Big day for Shipachyov. October 15 round-up

The game of the day was in Minsk, where Vadim Shipachyov made his 1,000th KHL appearance. He marked the occasion with three points as Dinamo rallied from 2-4 to beat CSKA in overtime. Shipachyov is now just one point behind Sergei Mozyakin’s KHL record tally of 928 points. There was overtime in two other games as well. Severstal rallied from 1-4 to win 6-5 at Admiral, before SKA edged Neftekhimik 3-2. Elsewhere, Lada won 5-3 at Amur to avenge Sunday’s defeat against the Tigers.

Lada gets revenge

Amur Khabarovsk 3 Lada Togliatti 5 (1-1, 0-2, 2-2)

After defeat on Sunday extended Lada’s long losing streak in Khabarovsk, the Motormen got out of first gear on Tuesday to avenge that loss. The visitor restored Yegor Chernikov and goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky to the team, while Amur replaced Viktor Baldayev and Sergei Lapin with Alexander Bryntsev and Jan Drozg.

Lapin almost had a goal on his first shift, but as his shot came in, Mikhail Fisenko was picking up a penalty after a foul on Ivan Mishchenko. During the home power play, Mishchenko himself went to the box and it wasn’t until everyone returned to full strength that Amur opened the scoring thanks to Oleg Li’s first of the season. Ilya Talaluyev’s assist was his first point since joining Amur. Last time, the Tigers blanked Lada; today the visitor cancelled out that opener in the 17th minute when Arkhip Nekolenko converted a rebound,

In the middle frame, Amur had the better of the game but managed to allow two unanswered goals to fall behind. Both came from Alexei Ozhgikhin, who celebrated his first double strike in his KHL career.

Despite that setback, Amur fought back in the third. Li potted his second of the game, and the Tiger’s fourth shorthanded tally of the season. Currently Amur leads the KHL for shorties. Li was close to a hat-trick on the power play, but Podyapolsky denied him and instead of a 3-3 tie we quickly saw a 4-2 lead. Nikita Popugayev scored midway through the frame, then padded the visitor’s advantage with his second of the night. Nikita Mikhailov got his third assist of the game on that fifth goal. There was still time for Vyacheslav Gretsky to score on Lada for the second time in three days, but the game was done and Lada had its first win in Khabarovsk since 2009.

Severstal wins a thriller

Admiral Vladivostok 5 Severstal Cherepovets 6 OT (2-1, 2-3, 1-1, 0-1)

Admiral failed to score in four of last five games, Severstal was blanked on home ice last time out. So, of course, this turned into a goal feast. The teams traded 10 goals in regulation, with Severstal rallying from 1-4 to force overtime. Then the visitor took victory in the extras.

Admiral, back home after a five-game road trip, made a bright start and had an early penalty, albeit with little success. The first-period action was pacey and end-to-end. The home team got up 2-0 with a couple of quick goals from Yegor Petukhov and Nikita Soshnikov, but Severstal hit back right away through David Dumbadze’s impressive coast-to-coast effort.

However, that wasn’t the start of a Severstal revival. Instead the home extended its lead in the second period with Petukhov to the fore. He potted his second of the night off a Mario Grman helper, then produced a great feed to send Leonid Metalnikov through to make it 4-1.

It looked like a solid, potentially decisive lead. However, it evaporated in the space of just three-and-a-half minutes late in the frame. A double minor penalty for Sokolov led to goals from Nikita Korostelyov and Danil Aimurzin before the latter set up Yegor Stepanov for the tying goal.

Severstal carried that momentum into the third period and got in front for the first time in the game. Kirill Pilipenko scored, Aimurzin collected his third point of the game. But that wasn’t enough to win it. Despite several good chances to extend the lead, the Steelmen were pegged back by a fine goal from Daniil Gutik to force the action into overtime.

The extras didn’t last long: Severstal pulled off an elegant counter attack before Mark Barberio finished it off to make it 6-5 to the visitor.

Shipachyov scores three points in 1,000th game

Dinamo Minsk 5 CSKA Moscow 4 OT (1-0, 0-2, 3-2, 1-0)

Vadim Shipachyov played his 1,000th game in the KHL as Dinamo Minsk took on CSKA. The forward, who made his debut in 2008-2009, has played in every season and becomes only the second man to reach the milestone after defenseman Evgeny Biryukov last season.

And Shipachyov, 37, also moved closer to another career landmark. He picked up three points today, assisting on the opening goal from Sam Anas before triggering a bold Dinamo fightback late on. Down 2-4, the home team switched to six-on-five play in the 57th minute; Shipachyov scored his team’s third goal and assisted as Brady Lyle tied it up in the last minute.

That takes Shipachyov to 927 (291+636) points, just one behind Sergei Mozyakin’s all-time KHL scoring record.

The late fightback also secured a dramatic victory to return Dinamo to the top eight in the West. In the first minute of overtime, Anas scored his second of the game to seal a 5-4 verdict that seemed improbable just minutes earlier.

For much of the game, this looked like CSKA’s to win. Anas’s 12th-minute goal put Dinamo in front, but late in the first period Dillon Dube took a major penalty for cross-checking. That handed the initiative to CSKA and although the Muscovites could not find a power play goal, the visitor enjoyed long spells in control of the play.

Come the second period, that pressure delivered results. Prokhor Poltapov served a penalty and, 30 seconds later, set up Maxim Sorkin for the tying goal. Then, midway through the session, Denis Guryanov put CSKA in front. For Guryanov, one of the Russians who returned from North America in the summer, it was his first goal since Sep. 22 and his fourth of the season.

Dinamo managed to tie the game at the start of the third thanks to Sergei Kuznetsov, but it didn’t take long for CSKA to regain the lead. Home goalie Andrei Tikhomirov was hampered by an awkward bounce and former Dinamo hot-shot Ivan Drozdov pounced on a loose puck to make it 3-2.

And Drozdov continued to enjoy his return home, potting his second of the game to give CSKA a two-goal lead with five to play. At that point, it seemed that Drozdov would enjoy victory over his former club. However, the dramatic turnaround meant that home head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov was left celebrating a win against one of his earlier employers.

OT penalty shot sinks Neftekhimik

SKA St. Petersburg 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 OT (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

A penalty shot in overtime proved to be the difference in St. Petersburg, with Evgeny Kuznetsov continuing his hot streak after returning to fitness. He potted his attempt after a foul on Arseny Gritsyuk to secure a home win.

There was little to choose between the teams in the first period. It finished 1-1, with the two sides having 11 shots each. SKA scored of its first shot on goal, Ivan Demidov making the breakthrough in the fifth minute after getting away from Bogdan Kiselevich and beating Artyom Zagidulin. However, the home team presented Neftekhimik with an equalizer when Sergei Tolchinsky collected the puck behind his net, only to pass it direct to Bulat Shafigullin in the face-off circle. The visiting forward gleefully accepted the gift.

At the start of the second period, another SKA error saw Neftekhimik take the lead. Vyacheslav Leshchenko forced a turnover and surged down the left wing before firing the puck to Grigory Seleznyov in the center. He evaded the attentions of Nikita Zaitsev and beat Yegor Zavragin. In response, SKA stepped up the pressure but had to wait until the 38th minute before tying the game. Ironically, it stemmed for an extended period of Neftekhimik possession: Vasily Glotov caught Vladislav Leontyev on the boards and set up an odd-man rush. Gritsyuk led the charge before dishing off the puck for Valentin Zykov to score.

After four goals in 40 minutes, the teams seemed to run out of ideas in the third period. Chances were few, although SKA finished the game strongly, and the play moved into overtime.

In the second minute of the extras, Neftekhimik was called for too many men and SKA had a great chance to win it. However, almost immediately Sergei Plotnikov’s excitement got the better of him: the home forward sat for hooking and we were back to equal strength. Next came a penalty shot after Gritsyuk was fouled on his way to Neftekhimik’s net. Kuznetsov stepped up to take it and grabbed a winner for the home team. Victory moves Petersburg up to second in the West.