SKA wins epic battle at Lokomotiv. October 7 round-up

Table-topping Loko fired in 48 shots at SKA’s Artemy Pleshkov, but fell to an OT loss in Yaroslavl. Alexander Nikishin snapped a 3-3 tie in the extras, moving his team to within five points of the leader. Elsewhere, Avtomobilist bounced back from Saturday’s loss to Sibir, edging Barys 4-3 after trailing by two in the third period. Sibir won 6-3 at Ak Bars to leapfrog its opponent into third place in the East. Admiral avenged its loss to Lada, winning 2-0 today, and Torpedo handed Kunlun Red Star a second defeat in barely a week.

Fightback sends Avtomobilist back to the Eastern summit

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 Barys Astana 3 (1-2, 0-0, 3-1)

Despite trailing 1-3 in the third period, Avtomobilist rallied to defeat Barys. The result brings up 100 wins for Nikolai Zavarukhin as head coach in Yekaterinburg, topping the club record set by Andrei Martemyanov.

Zavarukhin had to work for this victory/ After the Motormen struggled for goals during their current home stand, the head coach made some unexpected changes. Anatoly Golyshev went to the left wing, partnering Stephane Da Costa and Brooks Macek. Maxim Denezhkin was moved to center Brendan Leipsic and Andrei Obidin. Semyon Kizimov made his return following injury. Barys welcomed back Damir Zhafyarov but missed captain Roman Starchenko.

After a rocky start, struggling Barys came into the game and opened a 2-0 lead by the middle of the first period. Visiting head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev successfully challenged an early Stepan Khripunov goal, then saw his team get ahead when Maxim Mukhametov galloped out of his own zone and won his duel with Evgeny Alikin at the other end. A couple of minutes later, Nikita Setdikov released Mike McLeod to make it 2-0.

The home team looked as though it was repeating the same problems it endured against Sibir. Vladimir Galkin denied Barys a third goal before the home finally got it right late in the first period: Da Costa screened Nikita Boyarkin and Nick Ebert’s point shot found the target.

Avtomobilist was close to tying the game early in the second period when Macek unleashed a powerful shot from a meter out. With Boyarkin beaten, Ilya Khokhlov stepped in to make the block. Later, Ebert was close to his second of the game, but the crossbar denied him in a goalless middle frame.

The home team started the third period with a strong press, but could not generate dangerous offense with it. Instead, Barys grabbed a third on the counterattack: Stanislav Bocharov stripped Jesse Blacker of the puck and raced down the wing before firing through a crowd scene in front of Galkin’s net. That was Bocharov’s first goal since joining Barys, and the first time the Kazakhs had scored three in a game this season. But it wasn’t enough to win it. Avto pulled one back quickly when the fourth-line press presented Kizimov with an open net on his return to action.

Then came the key moment. Nikita Tryamkin snuffed out an odd man rush at one end and Ebert set up Golyshev at the other to make it 3-3. The visiting bench challenged the play again but had no luck. That put Avtomobilist on the power play, and Leipsic scored off a rebound to make it 4-3 for the host. That was enough to win the game and send Avtomobilist back to the top of the Eastern Conference. It is currently tied with Traktor on 18 points.

Revenge win for Admiral

Lada Togliatti 0 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (0-0, 0-2, 0-0)

These two teams met for the second time in three days. Saturday’s encounter was goalless through 65 minutes before the home team won in a shoot-out. Today, Andrei Mishurov was unbeaten once again in regulation, while his team-mates ended a goal drought that cleared 160 minutes.

For the first half of today’s game, the pattern was the same. Both Mishurov and his opposite number Vladislav Podyapolsky had the measure of the two offenses. The teams had a roughly even share of attacking play, although Admiral was more willing to shoot. Midway through the second period, that brought a breakthrough: Nikita Soshnikov opened his account in his second game for Admiral, halting Podyapolsky’s shut-out run at 135:57. The Sailors could celebrate a first goal in 160:48 of game time.

That goal came on the power play. Shortly afterwards, another foul saw the visitor need just six seconds on the PP before Arkady Shestakov doubled the lead.

With a lead to defend, Admiral was aggressive on the forecheck and worked hard to block up center ice. Those proved to be sound tactics. Lada could make little impression as Mishurov extended his personal shut-out streak to 135:43.

Another big win for Sibir

Ak Bars Kazan 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 6 (2-4, 0-1, 1-1)

Sibir followed up Saturday’s win at Avtomobilist with another impressive scalp on the road. Monday’s big win in Kazan means Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team lies third in the Eastern Conference on 16 points.

However, it didn’t always look like a comfortable road win. The home team made a flying start to the game. Alexander Barabanov opened the scoring after 16 seconds and added a second in the third minute.

That might have laid the foundation for a comfortable home win, but Sibir turned everything upside down late in the first period. Down by two after 14 minutes, the visitor went to the intermission with a two-goal lead. It started when Dmitrij Jaskin’s high stick gave Sibir its first power play of the night and Vladimir Butuzov immediately converted the opportunity. Then came two goals in 50 seconds as Georgy Belousov and Valentin Pyanov put the Siberians in front.

Ak Bars responded by sending Amir Miftakhov into the game in place of starting goalie Timur Bilyalov. However, he was beaten before the intermission when Alexei Yakovlev put away the rebound from a Trevor Murphy shot. Sibir scored four goals off nine shots in the opening frame and did it with just 3:21 in time on the attack.

If the home team hoped to start its recovery in the middle frame, it was in for more disappointment. Sibir created the better chances and extended its lead on another power play midway through the session. Yegor Martynov made it 5-2.

It wasn’t long before tempers spilled over. A big hit on Sergei Shirokov, playing his 1,000th game in Russian hockey, sparked a clash that saw Jaskin, Yakovlev and Nikita Korotkov pick up minor penalties. That left Ak Bars with a power play, but Sibir defended it well.

The third period began with Ak Bars again on the power play. Once again, though, Sibir held on. Back at equal strength, the visitor did a good job of taking the pace out of the game and protecting its lead. There was no further scoring until the final minutes when Korotkov scored into an empty net before Semyon Koshelev’s consolation goal completed the 3-6 scoreline.

Torpedo shoots down Dragons again

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

For the second time this season, Torpedo got the better of Kunlun. Monday’s win makes it five in a row for Igor Larionov’s team, a run that started with a 4-2 success in Mytishchi on Sep. 29.

This one was fairly straightforward for the home team. The first period did not bring many chances, but Daniil Bokun took his to make it 1-0 in the 15th minute. After the intermission, KRS had a couple of decent looks on the power play but could not take advantage. Midway through the session, Nikita Artamonov doubled the lead and Maxim Letunov kept up his rich vein of recent form with another assist. Letunov now has 10 helpers this season, and his productive streak is up to six games (2+9 points).

Red Star seldom looked like getting back into contention, despite a penalty shot save from Jeremy Smith. Torpedo wrapped up a routine win with an empty net goal from Kirill Voronin and a late power play tally for Vladislav Firstov.

Pleshkov heroics and Nikishin goal make the difference in Yaroslavl

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 SKA St. Petersburg 4 OT OT (1-1, 1-2, 1-0, 0-1)

SKA weathered a storm of Lokomotiv pressure before snatching an overtime verdict in Yaroslavl. Visiting goalie Artemy Pleshkov made 45 saves through 60 minutes before Alexander Nikishin potted the winning goal in the extras.

Monday’s big game saw KHL leader Lokomotiv entertain an unpredictable SKA. After his team’s recent high-scoring games, Petersburg head coach Roman Rotenberg praised his players’ commitment to attacking play. For some, that was a veiled swipe at the defensive game deployed by Lokomotiv, adding extra spice to a battle between two of the strongest rosters in the west.

The teams met in the first days of the season and on that occasion, SKA’s attacking swagger made little impact on Lokomotiv. The Railwaymen eased to a 2-0 victory. There would be no repeat today. Midway through the first period, Zakhar Bardakov put SKA in front with a fine solo effort. He came down the left channel, beat a defenseman and fired a low shot that Daniil Isayev could not read.

However, “defensive” Lokomotiv outshot SKA 20-6 in the first period and went to the intermission tied at 1-1 thanks to Maxim Beryozkin’s close-range finish in the 16th minute. And 14 seconds into the middle frame, the home team got in front through Maxim Shalunov’s second goal in as many games. Artemy Pleshkov had to be at his best in the visitor’s net to snuff out a dangerous power play soon afterwards but gradually SKA began to get its game together.

Sergei Plotnikov turned it all around. He tied the scores midway through the second period, then made it 3-2 in the 36th minute as SKA quickly converted a power play chance.

In the third period, Lokomotiv continued to play the more attacking hockey and it was Pleshkov in the SKA net who was the busiest man on the ice. Twice, the home team had five-on-three power plays and the second of them produced a tying goal in the 53rd minute. Artur Kayumov made the breakthrough with a wrister to make it 3-3.

SKA responded by calling a time-out and giving its defense a much-needed breather before resuming its PK. Pleshkov had faced 15 shots in the third period and his team-mates had blocked five more as Lokomotiv dominated the play. At the other end, Isayev was a virtual spectator, making just three saves through 13 minutes.

Finally, with four to play, SKA got back to full strength. In those closing stages, both teams had a chance to win it before the extras, but it remained 3-3 until the hooter.

In the extras, Lokomotiv again had more time in the SKA end. However, the home team was unable to get a shot on target before Mikhail Grigorenko led a breakaway and dished off a pass for Nikishin squeeze a shot inside the post and settle the outcome.