Coaching change can’t help Barys. September 24 round-up

Tuesday brough reports of the first coaching casualty of the season, with Barys announcing that Evgeny Solovyov would take interim charge of the team at home to Dynamo. However, the change could not save the basement dweller from the 1-3 loss. Fellow Muscovites CSKA also won on the road, 3-0 at Amur, while Admiral is up to third in the East with a 6-3 win over Vityaz. Avtomobilist and Sibir remain ahead of the Sailors thanks to victories against Neftekhimik and Sochi respectively. Torpedo snapped a four-game skid at Kunlun Red Star.

Gamzin blanks Amur

Amur Khabarovsk 0 CSKA Moscow 3 (0-0, 0-3, 0-0)

The Tigers lost their first two home games, prompting Andrei Martemyanov to reshuffle his lines for the visit of CSKA. However, the new-look line-up could not snap the skid as the visitor blanked Amur for a 3-0 win.

In the first period, the new-look Amur showed potential. Yes, there was help from some CSKA ill-discipline that brought a couple of home power plays. But there was also a genuine goal threat that Dmitry Gamzin needed to neutralize to ensure the teams remained goalless at the intermission.

Things didn’t immediately change after the break, but gradually CSKA found its attacking game. Three goals in eight minutes in the latter half of the frame took this one away from Amur. Vladislav Kamenev broke the deadlock just after halfway, firing home a one-timer off a precise feed from Konstantin Okulov. Four minutes later, Okulov was on target himself – two points representing a fine way to mark 700 KHL games. Late in the frame, CSKA’s most effective line of the season combined once again for Prokhor Poltapov to make it 3-0.

That was enough to win the game. Amur created chances in the third, outshooting CSKA 9-3 and enjoying almost three times as much attacking possession. However, Gamzin proved unbeatable, finishing with 33 saves to collect his first shut-out of the season.

Sailors cruise to third in the East

Admiral Vladivostok 6 Vityaz Moscow Region 3 (3-1, 3-2, 0-0)

Vityaz headed to Vladivostok at the start of its Far East road trip, looking to build on a home win over Barys before disembarking for the Pacific coast. Admiral, meanwhile, was seeking a club record four-game winning streak after Sunday’s overtime verdict against CSKA.

An early penalty for Vityaz saw Admiral open the scoring with its first shot of its first power play. Stepan Starkov beat Dmitry Shikin to score on his former club. For a long time, the visitor could offer little in response and midway through the opening frame home goalie Vasily Demchenko faced just two shots.

The Sailors extended the lead on a 14th minute penalty shot, converted by Dmitry Zavgorodny. Late in the frame, another home powerplay saw Jack Rodewald make it 3-0 before Derek Barach got one back for Vityaz.

The sparked something of a fightback: the visitor scored again early in the second when Ivan Chekhovich converted a four-on-three power play. Chekhovich opened his account for his new club in the previous game against Barys and would go on to score another today. However, Ivan’s second came only after two more Admiral tallies from Giovanni Fiore and Nikita Anokhovsky. Shikin came out of the Vityaz net, making way for Maxim Dorozhko in the middle of all that.

Before the second intermission, Admiral scored a sixth thanks to Arkady Shestakov’s first of the season. That gave the Sailors a winning advantage ahead of a goalless final frame.

Sibir reels off sixth successive victory

Sibir Novosibirsk 4 HC Sochi 2 (0-1, 2-0, 2-1)

Over the past five games, Sibir and Sochi’s results almost mirrored each other. While Sibir reeled off five straight wins, rebounding from a bad start to climb to the upper reaches of the Eastern Conference, Sochi suffered four losses out of five and sank to the foot of the West. In a bid to get a response from his players, visiting head coach Sergei Zubov scratched two imports, defenseman Jesse Graham and forward Michal Kristof.

In the first period, Zubov got the reaction he wanted. His youthful team played at a high tempo and looked disciplined without the puck. When chances came, the visitor got in front: Anton Krasotkin gave up a rebound and Andrei Nikonov was Johnny-on-the-spot to open the scoring. The lead was a fair reflection of an opening frame where Sochi had more than twice as many shots on goal.

However, Nikonov went from hero to villain. His roughing penalty proved to be a turning point in the second period. Vladimir Butuzov’s one-timer tied the game, then the next shift saw Valentin Pyanov pot his first of the season off Vladislav Kara’s pass. Sochi had a chance to tie the game late in the session, but Krasotkin read Denis Vengryzhanovsky’s redirect and made a good save.

For much of the third period, Sibir held a slender lead and Sochi had a real chance of saving the game. However, in the 48th minute Taylor Beck raced off on the breakaway to add a third, collecting his eighth point in six games against Sochi. At the other end, Timur Khafizov celebrated his ‘forward of the week’ award with another goal to keep the game alive, but Andy Andreoff’s empty-netter saw Sochi home. Canadian D-man Trevor Murphy got his second helper of the day on that one, maintaining his own five-game productive streak.

Gusev double adds to Barys’ worries

Barys Astana 1 Dynamo Moscow 3 (0-1, 1-1, 0-1)

Ahead of Tuesday’s game against Dynamo, Barys announced changes to the coaching staff. Evgeny Korolyov stepped up as interim head coach, with David Nemirovsky paying the price for a poor start to the season. The Kazakhs have just one victory in eight attempts, although that overtime success came at high-flying Avtomobilist.

Today’s opponent, Dynamo, also made an uncertain start to the season. However, a 2-1 win at Amur eased some of the pressure on Alexei Kudashov’s team and the trip to Astana brought another victory, this time powered by Nikita Gusev.

Gusev converted his team’s first power play of the game to open the scoring after five minutes. The first period was not overly blessed with scoring chances and it wasn’t until the 27th minute that Jordan Weal doubled Dynamo’s lead when he finished off a neat interchange with Cedric Paquette.

Barys replied quickly thanks to a power play goal from Alikhan Omirbekov, who took a pass from Kirill Savitsky and held the puck until the perfect moment to release a shot beyond Maxim Motorygin in the Muscovites’ net. And the home team was well in the game as the middle frame progressed, with Chase DeLeo spurning a great chance for his first KHL goal when he was left in far too much space in front of Motorygin but failed to beat the goalie.

Early in the third, Gusev gave his team some breathing space with his second of the game. Paquette’s interception created the chance and Gusev’s deflected shot beat Johan Mattsson to make it 3-1. The Dynamo forward was close to a hat-trick on his next shift but the Swedish goalie won that duel. However, Barys was unable to find a way back into the game as the Blue-and-Whites closed out a second successive victory.

Motormen stay top with tight verdict

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (1-1, 0-1, 0-0)

After Sibir’s win over Sochi, Avtomobilist needed victory in Nizhnekamsk to return to the top of the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, despite three successive losses, the home team was eying a victory that would move it level with its opponent in second place.

The home team got the first power play of the game, but things did not go to plan for the Neftekhimik. Curtis Valk finished off Sergei Zborovsky’s rush to open the scoring with a short-handed goal in the ninth minute.

However, Avtomobilist continued to fall foul of the officials and when the host had a five-on-three advantage, Alexander Dergachyov tied the game close to the intermission.

After that, Neftekhimik went on to dominate the second period. It took more than 12 minutes for Avtomobilist to muster a shot on goal, while Evgeny Alikin was kept plenty busy by the home offense. However, when the visitor did find its shooting range, Nick Ebert restored the lead in the 36th minute. Avto only had five shots in the middle frame, but also claimed the only goal.

In the third period, the Motormen looked to keep Neftekhimik at arm’s length. Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team did not show much attacking intent but did a professional job at protecting its lead. The home team, despite playing the final two minutes with six skaters on a power play, was restricted to just nine shots at Alikin.

Fast start sees Torpedo snap its skid

Kunlun Red Star 2 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 (0-3, 0-0, 2-1)

After four consecutive defeats, Torpedo needed a boost here. Mikhail Abramov provided it with the opening goal on 58 seconds. That ushered in a clinical first period from the visitor: two further breakaways saw Vladislav Firstov and Maxim Letunov open a 3-0 lead inside nine minutes. Red Star responded by hooking Konstantin Volkov and sending Jeremy Smith into the game.

That switch calmed the Torpedo offense, but home forward Austin Wong was still riled up. He dumped Slava Voynov on the ice with a big hit, then got into a fight with Letunov before the pair were sent to the box to cool their tempers.

There was no further scoring in the second period, although Abramov was close to his second of the night early on. Later in the frame, a couple of Red Star power plays helped the Dragons generate some sustained offense for the first time in the game but Ivan Kulbakov was up to the task.

The visiting goalie took a penalty at the start of the third and, at the fifth attempt, the Kunlun power play found the net. Luke Lockhart was the scorer, giving the home team hope of saving the game. However, the Dragons could get no closer and Torpedo sealed the win with a late power play goal from Bobby Lynch to make it 4-1. Spencer Foo's late tally was small consolation for Red Star, which suffers a third successive defeat.