Metallurg humbles CSKA, Loko remains on top. October 3 round-up

Most people would have expected a close game when Metallurg went to CSKA – but Thursday’s match-up was anything but. An astonishing second period from the Steelmen powered a crushing 7-0 success in Moscow; quite the shocker for CSKA head coach Ilya Vorobyov, long associated with Magnitogorsk. League leader Lokomotiv reeled off a fifth win, coming from behind in Omsk. Vityaz had a 7-2 success over Kunlun in another high-scoring game and Sochi sank Admiral with a 5-0 scoreline. Elsewhere, there were closer battles: Barys battled back against Spartak before falling 2-4, SKA blanked Dinamo Minsk for a 3-0 win and Traktor added two late goals to pad a 4-1 win at Dynamo Moscow.

Boucher’s double can’t stop Lokomotiv

Avangard Omsk 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5 (1-1, 2-0, 0-4)

Table-topping Lokomotiv faced a battle on the road in Omsk but a strong third-period saw Igor Nikitin’s team turn a 1-3 deficit into a 5-3 win.

The action got off to a fast start. Ilya Reingardt dinged Daniil Isayev’s crossbar in the second minute and the home team was the livelier in the opening exchanges. However, Loko began to turn things around and before long Andrei Sergeyev rang the iron at the other end. When the visitor got its first power play, Daniil But quickly converted it with a one-timer.

Today, though, the familiar unbreakable Lokomotiv defense was not so much in evidence. Avangard tied the game quickly when defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev found the net after a spell of pressure.

After the break, both teams produced some solid defensive play and for 10 minutes there were few chances to be found. That all changed when Ryan Spooner released Reid Boucher, who raced to the Loko net and scored his first goal of the season. Boucher’s return from injury and Spooner’s return to the club late last month offered the Hawks new attacking options, much needed in a sticky start to the 2024-2025 campaign. And late in the middle frame, Boucher was on target again when a familiar power play move from Damir Sharipzyanov set him up to make it 3-1.

But Lokomotiv is not top of the standings for nothing and that lead evaporated in the space of a minute. First, Stepan Nikulin set up Georgy Ivanov to reduce the deficit, then Sharipzyanov’s error gifted Nikita Kiryanov the chance to bear down on Pavel Khomchenko’s net and tie the scores in the 44th minute.

There was a big moment six minutes before the end when Alexander Filatyev took an unnecessary O-zone penalty and handed Lokomotiv a chance to win it. However, the visiting PP could not find a break through and it wasn’t until the teams got back to equal strength that Maxim Shalunov found the go-ahead goal. Avangard tried to find a way back, but home hopes were extinguished when Byron Froese wrapped it up with an empty-netter.

Biggest win since 2022 for Vityaz

Vityaz Moscow Region 7 Kunlun Red Star 2 (3-0, 3-0, 1-2)

Vityaz enjoyed an emphatic victory over Kunlun, building on its win in Astana in its previous game and halting the Dragons’ two game winning streak. This was only the third time the home team had scored seven in a KHL game, having previously defeated Severstal 7-2 in Jan. 2011 and Dinamo Minsk 9-6 in Oct. 2016.

The home team had not played since Sep. 28 and made the most of that rest to produce a powerful start. Frederik Gauthier opened the scoring with a power play effort in the third minute, Derek Barach doubled the lead 14 seconds later and Ivan Vorobyov made it 3-0 in the ninth minute.

That forced Red Star into a change: Kyle Keyser came off the bench to replace starting goalie Jeremy Smith. Keyser kept Vityaz at bay until midway through the second period, but was eventually beaten by an awkward deflection off Ivan Savchik. Again, one goal led to a rush: Gauthier and Vorobyov both claimed their second tallies of the night to pad the lead to 6-0.

At the second intermission, the home team was on course for its biggest ever win in the KHL. Previously, Vityaz had never won by more than a five-goal margin, most recently a 5-0 success against Barys in Sep. 2022. A power play goal from Nail Yakupov, Red Star’s leading goalscorer this season put that record in doubt and even though Alexander Daryin made it 7-1 with five to play, the Dragons had the final word thanks to Luke Lockhart.

SKA shakes off defensive troubles

Dinamo Minsk 0 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (0-1, 0-1, 0-1)

After two games of defensive disarray saw SKA allow 10 goals to SKA and Kunlun, Roman Rotenberg’s men tightened things up impressively in Minsk. As well as 34 saves from Artemy Pleshkov, there was much satisfaction from 25 blocked shots through the game.

After losing 4-5 to Red Star in the previous game on Tuesday, SKA was looking for a good start here. It took just 27 seconds to open the scoring, with the visitor forcing a turnover that set Arseny Gritsyuk galloping down the left before setting up Vasily Glotov to make it 1-0.

After that, SKA established a territorial advantage and had a good chance to extend its lead on the power play when Vladimir Alistrov, playing against his former club, tested goalie Andrei Tikhomirov. However, there was no further scoring in the first period.

Dinamo posed more of a threat in the second period and came close to tying the game when Vadim Shipachyov – also playing against a former club – set up an attack that ended with Pleshkov working hard to deny Borikov. However, a couple of minutes after that SKA doubled its lead through Gritsyuk. A stretch pass sent the young forward away on the counter and he outwitted Tikhomirov.

The final frame saw Dinamo hunting a way back into the game. There were great chances for Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Pinchuk, but Pleshkov neutralized the danger. And the evening finished as it started with a goal from Glotov, this time into an empty net to wrap up SKA’s win.

Second successive shut-out for Sochi

HC Sochi 5 Admiral Vladivostok 0 (0-0, 2-0, 3-0)

The Leopards recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season and sent Admiral to a third successive loss.

After defeating Severstal 1-0 in the previous game, Sochi head coach Sergei Zubov decided to swap his goalies. Yegor Zavragin was rested after his first career shut-out, and Sergei Ivanov came in to repeat his team-mate’s achievement.

While Ivanov’s goaltending made a big impact in the game, the decisive passage came early in the second period. Nikolai Chebykin opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Then, almost immediately, the home team killed a penalty. Back at equal strength, Artur Tyanulin added to his earlier assist and made it 2-0 for the host.

Early in the third, Sochi put the game to bed with two quick goals. Daniil Seroukh and Amir Garayev were on target to push the lead out to 4-0. Admiral called a time-out and replaced goalie Vasily Demchenko with Andrei Mishurov, but could do little to change the game. A major penalty for Jack Rodewald saw Sergei Popov add a fifth goal before Ivanov completed his first shut-out of the season.

Dronov double leads Traktor to victory

Dynamo Moscow 1 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (0-0, 1-2, 0-2)

Traktor is enjoying its trip to the capital. After a shoot-out win at Spartak on Tuesday, the Chelyabinsk team followed up by downing Dynamo.

The visitor had the better of a goalless first period but it wasn’t until midway through the game that Traktor broke the deadlock. There were signs that things were getting scrappy: Traktor took a too many men penalty and Dynamo’s PP fell short, leading to Dmitry Rashevsky going to the box for hooking. That saw Traktor get its own chance with the extra man, and Grigory Dronov took advantage with a shot from the center of the zone that went through traffic to beat Hunter Miska.

Almost immediately, Traktor thought it had a second when Vitaly Kravtsov sent Andrei Svetlakov through on goal. He beat Miska, but not a bench challenge for offside and it stayed 1-0.

Dynamo thought it would go to the intermission at 1-1 when Pavel Kudryavtsev held off the attentions of the visiting defense to stuff home a feed from Igor Ozhiganov. However, Dronov had other ideas and right on the buzzer the defenseman got his second of the night, stepping up to the face-off circle to convert Vladimir Tkachyov’s pass.

The third period began with a fight between Buddy Robinson and Kirill Adamchuk that saw both players handed major penalties. But it ended with Traktor extending its lead: Mikhail Kotlyarevsky added a third in the 54th minute to take the game away and Kravtsov’s empty-netter sealed the deal.

New-look Barys falls to Spartak

Spartak Moscow 4 Barys Astana 2 (1-0, 2-1, 1-1)

Troubled Barys came to Moscow amid a rebuild of the roster. Thursday brought news that imports Chase DeLeo and Wade Allison had been placed on waivers, after defenseman Ilya Khokhlov and forwards Stanislav Bocharov and Nikita Setdikov joined the club on Wednesday. All three newcomers made their debuts in Moscow, where Spartak was looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s shoot-out loss against Traktor.

Initially, the home team seemed well on course to do that with some ease. Adam Ruzicka opened the scoring in the eighth minute, and the second period saw Yegor Chezganov’s first KHL goal double that lead. When Andrei Mironov made it 3-0 just after midway, Barys looked doomed to another defeat.

However, the visitor is showing some signs of improvement under new head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev. This team was determined to make a game of it and two minutes before the intermission Daniil Apalkov pulled one back. He was assisted on that play by Anton Burdasov, and midway through the third period those two reversed their roles. Burdasov’s goal, his second of the season, got it back to 2-3 and set up a tense finish. Spartak could only relax in the closing moments after Ivan Morozov’s empty net tally completed a 4-2 scoreline.

Metallurg stuns CSKA with six-goal second-period blast

CSKA Moscow 0 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7 (0-1, 0-6, 0-0)

Ilya Vorobyov’s first meeting with Metallurg since taking over as head coach at CSKA did not go as he might have hoped. In the past, Vorobyov won two Gagarin Cups in Magnitogorsk but today he came off second best against his former club. After falling behind late in the first period, the Muscovites collapsed in the second to fall to a heavy loss.

For Andrei Razin, meanwhile, this was a big win in all respects. Metallurg’s defense of last year’s title has not been impressive up to now with Magnitka languishing outside the playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Victory over one of the strongest teams in the west, and especially victory by such an emphatic margin, could represent a turning point in a difficult campaign.

The top individual performances came from Nikita Mikhailis and Valery Orekhov, who had four points apiece.

The visitor had the better of the first period, but not to the extent that it was obvious what would follow. Mikhailis opened the scoring with a power play effort in the 17th minute and Metallurg was good value for the lead, but CSKA showed enough to suggest that this would be a tight game.

However, in the final seconds of the opening frame, the home team took a pair of penalties. Metallurg began the second period with a five-on-three power play and Orekhov doubled the lead with a goal four seconds before the offending duo returned to the game. By now, Metallurg was on top of the game and Mikhailis got his second of the night to make it 3-0 in the 24th minute.

Vorobyov responded by replacing his starting goalie Ivan Prosvetov with Dmitry Gamzin. However, it took just 19 seconds for the new guy to see the puck get past him as Andrei Kozlov made it 4-0. And another power play brought a fifth goal as Dmitry Silantyev struck in the 27th minute.

Metallurg had four goals from six shots on target in the first seven minutes of the middle frame. At the other end, CSKA actually outshot the visitor but could do little to trouble Ilya Nabokov in the Magnitka net. Late in the frame, the Steelmen added to CSKA’s misery with two more goals: Pavel Akolzin converted a slick counterattack then Orekhov grabbed a second power play tally of the night just before the hooter.

That was the end of the scoring. The final frame was all about damage limitation for the home team, while Metallurg goalie Nabokov completed his shut-out with 26 saves.