Gusev celebrates 400 assists, Zavragin denies Dinamo Minsk. October 6 round-up

Dynamo Moscow blanked Vityaz, and the visitor’s 3-0 win saw Nikita Gusev claim his 400th KHL assist. HC Sochi recorded a third win in a row, defeating Dinamo Minsk thanks to a big goaltending performance from Sergei Zavragin. Sunday’s other game saw Neftekhimik record back-to-back wins thanks to a 4-1 verdict against Amur.

Gusev reaches milestone in Dynamo success

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

Dynamo snapped a two-game losing streak and recorded its first shut-out of the season to defeat Vityaz. Goalie Maxim Motorygin, brought into the team in place of Hunter Miska, made 22 saves to backstop the win, while Nikita Gusev celebrated his 400th assist in KHL play.

Vityaz, a comfortable winner over Kunlun in the previous game, had to replace Canadian forward Nic Baptiste, who picked up a knock in that encounter. Vladislav Tsitsyura returned to the team for his first appearance since Sep. 9.

After scoring seven on Thursday, the home team was full of confidence and made a bright start. Early pressure saw Vityaz get the first power play of the game in the eighth minute and Ivan Vorobyov forced a great save out of Motorygin to keep the scoresheet blank.

Gradually Dynamo came into the game, but it wasn’t until the midway point that the visitor opened the scoring. Max Comtois picked out a wrister to the far corner to beat Maxim Dorozhko. That’s the third goal of the season for the Canadian, and his first in a winning cause. Again, Vityaz had chances to score with Derek Barach twice going close, but Dynamo held its lead to the intermission.

The Blue-and-Whites settled the game with two quick goals midway through the third. Dmitry Rashevsky doubled the lead on 48:51, then a power play chance saw Gusev set up Jordan Weal to make it 3-0. Gusev becomes only the fourth player to reach 400 assists in the KHL: Vadim Shipachyov (633), Sergei Mozyakin (509) and Alexander Radulov (460) also cleared that milestone.

Wolves too strong for Tigers

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Amur Khabarovsk 1 (0-0, 2-0, 2-1)

After ending an 11-year wait for victory in Kazan, Amur was unable to follow up with success at Neftekhimik. A second Tatar opponent proved too much for the Tigers as Oleg Leontyev’s team posted back-to-back wins and put a decisive end to it recent six-game skid.

The home team was active in the transfer market during the week, adding forwards Riley Barber and Sergei Shmelyov to the roster. Neither was available to play on Sunday but in their absence the Wolves proved too much for Amur.

After a goalless first period, the home team took control in the second. A five-on-three power play enabled Andrei Belozyorov to set up Vyacheslav Leshchenko for the opener in the 23rd minute. Then, midway through the game, Belozyorov scored himself to give Neftekhimik some breathing space.

Midway through the third period, Amur got back into contention thanks to a goal from Sergei Lapin. The 28-year-old, playing only his fourth game of the season, was also on target in Friday’s win at Ak Bars.

However, after getting back into the game Amur was undone by some untimely penalties. The second of them saw Bulat Shafigullin’s power play goal put the game beyond reach before Grigory Seleznyov’s empty net tally sealed Neftekhimik’s second win in five days.

Rearguard effort gives Sochi the edge

HC Sochi 3 Dinamo Minsk 2 (2-1, 1-1, 0-0)

A resilient defensive performance and 41 saves from goalie Yegor Zavragin earned Sochi a hard-fought win over Dinamo Minsk. The home team blocked 26 shots in the game to edge a 3-2 verdict, despite managed just 13 shots on target through 60 minutes.

Dinamo came into this game without Vadim Shipachyov. The veteran forward is closing on his 1,000th KHL appearance and has Sergei Mozyakin’s league scoring record in his sights. However, in 10 games for Minsk this season he has just two assists and after a 0-3 loss against SKA, Dmitry Kvartalnov’s patience apparently ran out.

While the visitor was looking to add some consistency to its game, Sochi was hoping to build on back-to-back wins. After several seasons as a whipping boy, the Black Sea club is hoping that Sergei Zubov’s coaching can make the Leopards competitive once again. Despite a poor start to the season, back-to-back shut-outs against Severstal and Admiral meant that victory here could put Sochi just two points behind eighth-placed Dinamo.

When Artur Tyanulin opened the scoring in the ninth minute, things looked good for the home team. Although Pavel Denisov tied the game, Sochi took advantage of a five-on-three power play to take a 2-1 lead to the intermission. Sergei Popov added to his earlier assist to claim the go-ahead goal.

In the middle frame, Denis Vengryzhanovsky extended the home lead before Dinamo got one back through Brady Lyle. The defenseman scored off Vadim Moroz’s second assist of the game. However, Minsk should surely have had more from a middle frame that it dominated without converting its chances. The visitor had 47 goal attempts in the session, 25 of them on target and a further 15 blocked by the home defense. Sochi goalie Yegor Zavragin played out of his skin and continued to impress in the third period.

The final stanza saw Dinamo continue to dominate in a game where it finished with almost 20 minutes of attacking possession. However, Sochi defended well, Zavragin made a further 10 stops and, despite a couple of penalties in the closing stages that made things tense, the home team held on to close out the win.