Radulov off the mark as Loko stays perfect. September 12 round-up

Alexander Radulov scored his first goals since joining Lokomotiv, finishing with 3 (2+1) points in a comfortable 6-2 victory at Kunlun Red Star. That improves the Railwaymen to four wins from four at the top of the standings. The Moscow derby saw Dynamo make a strong start before losing 4-2 to Spartak. Defending champion Metallurg had trouble with Neftekhimik again. After a 0-2 loss at home, Magnitka blew a 2-0 lead on the road before losing to a last-minute goal. CSKA also let a two-goal lead slip before falling to Torpedo in overtime. SKA lost 0-3 in its home opener against Traktor, and Sibir got its first win of the season at Severstal.

Dea downs former club

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (0-2, 2-0, 1-0)

Neftekhimik defeated defending champion Metallurg for the second time in four days. After a 2-0 success in Magnitogorsk, the Wolves overturned a 0-2 deficit to grab a 3-2 verdict on home ice. A last-minute goal from Jean-Sebastien Dea, against the club that brought him to the KHL last season, sealed the win.

After firing blanks on Sunday, the Metallurg offense was more effective at the start of this game. Igor Geraskin opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Nikolai Mayorov doubled the advantage 10 minutes later. That was the 24-year-old forward’s first KHL goal.

Early in the second, Magnitka might have extended its lead. Ilya Pastukhov’s slash brought a penalty shot, but Dmitry Silantyev was unable to convert the chance. A few minutes later, Pastukhov pulled a goal back for the home team, with Luca Profaca’s assist bringing his first point in the KHL. Midway through the game, Zhoe Kristof Muissu potted his first KHL goal to tie the scores at 2-2. Muissu, 18, is a Russian-born forward with African ancestry; an unusual combination but a player who looks to have a bright career ahead of him.

Metallurg responded to the loss of its lead by trying to step up the tempo. However, after Neftekhimik scored two goals on five second-period shots, the visitor could get nowhere near that kind of efficiency and the game remained deadlocked.

The third period was much closer. Metallurg saw two power plays come and go but neither team had a clear advantage. That all changed with 23 seconds left on the clock when Dea grabbed a dramatic late winner. Neftekhimik moves to three wins from four; the defending champ has three losses from its opening encounters.

Bench challenge proves costly for Severstal

Severstal Cherepovets 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 5 (0-0, 1-1, 1-4)

Sibir secured its first win of the season with success on the road in Cherepovets. Severstal twice cancelled out the visitor’s leads but had no answer late in the third as Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team took the game away.

Against CSKA, the Siberians suffered in the final frame and gave up six goals in a 2-8 horror show. Today, though, it was Sibir that produced a true 60-minute game to end its stuttering start to the campaign.

Admittedly, there wasn’t much encouragement for Yepanchintsev and his players in the first period. Severstal had the better of the game but could not get the better of Anton Krasotkin. In the second, Sibir managed to break the deadlock thanks to Taylor Beck. However, the home team replied quickly through Kirill Pilipenko to go to the intermission at 1-1.

There was another trade of quick goals early in the third. Vladimir Butuzov put Sibir up again in the 43rd minute but within four minutes, Danil Aimurzin’s power play goal had the game level once more.

The key moment came on 53:54. Georgy Belousov had Sibir in front for a third time, putting away Fyodor Gordeyev’s feed from the blue line. However, Severstal believed that goalie Alexander Samoilov was impeded by Pavel Gogolev as the play developed. The home bench challenged the play, saw its objection overruled and promptly allowed a fourth goal on the delay of game penalty. Butuzov got his second of the night to make it 4-2.

Severstal tried to find a way back, but when Samoilov went to the bench, Sergei Shirokov’s empty netter wrapped up a big win for Sibir.

More derby delight for Spartak

Spartak Moscow 4 Dynamo Moscow 2 (0-1, 3-0, 1-1)

The Red-and-Whites enjoyed a second Moscow derby victory in the early stages of the season to keep up a promising start to the campaign. After an opening 4-2 success against CSKA, Spartak saw off Dynamo despite a powerful first period from the visitor.

Alexei Kudashov’s team has yet to click this season. Tuesday’s trip to Lada brought a disappointing 3-6 loss. In the first period at Spartak, Dynamo showed signs that it might be getting its game together. The visitor dominated, outshooting its host 16-6 and holding the initiative from start to finish. However, all that good play yielded just one goal, scored by Eric O’Dell on the power play in the 13th minute.

Despite its opening-frame issues, Spartak managed to pose a counterattacking threat. In the second period, the home team added substance to that menace and scored three unanswered goals. The first came midway through when Nikolai Goldobin tied the game on the power play off an Ivan Morozov feed. Dynamo had chances to get back in front, but late in the frame Goldobin and Morozov reversed their roles to put Spartak in front.

Then came a big moment. Dynamo’s Artyom Mikheyev landed a heavy hit on Spartak D-man Orlov. After reviewing the play, the officials assessed him a 5+20 and the production home PP struck again just before the hooter thanks to Pavel Poryadin.

Mikheyev’s major continued into the third period but Spartak could not add to its lead, although Poryadin hit the post. Back at equal strength, Dynamo then dinged the piping at the other end with a point shot from Daniil Pylenkov. Both teams continued to create chances and when Dynamo got on the power play in the 55th minute, Kudashov opted to play six-on-four. That didn’t produce a goal, but did bring time-outs from both teams before Cedric Paquette pulled one back in the 58th minute.

Encouraged, Dynamo tried with the sixth skater once again. This time, though, Spartak got the puck and Adam Ruzicka found the empty net to seal a second derby verdict by the same 4-2 scoreline.

Radulov leads Lokomotiv romp

Kunlun Red Star 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 6 (0-1, 0-3, 2-2)

Alexander Radulov got his first goals for Lokomotiv since moving to Yaroslavl in the summer. The high-profile forward bossed Thursday’s game against Kunlun, compiling 3 (2+1) points after breaking the deadlock in the first period.

Loko arrived in Dragons’ Lair with a perfect three from three record and goalie Daniil Isayev shut out his previous two opponents. Red Star also made a solid start to the season and gave Isayev a big test early on. However, the visiting goalie confirmed his hot streak with good saves to deny Ryan Merkley and Luke Lockhart.

The visiting attack steadily applied the pressure, and Radulov opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a point shot through traffic. Then he turned provider as Martin Gernat doubled the lead with a power play goal in the middle frame. Like Radulov, the Slovak defenseman scored his first of the current campaign. Both would soon double their tallies.

Penalty trouble continued to haunt Red Star, and defenseman Ian McCoshen managed to commit two fouls on one shift. Radulov needed just seven seconds to convert the first power play, chasing Konstantin Volkov from the net in the process. Incoming goalie Jeremy Smith immediately found himself under pressure: McCoshen remained seated to serve his second penalty and 11 seconds later Parker Foo joined him in the box. With a two-man advantage, Gernat potted his second of the game. For the first time in this game, Radulov was not involved in a Lokomotiv goal.

The scoring continued in the third. Pavel Kraskovsky extended Loko’s lead before Colin Campbell’s persistence saw Isayev beaten after 167:16 without allowing a goal. Artur Kayumov added a sixth for the visitor before Jake Chelios gave the Dragons a little more respectability with the home team’s second of the night.

Torpedo’s late rally stuns CSKA

CSKA Moscow 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 OT (2-1, 1-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Two goals in the third period brought Torpedo back from the brink of defeat in Moscow, and Nikita Artamonov’s first goal of the season won it in overtime.

In a lively first period, Torpedo opened the scoring in the eighth minute. The visitor dumped the puck behind the CSKA net and Vladislav Firstov battled to win possession and get the play back to Igor Larionov Jr for a one-timer past Ivan Prosvetov.

The home team responded with a double strike. Maxim Sorkin deflected a Nikita Nesterov blast beyond Ivan Bocharov to tie it up, then Nikita Sedov finished off a swift attack involving Prokhor Poltapov and Vitaly Abramov. The goals came 61 seconds apart.

Late in the second period, Sorkin scored again, this time on the power play, to give CSKA a 3-1 lead. The pace was a little less frenetic now and it felt like the home team could go on to win the game with relatively little stress.

However, Torpedo revived midway through the third. Two-goal Sorkin might have done better with his attempted clearance, sending the puck to Bogdan Konyushkov on the blue line. He returned it with interest, fizzing in a shot that bounced beyond Prosvetov’s grasp. Then came a penalty for Nesterov and although CSKA survived the momentum brought a tying goal in the 54th minute from Daniil Bokun.

The home team’s apparently comfortable position was lost and CSKA never quite recovered. Torpedo looked livelier in overtime and three minutes into the extras Artamonov potted the winner.

Traktor’s strong finish spoils SKA’s home opener

SKA St. Petersburg 0 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 (0-0, 0-0, 0-3)

Neither SKA nor Traktor made entirely convincing starts to their seasons. Benoit Groulx lost two of his first three games as a head coach in the KHL, while Evgeny Kuznetsov’s much-hyped return to Russia translated into similar results for SKA.

Kuznetsov & Co had the boost of playing in Petersburg for the first time this season when Traktor arrived on Thursday. For Groulx’s visitor, the road trip continues: after Yekaterinburg, Astana and Ufa, Traktor is heading West to Petersburg and Sochi before finally playing in Chelyabinsk next week.

Home comforts helped SKA enjoy slightly the better of a fairly even first period. Neither team could find a goal, but the host had the biggest chance of the opening frame when Valentin Zykov and Artemy Gritsyuk engineered a two-on-one break only for Zach Fucale to glove Gritsyuk’s shot away.

Traktor came into the game more as the session went on, but SKA began the second period with another good chance. This time it was Kuznetsov’s one-timer off Alexander Nikishin’s feed, but once again Fucale said no. In the 27th minute, it was Traktor’s turn to cut open the defense as Vitaly Kravtsov got clear but couldn’t beat Artemy Pleshkov in the home net.

The home team got another warning at the start of the third when Buddy Robinson redirected a shot onto Pleshkov’s crossbar. And Traktor ultimately turned its efforts into an opening goal in the 48th minute. Kravtsov’s low pass off the left board bounced around the slot before Maxim Shabanov got the puck under control and found the net. Then came a counterattack that ended with Kravtsov doubling the lead four minutes later.

There were chances at both ends: Pleshkov denied Andrei Svetlakov in a one-on-one, then at the other end Marat Khairullin dinged the iron. SKA’s efforts to save the game saw Pleshkov head to the bench, but that merely led to a second goal for Shabanov. Traktor took the win, Fucale made 38 saves for the shut-out.