Metallurg, Severstal record comeback wins. October 8 round-up

Tuesday was a day of fightbacks in the KHL. Metallurg started it off, rallied from 1-3 to defeat Dynamo Moscow with four unanswered goals in the third period. Amur picked up the theme at Neftekhimik, wiping out a 0-3 deficit before falling in a shoot-out. Severstal was down 0-2 at the second intermission against Dinamo Minsk and recovered to force overtime before ... And in Sochi, the home team tried to recover from 0-3 only to lose out 2-4 against Vityaz. The only game that did not feature a fightback was perhaps the highest-profile encounter of the day. CSKA snapped its goal drought after 153 minutes and claimed a 2-0 verdict over Salavat Yulaev.

Dynamo blows 3-1 lead, Metallurg powers to win

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 Dynamo Moscow 3 (1-2, 0-1, 4-0)

After wins over Spartak and CSKA in Moscow, Metallurg completed a capital sweep with victory at home to Dynamo. But today, the defending champion had to recover from 1-3 to beat the visitor with four goals in the final frame.

Initially, the home team was on top. Pressure on the Dynamo net led to a five-on-three power play and Nikita Mikhailis set up Dmitry Silantyev for the opening goal after 10 minutes. That was the first of three points in tonight’s game for Mikhailis, who moves on to 10 (5+5) in his last three appearances.

However, Dynamo turned the game around in the first period. Jordan Weal tied it up on the power play and when the second line’s neat inter-passing put the home defense into a spin, Pavel Kudryavtsev made it 2-1 at the intermission.

The second period brought fewer scoring chances, although Pavel Akolzin was close to tying the game. Later, Dynamo extended its lead, albeit with a slice of good fortune: Vladislav Yeryomenko deflected the puck into his own net with Eric O’Dell claiming his team’s third goal.

That was enough for Andrei Razin to send backup goalie Alexander Smolin into action in place of Ilya Nabokov. He was immediately called into action to neutralize at Dynamo power play but kept the opposition at bay until the second break.

After the intermission, Nikita Gusev’s error handed Metallurg a lifeline. The visiting captain gifted the puck to Daniil Vovchenko, who instinctively fired home his third goal of the season. That encouraged the home team to go out and save the game and, midway through the final frame, Andrei Kozlov’s hard work on the slot was rewarded with a tying goal.

Dynamo’s problems were compounded when Weal picked up an unnecessary O-zone penalty. To make matters worse, he talked his way into a second minor. Metallurg quickly converted the first power play, with Mikhailis on target and set out on a second two-minute advantage. This time, Igor Geraskin’s foul saw both teams play with four men, but the home team still closed out the win, helped by an empty-net tally from Alexander Petunin.

Amur’s fightback can’t deny Neftekhimik

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Amur Khabarovsk 3 SO (0-0, 3-0, 0-3, 0-0, 1-0)

Amur rallied from 0-3 to drag Neftekhimik to a shoot-out as the teams met in Nizhnekamsk for the second time in three days. However, the fightback fell short as the home team took another win in the shoot-out.

For two periods, this felt like a repeat of Sunday’s game between these teams. Both games had a goalless first period before the Wolves took control in the second. Grigory Seleznyov, who scored the fourth and final goal in Sunday’s 4-1 win, got the first today after 25 minutes. Then Bulat Shafigullin made it two goals in two games as he doubled the lead with a short-handed goal.

But there were new twists in today’s script. Neftekhimik handed a debut to Sergei Shmelyov. The forward had a tough start to the season with Admiral, where he played just four games, but marked his first game for Neftekhimik with a goal to make it 3-0 on the power play in the 35th minute.

And the third period brought a fightback from Amur. The Tigers scored twice in 80 seconds through captain Evgeny Grachyov and a second goal of the season from Arnaud Durandeau. With 13 to play, this one was back in the balance. And in the closing stages, Jan Drozg tied it up. Like Durandeau, the import forward hasn’t enjoyed the most prolific start to the season but he added to his earlier assist with his second – and most important – goal of the season so far.

That took the game to overtime and eventually a shoot-out. Vyacheslav Leshchenko was the only player to convert his attempt, giving Neftekhimik a tighter win that seemed likely at the start of the third period.

Vityaz survives third-period scare

HC Sochi 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 4 (0-2, 0-1, 2-1)

A big game at the foot of the Western Conference saw two teams looking to move to within a point of the playoff places. Victory for either side in Sochi would put the winner on 12 points, one back from Dynamo Moscow and Dinamo Minsk in seventh and eighth places.

Sochi arrived in good form after three successive victories at home to Severstal, Admiral and Dinamo. Vityaz was also looking good with recent wins against Barys and Kunlun keeping Pavel Desyatkov’s team in contention with the playoff race.

But it was the visitor that dominated the first period. Vityaz outshot Sochi 22-4, applying relentless pressure on Sergei Ivanov’s net. The home goalie didn’t get all that much help from his defense: just seven attempts failed to hit the target as the Leopards failed to block shooting lanes.

Inevitably, that control led to goals: Dmitry Buchelnikov opened the scoring in the eighth minute and Ivan Savchik doubled the lead as the first period drew to an end.

The second period was closer, but Vityaz extended its lead late in the session. Frederik Gauthier moved to five for the season with a power play effort, Buchelnikov adding an assist to his tally. The visitor looked well placed to claim a second win of the season over Sochi.

But this was a day of fightbacks. Perhaps inspired by the exploits of Metallurg, Amur and Severstal elsewhere, Sochi launched its own bid to salvage a lost cause. Two goals in 40 seconds blew this game wide open in the 56th minute as Timur Khafizov got the home team off the mark before Artur Tyanulin made it a one-goal game. Rattled, Vityaz called a time-out to steady some nerves before attempting to defend a now slender margin for the closing three minutes of the game.

However, the visitor held on, and sealed the deal when Savchik put his second of the night into an empty-net. That moves Vityaz to within touching distance of the top eight.

Podshivalov powers Severstal revival

Severstal Cherepovets 3 Dinamo Minsk 2 SO (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Severstal rallied from 0-2 to defeat Dinamo in a shoot-out. The win lifts the Steelmen to fifth in the West and opens a four-point gap to ninth-placed Vityaz. Andrei Kozyrev’s team also built on its win over SKA and improves to three victories out of four after a run of losses.

However, the home team had to do it the hard way, relying on Ivan Podshivalov’s first goals of the season to salvage a game that looked to be heading Dinamo’s way.

There was no return to action for Vadim Shipachyov, who was scratched for Sunday’s 2-3 loss at Sochi, but the visitor found the way to goal midway through the first period. Vadim Moroz, who had two helpers in the Sochi game, was the scorer here to give his team the lead at the intermission.

In the second period, Dinamo extended its lead: captain Andrei Stas is not the most frequent scorer, but the veteran scored on Severstal for the second time this season to make it 2-0 in the 36th minute.

The visitor began the third period on the power play, but got caught by a short-handed goal from Ivan Podshivalov as Severstal found a way back into the game. That was Podshivalov’s first of the season; his second came less than eight minutes later to tie the game. Adding to the pain for Minsk, the assists came from former Dinamo defenseman Mark Barberio and Belarusian forward Alexander Skorenov.

Poshivalov’s pair steered the game all the way to a shoot-out, although Severstal had a chance to win it in OT when it got on the power play following Xavier Ouellet’s transgression. The shoot-out was high-scoring: the teams converted five of their 10 attempts. However, Skorenov gave Severstal the verdict.

Sorkin ends CSKA’s wait for a goal

CSKA Moscow 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Two streaks came to an end in Moscow tonight, and both were to CSKA’s benefit. The home team scored at last after firing blanks in its previous two games. And, at the other end, Salavat Yulaev forward Josh Leivo saw his 16-game productive run come to an end as his team failed to score for the first time this season.

The game got off to a bright start. Salavat Yulaev launched a dangerous attack in the opening seconds, but Leivo’s shot flashed wide with Dmitry Gamzin beaten in the home net. CSKA responded with a decent point shot from Maxim Mamin and then had a power play chance that Ufa snuffed out.

Despite that early action, the opening goal arrived late in the first period. CSKA finally ended its goalless sequence of 153:58 when Vitaly Abramov’s hit on Dinar Khafizullin sparked a swift attack. That ended with Prokhor Poltapov firing in a shot that Maxim Sorkin redirected past Alexander Samonov.

That was all that separated the teams at the first intermission, and the second period brought no further scoring. Salavat had more of the game as it looked to get back into it. The visitor outshot CSKA 14-7 through the session and was close to tying the scores late on when a patient passing play saw home goalie Gamzin lose his stick before he managed to stop Sheldon Rempal’s dangerous shot. Immediately after that, CSKA went down the ice and fashioned a great chance for a second goal. However, Samonov had enough to stop Abramov’s solo rush after the home forward forced a turnover and opened the visiting defense.

It was no surprise that the visitor tried to push the game in the third period. CSKA was fairly content to close this one out without risking too much going forward, while Salavat Yulaev needed to find a way back as quickly as possible. Gamzin was much the busier goalie early on, making seven saves in the first five minutes of the session.

Even when CSKA got a power play in the 48th minute, the home team struggled to test Samonov. However, it ate up two valuable minutes and slowed Ufa’s momentum as the game moved into its decisive phase. In the end, it was all settled in the final minute when Yegor Fateyev marked his first appearance of the season with an empty-net goal. Relief for CSKA after two bad losses, frustration for Salavat Yulaev, and especially Leivo who left the ice with no points for the first time this season.