SKA, Dynamo pick up home wins. September 15 round-up

At the start of the season, SKA St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow struggled to produce the kind of form expected from them. Today, both teams managed home wins to ease some of those early concerns: SKA withstood a Lada fightback to win in overtime before Dynamo got the jump on Dinamo Minsk. Also on Sunday, Sibir avenged its opening loss to Avangard, winning its home opener 4-1. Kunlun Red Star beat Amur 3-2 in Khabarovsk.

Dragons enjoy success on Chinese border

Amur Khabarovsk 2 Kunlun Red Star 3 (1-1, 0-0, 1-2)

Amur’s home opening brought the KHL’s Chinese franchise to the borders of its homeland. The Tigers twice came from behind in the game, but ultimately fell to a late goal from Jake Chelios.

KRS scored off its first meaningful attack in the third minute. Good work from Tyler Wong behind the net created the chance, Yury Pautov fired the puck to the net and Brandon Yip steered it past Igor Bobkov. Amur tied it up late in a even first period through Yefim Gurkin’s point shot, Red Star’s bench challenge proving fruitless.

It remained deadlocked in the middle frame. Yip had a decent chance for a second goal but both goalies were on their game to keep it at 1-1 through 40 minutes. Then came two quick tallies. Red Star went back ahead in the 43rd minute thanks to a fine coast-to-coast play from Ryan Merkley. The defenseman skated past four opponents before banging in a shot; Bobkov made the save by Tyler Graovac was following up to stuff the puck home.

Amur responded immediately: barely 30 seconds later, Alex Galchenyuk celebrated his home debut with a goal for his new club and we were all square once more. But with five to play Chelios won it for the Dragons when he rifled home Adam Clendening’s feed to the left-hand circle. Wong, once again, was instrumental in chasing the puck deep and retaining possession for his team.

Penalty trouble hurts the Hawks

Sibir Novosibirsk 4 Avangard Omsk 1 (3-0, 0-1, 1-0)

The first home game of the season in Novosibirsk saw Sibir take on derby rival Avangard. The teams met in their first fixture of the season, with the Hawks taking a 2-1 verdict in Omsk. Today, Sibir got its revenge.

Avangard suffered from penalty trouble in the first period, allowing two power play goals and a third on a delayed penalty. It started with Damir Sharipzyanov in the box and Andy Andreoff capitalizing to give a fourth-minute lead. Then Nikita Kholodilin sat and Sergei Shirokov doubled the lead midway through the session. The third goal came in six-on-five play as Avangard faced a third penalty kill. Shirokov turned provider, combining with Trevor Murphy as Vladislav Kara made it 3-0. Murphy completed a hat-trick of helpers to complete a strong first period for the home team.

After the intermission things changed. Pavel Khomchenko took over from Ilya Proskuryakov in the Avangard net after the starting goalie allowed three goals from eight shots. Sergei Zvyagin’s team also improved its discipline, staying out of the box until it got a power play of its own in the 29th minute. The visitor needed just 14 seconds to convert the chance, Semyon Chistyakov getting the Hawks on the scoreboard at last.

However, even though Avangard outshot Sibir 13-2 in the middle frame, the visitor only pulled back one goal.

In the third period, the visitor again had more of the play. This time, though, Sibir did a better job of retaining possession and did not allow Avangard to gain such a big advantage. As time ticked down, the Hawks had to gamble but calling Khomchenko to the bench merely resulted in an empty net goal from Taylor Beck to complete the scoring.

Zykov goal gives SKA a narrow win

SKA St. Petersburg 4 Lada Togliatti 3 OT (2-0, 0-1, 1-2, 1-0)

Lada rallied from 1-3 in the third period to force overtime. However, the Motormen could not do enough to escape a second loss against SKA this season.

The first weeks of the season were not encouraging for SKA. Roman Rotenberg’s team won just one of its opening four games and suffered a 0-3 reverse in its home opener against Traktor on Thursday.

However, that solitary victory came in Togliatti in SKA’s second game. The Petersburg club opened a 2-0 lead and closed out a 3-1 scoreline. With Lada facing a return game little over a week later, this was a chance to build on that success. But there would be no game for Arseny Gritsyuk, one of the scorers in the first game after he suffered a minor injury.

Lada, meanwhile, bounced back from that loss with two wins of its own, setting the scene for an intriguing Sunday battle.

After a few days of discussion about what was going wrong with SKA, a fast start was just what the home team needed. Inside three minutes, Ivan Demidov opened the scoring with his first goal in the KHL. Evgeny Kuznetsov, a high profile player whose early contribution raised questions, went behind the net and put the puck out in front for Demidov. The youngster’s initial effort hit the post but he was able to stuff it home at the second attempt. And the 18-year-old was close to potting a second when he again dinged the piping a couple of minutes later.

Midway through the opening frame, a home breakaway saw Marat Khairullin make it 2-0 for SKA. And the same player hit the post in the 15th minute as the pressure continued. Lada, meanwhile, also posed questions: Nikita Popugayev was always lively and imports Troy Josephs and Anthony Greco combined for a great chance in an entertaining contest.

In the third, Lada got on the scoreboard thanks to former SKA man Andrei Altybarmakyan midway through the session. The home team continued to enjoy the better of the play but was denied a third goal late in the session when Demidov’s close-range effort was ruled out for interference on goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky.

The home team got its goal at the start of the third when Mikhail Grigorenko fired home off Khairullin’s feed. That was Grigorenko’s first goal since joining SKA and it ushered in a lively few minutes as Lada got on the power play then saw a goal from Altybarmakyan disallowed. The visitor’s next PP was more successful, with Vladislav Syomin getting it back to 2-3. And, with seven to play, Popugayev tied the scores and forced the game into overtime.

SKA began the extras on the power play after Altybarmakyan’s late foul. That helped the home team win it quickly in OT. Khairullin’s move down the left wing set things up, and Valentin Zykov was unmarked in front of the net to pot the decider.

Welcome win for Dynamo

Dynamo Moscow 6 Dinamo Minsk 3 (2-0, 2-2, 2-1)

The first of four Dynamic derbies this season ended in Moscow’s favor. Victory over Dinamo Minsk was a welcome boost for Alexei Kudashov’s men after an uncertain start to the campaign. A strong first period tipped the balance in the home team’s favor and even though Minsk managed a fightback towards the end of the second this one ended in Moscow’s favor.

Although the Muscovites finished the first period up 2-0, Minsk had chances to change all that. The first real scoring opportunity of the game saw Sergei Kuznetsov hit the piping, then a stretch pass from Xavier Ouellet sent Vadim Shipachyov through on goal only for Hunter Miska to pull off a big save.

While Shipachyov missed a chance to score on one of his former clubs, Dynamo’s Cedric Paquette showed no mercy to his old colleagues. He quickly converted the first power play of the night to put the home team up midway through the first. And just before the intermission it was 2-0 when Dmitry Rashevsky put away a rebound.

In the middle frame, Dynamo Moscow pulled away. Igor Ozhiganov added a third goal before Rashevsky potted his second of the night. The Belarusians got one back after Brennan Menell and Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi went to the box; Sam Anas converted the five-on-three power play.

That lifted the visitor. Ilya Usov hit the piping, Shipachyov set up Dillon Dube for an effort that was wiped out for offside following a bench challenge. Then, after the home team killed a penalty, Nicolas Meloche finished the frame with a second goal for Minsk. The defenseman joined the attack at the perfect time to put away a feed from Vadim Moroz and set up a lively third period.

The home team looked to calm the situation in the final stanza. Dynamo Moscow focussed on doing the simple things well and keeping Minsk away from the danger zone. The approach worked: after 12 goalless minutes, Ilya Mikheyev scored his first since arriving from Sibir to make it 5-2. A couple of minutes later, Brady Lyle responded in kind with his first tally for Dinamo Minsk to keep the game alive. Continuing the theme of first goals, Shvets-Rogovoi opened his Dynamo account as the home team padded its lead to 6-3 and sealed the win.