Quickfire salvo gives Loko a winning start. September 3 round-up
The 17th KHL season got underway with an entertaining game in Magnitogorsk. Lokomotiv defeated Metallurg 3-2 to win the Opening Cup, but only after surviving a late rally as the home team came from 0-3 to give the visitor a scare. However, two quick goals in the second period tipped this repeat of last year’s final in Yaroslavl’s favor.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (0-0, 0-2, 2-1)
Two goals in 10 seconds midway through the second period set up Lokomotiv for its first ever victory in an Opening Cup game. The Railwaymen dominated throughout against defending champion Metallurg, avenging their defeat in last season’s final.
Before the game, there was plenty of talk about what to expect from high-profile new forwards Alexander Radulov and Byron Froese on the Loko roster. In the event, though, it was Artur Kayumov, Nikita Kiryanov and Maxim Shalunov – all part of last season’s team – who got the goals.
In last year’s Gagarin Cup final, Lokomotiv failed to win a single game against Metallurg. Today, the Railwaymen were eager to show that the new season would be a whole new story. The first period was goalless, but the visitor had a clear advantage: 11 shots to five, 6:20 on the attack compared with 2:32. For all that, there were few big chances. Radulov’s shot late in the frame flashed just wide of the net to register the biggest scare for Ilya Nabokov in the Magnitka goal.
It was a similar story in the second period, but this time with an added goal threat. Froese created another chance for Radulov, but this time Nabokov made the save. Soon after, the first penalty of the game went to Vladislav Yeryomenko and Lokomotiv converted the power play. Shalunov got the puck to Beryozkin beside the net, and he popped it out to the slot for Kayumov to claim the opening goal of the 17th KHL season.
That trio, a familiar combination from last season, formed Lokomotiv’s first line here, with newcomers Radulov and Froese on the second. And it was Igor Nikitin’s third line that instantly added a second goal. Loko won the face-off, Martin Gernat’s pass sent Kiryanov racing through the center and he coolly slotted the puck past Nabokov. Two goals in 10 seconds put the visitor firmly on top.
There was little evidence of Metallurg’s offense until late in the second. Finally, the home team began to apply some pressure on Daniil Isayev’s net with Alexander Petunin looking lively. But once the final stanza got underway, Lokomotiv quickly regained the initiative. Nabokov denied Beryozkin and Froese early in the third but could do nothing to stop another well-worked play from the first line. In the 48th minute Beryozkin sent Kayumov around the net, from where he set up Shalunov to make it 3-0.
It wasn’t until the final minutes that Metallurg managed to pose a serious threat. Dmitry Silantyev’s break down the left reduced the arrears in the 54th minute. That seemed like a consolation goal until Luke Johnson hauled it back to 2-3 with a powerful shot from the blue off Silantyev’s feed. New signing Scott Wilson had an assist on that one, and the home team continued with six skaters in a bid to salvage an unlikely tie.
Lokomotiv managed to hold on and take the win. It’s the first time the Opening Cup has gone to Yaroslavl, with the Railwaymen defeated in the 2009 and 2010 curtain-raisers.
