2-0.

Puchkov Tournament

SKA St. Petersburg 3 Russia U23s 4 SO (1-1, 1-0, 1-2, 0-0, 0-1)

The concluding game of the Puchkov Tournament saw SKA defend the title it won last year. But the host club didn’t have a wholly straightforward time against Russia’s U23s, who were capable of taking the trophy themselves with a win in regulation.

Many of the juniors are familiar with Petersburg hockey, playing for SKA’s junior affiliates. So there was every reason to hope for a competitive battle in this de facto gold-medal game.

SKA, of course, was the favorite. And it didn’t take long to start justifying that status, with Vasily Glotov opening the scoring in the fourth minute. But the KHL team could not put the game away. Russia’s youngsters hung tough and got a reward when Semyon Sinyatkin tied the scores three seconds before the intermission. Sinyatkin is part of the Petersburg connection, playing his hockey for SKA 1946 and making more than 20 KHL appearances for SKA last term.

The second period was similarly tight. SKA had to wait until the 37th minute before regaining the lead through Sergei Andronov. After all that, though, the juniors tied it up once more at the start of the third thanks to Ivan Demidov. That goal would surely prompt mixed feelings among SKA fans: Demidov is perhaps the brightest prospect in the organization, so short-term pain could lead to long-term gain.

When Arseny Gritsyuk made it 3-2 with eight to play, it felt like that might be the decisive blow. But the juniors still had one more shot and Alexei Vasilikov tied it up at the death to force overtime.

The single point was enough to secure the trophy for SKA, but the game still needed a winner. It took a shoot-out to provide one, with Russia U23s gaining some consolation for missing out on the big prize.

Mayor of Moscow’s Cup

CSKA Moscow 3 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 SO (2-1, 0-0, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)

The opening game of the summer’s final tournament saw CSKA face Vityaz in the Mayor of Moscow Cup. With the new season less than a week away, both teams iced strong line-ups. Vityaz included its new import forwards Frederick Gauthier and Nicholas Baptiste on the first line, while CSKA’s first defensive pair comprised two Russian players back from North America: Dmitry Samorukov and Nikita Okhotyuk.

But it was the old guard that gave CSKA an early lead. Konstantin Okulov has been a consistent contribution to the Muscovites’ offense and he opened the scoring in the third minute, racing clear to convert a stretch pass. CSKA’s first power play brought a second goal as Pavel Karnaukhov doubled the lead.

Vityaz pulled one back before the intermission through Yegor Morozov and, after a goalless middle frame, managed to tie the game. Time was beginning to run out but with five-and-a-half minutes to go, Ivan Vorobyov made it 2-2, capitalizing on good work from Yaroslav Busygin on the boards.

Overtime could not separate the teams, but CSKA took the shoot-out with Konstantin Okulov potting the winner.

Spartak Moscow 4 Dynamo Moscow 3 SO (1-1, 1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

The evening game in capital was a classic Moscow derby. Andrei Mironov, the long-serving Dynamo defenseman who joined Spartak in the summer, was rested for this meeting with his former club, but there was no shortage of intrigue elsewhere.

Dynamo struck first, with Artyom Mikheyev scoring an unassisted goal in the sixth minute. But Spartak replied through Daniil Ivanov in the 17th.

The second period reversed that template. This time Shane Prince gave Spartak a 2-1 lead after five minutes’ play. Dynamo responded on 37:08 through Cedric Paquette, assisted by another Blue-and-White newcomer, Kirill Adamchuk.

Paquette restored Dynamo’s lead with a power play goal midway through the third, but that wasn’t enough to win it. Spartak replied through Pavel Poryadin with five to go, sending the game to overtime.

That could not separate the teams, but in the shoot-out German Rubtsov gave Spartak the win.

Warm-up game

Admiral Vladivokstok 2 Metallurg Zhlobin 0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0)

A month after Admiral’s triallists and two-way players took on Belarussian champion Metallurg, the clubs met again. This time, the Sailors could use a far stronger line-up, including imports Libor Sulak, Giovanni Fiore and Jack Rodewald.

A stronger team secured a more comfortable victory: after a 5-4 shoot-out verdict, this time Admiral eased to a 2-0 scoreline. Goals from Danil Gutik and Stepan Starkov made the difference, while Vasily Demchenko recorded the shut-out.

Olympic qualification

Metallurg’s Nikita Mikhailis scored a hat-trick as Kazakhstan made a good start to its Olympic qualification bid. His treble paced a 5-2 win over Hungary at the start of the final round of qualifiers in Bratislava. Mikhailis had the only goal in the first period and added two more in the third to take the game away from the Magyars. Torpedo’s Dmitry Breus and Maxim Mukhametov of Barys were also on target.