Amur wins Chelyabinsk tourney, Neftekhimik takes Romazan prize

Two more tournament winners were confirmed on Friday, with Neftekhimik securing first place at the Romazan Memorial in Magnitogorsk while Amur defeated Traktor to collect the Chelyabinsk Governor’s Trophy. In Moscow, Torpedo defeated Vityaz and Dynamo beat Avtomobilist at the Mayor’s Cup. The day’s sole warm-up game was a high-scoring affair as Lokomotiv edged Severstal in a shoot-out after a 5-5 tie.

Chelyabinsk Governor’s Cup

Ugra Khanty-Mansiysk 1 Lada Togliatti 2 (0-0, 1-0, 0-2)

This was a game for third place and Lada came from behind to defeat VHL opposition and escape the basement.

After a goalless opening frame, Ugra took the lead in the second on a goal from Yegor Gurzanov. The VHLers might have extended that lead with the help of a major penalty on Karim Vafin. However, a video review showed that he did not foul Vladislav Shutov in an incident that led to a blow to the face for the Ugra forward.

In the first 40 minutes, Lada did not look themselves. However, the third was a big improvement. Nikita Popugayev’s powerful shot tied the game before Andrei Altybarmakyan stuffed home the winner from the slot.

Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Amur Khabarovsk 5 (0-1, 1-0, 1-4)

This was the game that would determine the tournament winner, and Amur claimed the prize thanks to a powerful third period display.

In the opening two frames, the teams traded goals. Dmitry Shevchenko put the Tigers ahead early on, but they were pegged back when Sergei Telegin struck on the power play late in the second.

Early in the third, Traktor got in front as Dylan Sikura continued his productive pre-season form. This was his third goal in this competition, and it had many home fans expecting their team to go on and secure the cup.

However, Alex Broadhurst quickly tied the game. Then he added an assist to Ivan Mishchenko’s power play goal to restore the Tigers’ lead. Back ahead at 3-2, Amur continued to press and built an unbridgeable lead on goals from Kirill Slepets and Vladislav Barulin to secure the trophy.

Romazan Memorial

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 SO (0-0, 1-0, 2-3, 0-0, 0-1)

A point from this game was enough for Neftekhimik to win the Romazan Memorial tournament. After defeating Magnitka in the opening game, Neftekhimik then claimed a walkover victory against Metallurg and knew that anything better than a loss in regulation would secure first place here.

However, Salavat Yulaev still had its own trophy hopes and the first period saw the Ufa team have slightly the better of the play. Sheldon Rempal had the best chance of the opening stanza, but missed an open net. Yaroslav Ozolin kept his team in the game in the first period.

Rempal had another great chance early in the second, but ended up fouling Ozolin. Salavat killed the penalty, but fell behind to a Vladislav Leontyev goal shortly after. That was the start of Neftekhimik building a 3-0 lead: early in the third Nikita Khlystov and Nikita Rtishchev extended that advantage and seemed to decide the outcome.

Ufa had other ideas. Josh Leivo, back in action after missing the start of the tournament through illness, pulled a quick goal back. Then he added another to make it a one-goal game. Nathan Todd tied it up on 53 minutes and although the tie in regulation was enough to win the tournament for Neftekhimik, Salavat Yulaev’s momentum took it to a shoot-out win with Rempal potting the decider.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Magnitka (VHL) 2 SO (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 1-0)

After failing to complete Wednesday’s game against Neftekhimik, Metallurg faced its farm club with an almost unrecognizable roster. Andrei Razin swapped out 15 players, including Daniil Vovchenko, happily released from hospital after he was hurt in the challenge that halted the previous game.

Not only did Metallurg rest several key players, it also donated Gagarin Cup winning goalie Ilya Nabokov to Magnitka for the occasion.

Through two periods, Nabokov kept his goal intact. But the real star of the opening 40 minutes was Valery Sapozhnikov, a 22-year-old forward who moved from Chelyabinsk to Magnitogorsk this summer. He potted the opening goal, then assisted on Vladislav Kotkov’s power play effort in the second.

Metallurg salvaged the game in the third thanks to goals from Nikita Poltavchuk and Erik Mukhotyanov. That set up a shoot-out and those two were on target again to give the senior team the verdict in the last game of the tournament.

Mayor of Moscow Cup

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

Torpedo kicked off its campaign in Moscow with a shut-out win over Vityaz. The previous day saw Vityaz lose to CSKA in a shoot-out; as a result this was a weakened team missing its imports and several experienced players.

Torpedo was closer to a full-strength team, but still had to absorb some pressure from Vityaz. Ivan Bocharov stopped 13 Vityaz shots in the first period, and his team went into the break up 1-0 thanks to Dmitry Kagarlitsky’s goal.

The middle frame saw Vityaz fail to convert a five-on-three power play. Indeed, neither side could score in the second period. It wasn’t until the 44th minute that Sergei Goncharuk’s power play goal, assisted by Kagarlitsky, extended Torpedo’s advantage. Late in the game, Kagarlitsky got his second of the day into an empty net to seal the win.

Dynamo Moscow 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 (0-1, 0-0, 2-0)

A late goal from Nikita Gusev gave Dynamo its first victory at this year’s tournament. Yesterday, the Blue-and-Whites lost a shoot-out to Spartak but today they bounced back to defeat Avtomobilist.

It was the Motormen’s first appearance in this tournament – not just this year, but in all editions. And they made a decent start, frustrating Dynamo in the first period and snatching a lead through Andrei Obidin 27 seconds before the intermission. The home team’s problems continued in the scoreless middle frame, with Evgeny Alikin stopping a further 13 shots to preserve that lead.

He was finally beaten midway through the third, although on a team stacked with offensive talent the goalscorer, somewhat surprisingly, was defenseman Daniil Pylenkov. However, that famed firepower made the difference in the closing stages when Max Comtois and Anton Slepyshev combined to set up Gusev for the winner.

Olympic qualification

Kazakhstan secured its second victory in the final round of qualification for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Torpedo’s Dmitry Breus got an early goal in Thursday’s game against Austria, claiming his second of the competition. The Austrians had a great chance to tie it up but Vinzenz Rohrer missed a penalty shot in the fifth minute.

Later, Rohrer had an assist as Austria made it 1-1 at the start of the third period, but Kazakhstan recovered to win it on a goal from Tamerlan Gaitamirov in the 53rd minute. Victory puts the Kazakhs on course for a win-or-bust showdown against host nation Slovakia on Sunday. Victory in that game would send Kazakhstan to the Olympics for the first time since 2006, coincidentally the last time the Games were held in Italy.

Warm-up game

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 6 Severstal Cherepovets 5 SO (1-1, 2-2, 2-2, 0-0, 1-0)

These two teams wrapped up their pre-season programs with a high-scoring game in Yaroslavl. The lead changed hands frequently as the teams shared 10 goals in regulation before Lokomotiv won it in the shoot-out thanks to Maxim Beryozkin’s goal.

Beryozkin was an appropriate game-winner: earlier he scored two in the game, helping Loko recover from 0-1 and 1-2 to build a 5-3 lead with two quick goals at the start of the third period. However, Severstal fought back to tie it on goals from Yegor Stepanov, who also scored twice in the game, and Ilya Ivantsov late on.

After so many goals in regulation, overtime proved goalless, but the shoot-out saw Beryozkin finish the job for the home team.