Amur ends Kazan losing streak. October 4 round-up

Amur finally snapped its long losing run in Kazan. Two days after a shoot-out verdict condemned the Tigers to an 11th successive defeat in the Tatar capital, Andrei Martemyanov’s team returned to avenge that loss with a 2-1 victory.

Ak Bars Kazan 1 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (0-2, 1-0, 0-0)

Amur made a great start to this game. As on Wednesday, the Tigers got the lead in the first period. Unlike last time, they managed to build on that, going into the first intermission up 2-0. Ak Bars recovered in the previous game, but could not claw back a two-goal deficit today.

The opening goal came in the third minute. Evgeny Grachyov won an attacking face-off and the puck went to Sergei Lapin, who beat Timur Bilyalov with a powerful shot to the corner. Then the first power play of the night brought a second Amur goal in the 13th minute. Dmitrij Jaskin sat for high sticking and the visiting power play got to work. As the PP was coming to an end, Jan Drozg and Arnaud Durandeau combined to set up Cam Lee for a wrister from the face-off circle.

After that the teams had a power play chance apiece without adding any goals and the first period ended in a fight between home defenseman Nikita Lyamkin and visiting forward Vyacheslav Gretsky, concluding with Lyamkin dumped on the ice.

In the second period there was still plenty of niggle in the game, but neither team was able to get a clear advantage on the ice. Chances kept coming at both ends but it wasn’t until late in the frame that the next goal arrived. It went to Ak Bars, on the power play, when Nic Petan found Artyom Galimov in space in the right-hand circle. Galimov scored his fifth of the season and the home team was ready to start a second fightback in three days.

The third period saw Ak Bars get a five-on-three power play after penalties on Yefim Gurkin and Igor Bobkov. However, the home side had yet to score on a two-man advantage this season and again failed to do so this time despite a flurry of shots at Bobkov’s net. No sooner had Amur killed that penalty than Artur Gizdatullin went to the box but once again the home power play came up short.

By now the game was moving into the last 10 minutes. Ak Bars had a slight lead on the shot count – 30-29 – but could not find a tying goal. Not even Jaskin, who had a point in every game this season prior to today, could find a way through in the closing stages. With two minutes left, Bilyalov came to the bench but Amur held on during that final storm and took the win.