Traktor tops the East, Sibir moves into form. September 19 round-up

Most of Thursday’s action involved the Eastern Conference. Traktor won its first home game of the season and leapfrogged Neftekhimik to go to the top of the standings. Sibir is closing on the leaders after reeling off a fourth consecutive victory, 3-1 over Kunlun. That’s quite the turnaround for a team that lost its first three games badly. Ak Bars enjoyed a morale-boosting 5-0 win over struggling Barys. There was action in the West as well. CSKA edged past Vityaz with early-season scoring leader Vitaly Abramov on target. And SKA recovered from a slow start to beat Sochi in a high-scoring game.

Four in a row for Sibir

Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Kunlun Red Star 1 (1-0, 2-0, 0-1)

A two-goal blast at the start of the second period set Sibir on the way to a fourth successive victory. After losing its opening three games of the season, Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team has recovered strongly and scored nine goals in its first two home games of the season.

Red Star, meanwhile, suffered a 1-7 mauling at Admiral on Tuesday. Konstantin Volkov took over in goal, and there were three changes to the visiting roster as Mikhail Kravets looked for a response from his players. Sibir also changed goalie – regular starter Anton Krasotkin was ill and Denis Kostin replaced him – while in-form forward Vladislav Kara missed out due to family reasons.

The first period was even, with decent chances for both teams. The only goal came midway through when Sergei Dubakin’s cunning feed enabled Maxim Sushko to speed into the Dragons’ zone and beat Volkov.

If Red Star felt that the game was very much alive at that first intermission, Sibir soon took it away early in the second. Sergei Shirokov struck for the fifth game in a row to double the lead and, just 15 seconds later, Trevor Murphy scored on his former club to make it 3-0.

Kunlun got one back at the start of the third, Tomas Jurco rewarded his line-mates’ persistence by stuffing home a loose puck after a flurry of action on the slot. That encouraged the visitor to outshoot Sibir 12-3 in the final frame but there was no more scoring as Sibir secured a fourth straight win.

Traktor on top in home opener

Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 (1-0, 0-2, 2-0)

Benoit Groulx had quite a wait before finally sending his Traktor out into battle on home ice in the KHL. Today, the day arrived – and after a lively encounter with Neftekhimik his troops secured a 3-2 victory to move top of the Eastern Conference.

Traktor arrived home in good shape, picking up seven out of a possible 10 points from its initial five-game road trip. Neftekhimik, meanwhile, had a share of top spot in the East despite losing 2-5 at Sibir in its previous game. The visitor also handed a debut to defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich, who adds some valuable experience to a youthful roster.

The home team started well and Maxim Shabanov was close to opening the scoring in the first seconds. He didn’t have to wait long for a second chance, though, and put Traktor up with a penalty shot in the fifth minute after visiting goalie Artyom Zagidulin threw his stick. Shabanov has now converted both of the penalty shots he’s taken this season and his productive streak is up to six games (5+3 points).

It wasn’t until the latter half of the opening frame that Neftekhimik managed to curb Traktor’s dominance. But in the second period, the visitor took control. Increasing pressure on Zach Fucale’s net led to a great pass from Vyacheslav Leshchenko setting up Dmitry Zhukenov for the tying goal. Two minutes later, on the power play, Alexander Dergachyov put the Wolves in front. Having trailed for so long, the visitor hit the front in the 28th minute.

History almost repeated itself: Traktor came back into the game as the period wore on, and asserted control at the start of the next. Alexander Sharov tied it up in the 42nd minute, scoring his 100th KHL point (57+43) in the process. Then, within four minutes, Andrei Svetlakov’s close-range effort restored the home lead. Neftekhimik made a bench challenge but was overruled, suffering a delay of game penalty for its pains. Back at full strength, the visitor tried to recover but Chelyabinsk held on to win it 3-2.

Dominant Ak Bars impresses against Barys

Ak Bars Kazan 5 Barys Astana 0 (2-0, 0-0, 3-0)

Boosted by a first win of the season, Barys was hoping for more success on the road in Kazan. However, this clash of the KHL’s snow leopards wasn’t much of a contest in the end. The home team opened a two-goal lead midway through the first period and was barely troubled thereafter.

The opening stanza was routine stuff for Ak Bars and the play reflected one team’s status as a candidate for honors and the other’s precarious position near the foot of the table. Kazan had more than twice as much attacking possession, outshot Barys 15-5 and generally dominated the play. Goals from Dmitrij Jaskin and Kirill Semyonov represented a fair reward for a strong performance.

Barys improved in the second period and even outshot its host through 20 minutes. However, that stat alone does not tell the full story: Ak Bars again had more than twice the attacking play and the Kazakhs had to block 13 shots as the home team pressured Johan Mattsson consistently.

Any hopes of a fightback were extinguished early in the third. Alexander Barabanov and Yegor Korshkov struck within 43 seconds of one another, opening a 4-0 lead. That put the game out of reach, and there was still time for Korshkov and Semyonov to pick up assists as Nikita Dynyak made the final score 5-0.

Battling Sochi falls short against SKA

HC Sochi 4 SKA St. Petersburg 7 (2-3, 0-3, 2-1)

A spirited first period from Sochi asked a few questions of SKA, but the visitor’s class told in the middle frame to set up a fairly comfortable road win. Ivan Demidov caught the eye with four points.

The Leopards picked up their second victory of the season in Monday’s meeting with Torpedo and carried that confidence into the early stages of tonight’s action. The home team opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Michal Kristof redirected Semyon Ibragimov’s point shot into Nikita Serebryakov’s net. SKA quickly tied it up – 21-year-old forward Grigory Kuzmin finding the net off a Evgeny Kuznetsov assist – but Sochi regained the lead in the 13th minute thanks to Danil Avershin’s first of the season. SKA’s bench claimed an offside on that play, but the video confirmed a good goal and a delay of game penalty for the visitor.

However, after killing that penalty the visiting defensemen turned their attentions to the other end of the ice. Alexander Nikishin’s blast from the left-hand circle tied the scores, then Stepan Falkovsky sent the visitor into the intermission with a 3-2 lead. Demidov assisted on both.

The second period started badly for Sochi with Kristof taking a penalty. SKA’s power play could not prevail, but midway through the session came three quick goals to put the game out of reach. Valentin Zykov started the procession in the 28th minute, chasing starting goalie Sergei Ivanov from his net. Incoming Yegor Zavragin held out for four minutes, then allowed further tallies from Zakhar Bardakov and the lively Demidov.

Early in the third, the home team gained a little hope. Timur Khafizov scored twice, hauling SKA back into view. However, with time ticking down a 6-4 lead always looked likely to be enough. Indeed, SKA got back into the game, cutting off any way back for Sochi before Demidov added a seventh. A third win of the season lifts the visitor to fifth in the West.

Back-to-back wins for CSKA

CSKA Moscow 3 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (1-0, 2-1, 0-1)

Buoyed by a derby win over Dynamo, CSKA reeled off another home victory against Vityaz. The result lifts Ilya Vorobyov’s team to nine points, tying for third place with city rival Spartak. Vityaz remains ninth in the West after slipping to a third successive loss.

Vitaly Abramov has been the surprise scoring star of the early season. The CSKA man led the KHL with 11 points going into Thursday’s games and he made the breakthrough after 13 minutes of an even first period. This time he showed off his understanding with line-mate Maxim Sorkin: the pair exchanged passes – long then short – before Abramov stationed himself in front of the net and finished the play with some neat stick-handling.

Vityaz may have felt unfortunate to be down after 20 minutes in which it largely matched its host. At the start of the second, with Fredrik Claesson sitting for high sticks, Jeremy Roy tied the scores on the power play and few could argue it was undeserved.

However, when CSKA got a PP of its own, Ruslan Iskhakov took advantage to restore the lead midway through the session. Iskhakov moved to four goals for the season – each of them coming in one of CSKA’s four wins to date. Late in the middle frame, Nikita Nesterov extended the lead. Once again, though, the scoreline handed the home team a more comfortable position than the balance of play might suggest.

The third period continued in similar vein. Vityaz had more possession, but the CSKA defense did a good job of keeping the visitor away from danger. That continued until the 55th minute when Stanislav Yarovoi pulled a goal back. With five to play, a one-goal lead seemed precarious but CSKA held on to take the win.