SKA beaten despite Kuznetsov goal, derby losses for CSKA, Ak Bars. September 5
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first goal for SKA, but finished on the losing side at Metallurg. Elsewhere, two high-profile new head coaches started their jobs with derby losses: Anvar Gatiyatulin’s Ak Bars fell at Salavat Yulaev, while Ilya Vorobyov’s CSKA lost out at Spartak. Lokomotiv posted its second win of the season thanks to a shut-out from Daniil Isayev at Lada, while Dinamo Minsk won its home opener against Amur by the same 3-0 scoreline.
Kuznetsov’s debut goal not enough for SKA
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 SKA St. Petersburg 4 OT (1-1, 3-2, 0-1, 1-0)
Thursday’s meeting between the defending champion and one of the big favorites for this season was the most eye-catching game on the schedule. And it didn’t disappoint. Metallurg and SKA shared nine goals, including Evgeny Kuznetsov’s first on for his new club in the KHL, before the home team took an OT verdict.
Kuznetsov, SKA’s captain this season following his return from the NHL, went onto a line with Borna Rendulic and hotly-tipped prospect Ivan Demidov.
Metallurg was playing its second game, and after losing the opener to Lokomotiv Andrei Razin made changes. Valery Orekhov and Nikita Mikhailis returned after international duty with Kazakhstan while 19-year-old Valentin Zhugin made his KHL debut. Yegor Korobkin, injured against Loko, was among the absentees.
The first period saw SKA take the game to the home team. The shot count was 20-8 in favor of the visitor, and the first power play of the night saw Stepan Falkovsky open the scoring. Drozdov’s assist gave him his first point in the KHL. Metallurg struggled to get out of its own zone, but managed to tie it up late in the frame and against the run of play thanks to Alexander Petunin’s strike.
That was a blow for SKA goalie Nikita Serebryakov, who was largely a spectator in the opening frame. And he was literally a spectator early in the second as Magnitka went in front. A fantastic pass from Robin Press sent Mikhailis and Igor Geraskin on the way to goal. The home forwards combined neatly and Geraskin’s finish chased Serebryakov to the bench.
The immediate response was encouraging for the visitor, with Kuznetsov making his KHL debut for SKA with a goal. He started the play with an interception and finished it by tucking the rebound beyond Ilya Nabokov. However, incoming SKA goalie Artemy Pleshkov was beaten almost immediately when Kuznetsov went to the box and Press restored the home lead. The action continued with SKA’s Arsemy Gritsyuk seeing his 3-3 goal whistled off for interference on the goalie before Rendulic found an acceptable equalizer just after the midway point.
Amid all the experienced, big-name goalscorers, Metallurg saw another youngster make his mark. Andrei Kozlov, 19, was playing only his third game in the KHL but his 34th-minute effort was enough to give Magnitka a lead at the second intermission.
The shot count was telling once again: after SKA bossed the opening frame, Metallurg had a 22-6 advantage in the second, yet allowed two goals. In the third, SKA again had more of the attacking play, outshooting Magnitka 13-8. Gritsyuk produced a fine solo effort, raising no query from the officials as he tied it up on 43 minutes. Meanwhile, the visitor did not use Sergei Andronov, Mikhail Grigorenko or Sergei Tolchinsky in the final frame, nor defenseman Sergei Sapego. Despite playing with three lines, Roman Rotenberg’s team had the better of the play but could not get back in front. Nabokov weathered the storm to take the game to overtime, and it needed just 33 seconds for Scott Wilson to give Metallurg the win.
Ufa on top in lively derby
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (2-0, 0-1, 3-2)
Another high-profile class saw Salavat Yulaev open with a Green Derby against Ak Bars. For both teams, this is the big rivalry of the season; for incoming Ak Bars head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin, it was a first time to see his team in action for real.
The visitors included summer signings Alexander Barabanov and Nic Petan on offense, as well as Dmitrij Jaskin. Following the departures of Radulov and Shipachyov there are some big spaces to fill among Kazan’s forwards, and in the first period Ak Bars was unable to do so.
Instead, Ufa made a great start. Gleb Kuzmin opened the scoring after barely a minute and the next shift saw Yaroslav Tsulygin hit the far post. Nathan Todd doubled the home lead with a debut KHL goal to give Salavat Yulaev a 2-0 lead at the intermission.
However, Ak Bars found a way back into the game. The middle frame saw Barabanov reduce the deficit as the visitor outshot its host by more than two-to-one.
And there was more to come in the third. Salavat Yulaev absorbed plenty of pressure but finally fell to Petan’s shot: 2-2, and another debut goal from a summer arrival, this time on the power play. Had the initiative moved decisively in Kazan’s favor? No! Just 15 seconds later Tsulygin restored Ufa’s advantage.
When Alexander Chmelevski made it 4-2 on 56:50, that felt like the end. And it proved to be the gamewinner, but only after a late flurry saw Artyom Galimov get one back for Ak Bars. And there was one more debut goal to come as Sheldon Rempal hit the empty net to seal Salavat’s win.
Isayev blanks Lada
Lada Togliatti 0 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (0-0, 0-3, 0-0)
Lokomotiv recorded its second victory of the season after Daniil Isayev blanked Lada in its home opener. Today’s 3-0 success follows the Opening Cup triumph against Metallurg on Tuesday.
Lada handed new signing Anthony Greco a debut, putting him on the third line alongside Ostap Safin and Troy Josephs. But this was not a day for the home offense.
Lokomotiv’s familiar defensive discipline was to the fore in the opening frame, with Lada limited to just four shots at Isayev. Indeed, there wasn’t much to remember from the first period. However, after the intermission, Lokomotiv took control. An early short-handed goal from Pavel Kraskovsky was poor reward for the Motormen, who made an enterprising start to the middle frame. Once in front, the visitor kept going and added to its lead on goals from Alexander Polunin and a power play effort from Artur Kayumov.
That gave Lokomotiv a commanding lead and the third period saw Igor Nikitin’s team shut up shop. Chances were at a premium, Lada struggled to generate offense, and Loko secured the win with Isayev making 20 saves.
Pinchuk double gives Minsk a winning start
Dinamo Minsk 3 Amur Khabarovsk 0 (2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
The big news from Belarus this summer was the arrival of Vadim Shipachyov. However, his first competitive game for Dinamo was overtaken by Vitaly Pinchuk. The 22-year-old local lad, who has steadily gained in prominence over the past couple of seasons, scored twice to lead Minsk to victory over Amur.
At the other end, goalie Andrei Kareyev made a winning start after his move from Spartak, stopping 26 shots.
Amur has hopes of a good season this year after some astute summer recruitment. However, its opening game fell apart inside eight minutes as Dinamo scored two quick goals. Pinchuk got the first on 5:58 and, a couple of minutes later, Vadim Moroz doubled the advantage. Xavier Ouellet, another summer arrival in Minsk, collected an assist on that one.
Outgunned in the first, Amur improved in the second and began posing more questions for Kareyev. But the only goal of the middle frame went to Pinchuk. He made it 3-0 in the 38th minute and left the Tigers with it all to do in the third.
A goalless third period saw Dinamo close out the win while Kareyev began life at his new club with a shut-out.
Red-and-Whites on top in Moscow epic
Spartak Moscow 4 CSKA Moscow 2 (1-1, 1-1, 2-0)
The opening days of the season have been full of derby action, and this capital city clash was one of the biggest. For CSKA, it was the first competitive outing under new head coach Ilya Vorobyov and his new-look roster. Spartak, meanwhile, hoped to continue its high-scoring form from last season – but perhaps with a little more stability at the back.
The action crackled from the very start with both teams creating decent chances in the early exchanges. Spartak’s Pavel Poryadin hit the post it the third minute, and CSKA’s new signing Ivan Drozdov almost opened his account in the sixth. Then the visitor killed a penalty before taking the lead on the power play. Much of the summer chat at CSKA revolved around the likely impact of a host of players returning to Russia from North America. However, the opening goal of the club’s season came from the familiar figure of Pavel Karnaukhov, who fired home Vitaly Abramov’s feed. Spartak responded late in the frame with a goal from Andrei Mironov. The former Dynamo captain is no stranger to Moscow derbies and opened his account for Spartak here. Although signed to strengthen the defense, his attacking contributions have also played their part throughout his career and a wrister from the blue line sent the teams to the intermission at 1-1.
The second period was also rich in incident. CSKA hit the bar in the first minute, then Takhir Mingachyov thought he had made it 2-1 in the 26th. He stuff a loose puck into the net after a collision between Prokhor Poltapov and goalie Dmitry Nikolayev on the slot. The Spartak bench quickly challenged the play, and the review whistled off the goal due to interference on the netminder.
Spartak’s problems were not over. Immediately there was a penalty on Michal Cajkovsky. After killing that, the Red-and-Whites allowed a short-handed goal from Poltapov just eight seconds after Igor Ozhiganov went to the box. That rapid CSKA strike at least meant there was plenty of time left on the power play, and Poryadin managed to tie the scores before Ozhiganov returned to the game.
Having trailed twice, Spartak got in front for the first time in the 55th minute. Once again, Ozhiganov was involved but this was not a moment the CSKA defenseman will recall with any fondness. Red-and-White captain Dmitry Vishnevsky fired in a point shot and it deflected off the visiting player to wrongfoot Ivan Prosvetov and find the net.
That wasn’t the end of the drama. In the closing minutes, Spartak’s Shane Prince took a penalty. CSKA scented a way back and immediately called a time-out to prepare for a spot of six-on-four play. However, the plan backfired alarmingly. The final surge brought a delayed penalty against the visitor, which in turn saw Andrei Loktionov score into an empty net to make it 4-2. And with six seconds left there was more drama when Alexander Pashin had the puck in CSKA’s net for a fifth time, only to see it called back for a hand pass. However, that was a minor frustration as Spartak opened the season with a memorable victory over its cross-town rival.
