Omsk thriller takes top billing on high-scoring day. October 17 round-up

Wednesday’s KHL action produced 45 goals in a day of high drama. Eleven of them came in Omsk, where Spartak edged Avangard 6-5 in a barn-burner of a battle. Neftekhimik rallied from 1-4 to force overtime at Torpedo, but the home team took the vedict in the extras. SKA and CSKA also played out a tight, high-scoring encounter in Petersburg, ending in another 5-4 OT scoreline for the host. Lada hit Admiral for six in one of the early games, while Severstal took a 2-1 verdict at Amur. Avtomobilist left it late to beat Vityaz 3-1, while Metallurg managed the rare distinction of a shut-out on a high-scoring gameday, blanking Dinamo Minsk in Belarus.

Severstal snatches victory with 32 seconds to play

Amur Khabarovsk 1 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (0-0, 0-1, 1-1)

This game was delayed for two hours after a problem cleaning the ice in the build-up to the action. And it took the two teams some time to get into their stride once play started.

The opening exchanges were rather confused with neither team able to establish a pattern of play. Scoring chances were infrequent, although Ignat Korotkikh dinged one off the Severstal crossbar late in the opening frame.

In the second period, Severstal got in front thanks to Ruslan Abrosimov’s goal. As he approached the net, he used Cam Lee as a screen and fired home from mid-range. The Tigers then had chances to recover, most notably on a five-on-three power play. Alexander Samoilov kept his team in front with a fine double save to deny Ilya Talaluyev.

However, the visiting goalie was beaten midway through the third period when Korotkikh’s short-handed tally levelled the scores. Almost immediately, Adam Liska forced a big save from Dmitry Lozebnikov in the home net as Amur denied Severstal an instant lead.

However, the Steelmen left with the points thanks to a goal 32 seconds before the hooter. Ilya Ivantsov won his face-off against Dmitry Shevchenko and fired home directly from the dot. That was enough to give the visitor its first win in Khabarovsk since Jan. 2019.

Late blast swamps Sailors

Admiral Vladivostok 1 Lada Togliatti 6 (0-1, 1-0, 0-5)

Lada blasted four goals in five minutes blow Admiral away in the third period of this game. After two tight periods saw the teams locked at 1-1, the visitor took control to record a comprehensive victory.

Admiral came into the game after back-to-back losses and made a few changes to the line-up. Kirill Petkov joined the second line, Alexander Shevchenko returned to the team and Artyom Chmykhov was back on defensive duties in front of goalie Vasily Demchenko. Imports Mario Grman and Giovanni Fiore were among the players to make way. Lada made just one change from the team that won in Khabarovsk, with Anthony Greco replacing Nikita Popugayev as the latter recovers from illness.

The new-look Admiral made an active start but could not establish an early advantage in the game. Instead, Lada got in front thanks to Ostap Safin. He stole the puck his own blue line and raced clear to beat Demchenko in style.

In the second period, Admiral gained momentum when Lada took a couple of overlapping penalties: Oleg Bratash’s team had to deal with 18 seconds of three-on-five play in the middle of it all. However, it wasn’t until the teams were back at equal strength that the Sailors tied the score through Arkady Shestakov.

But a close game was transformed in the third. Lada got off to a good start, killing a penalty then regaining the lead on a goal from Dmitry Kugryshev. Then the floodgates opened: in the 53rd minute, Vladislav Chervonenko doubled the lead and subsequently goals flew into the Admiral net. Nikita Mikhailov and Yegor Chernikov scored twice in a minute then, on a delayed penalty, Safin potted his second of the game. Four goals in 5:15 sealed a 6-1 verdict for the Motormen and lifted the visitor ahead of Admiral and into the playoff spots.

11 goals, a hat-trick and a fight in Omsk

Avangard Omsk 5 Spartak Moscow 6 (0-1, 4-1, 1-4)

This is a game that nobody will forget in a hurry. Both teams built – and blew – significant leads. Adam Ruzicka grabbed his first hat-trick in the KHL, snapping a 5-5 tie to give Spartak the verdict. And, in the middle of it all, we had a proper fight. Are you not entertained?

The game got off to a fast-paced start with the teams trading attacks. The first power play went to Spartak and although the visitor didn’t seem to make much of its advantage, Ruzicka managed to open the scoring with a solo rush. Yet that was the only goal of the opening frame, despite a huge chance for Alexander Belyayev to double the lead late in the session. Instead, the big talking point was a 12th-minute fight between Hawks captain Damir Sharipzyanov and Spartak’s Veniamin Korolyov. The home defenseman took exception to Korolyov’s hit on Reid Boucher and was handed an additional interference minor after winning the bout.

Down at the intermission, Avangard rethought its tactics and began to dominate in the second period. However, despite home pressure, Spartak’s Ruzicka struck again on the counter to make it 2-0. And in the 29th minute, the Red-and-Whites again had the puck in the net, but a bench challenge cancelled out Korolyov’s effort.

Next came one of the goal rushes that would characterize the game. Linden Vey got the Hawks on the scoreboard on 29:20 and when Alexander Filatyev scored on 36:32, he gave the home team a 4-2 lead. Ilya Reingardt and Nikita Kholodilin also found the net before Patrik Rybar replaced starting goalie Dmitry Nikolayev. Semyon Chistyakov assisted on two of those tallies as the game swung wildly from one team to the other.

Spartak began the third period on the power play and Ruzicka turned provider as Mikhail Maltsev scored 36 seconds into the session. Within a minute, Pavel Poryadin had the game tied at 4-4 and when Nikolai Goldobin put Spartak ahead once again, the visitor had scored three goals in less than six minutes. Pavel Khomchenko became the fourth goalie to enter the game when he took Ilya Proskuryakov’s place.

There was more to come. Avangard tied the game at five through Boucher, with Sharipzyanov getting his second assist of the night and Reingardt collecting his second point. However, this would be Ruzicka’s, and Spartak’s, day. The Slovak forward redirected an Andrei Mironov shot to complete his hat-trick on 54 minutes; Mironov himself secured a hat-trick of helpers to complete a 6-5 scoreline.

Leipsic’s double downs Vityaz

Vityaz Moscow Region 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (0-0, 1-1, 0-2)

Late goals from Brendan Leipsic secured a third win in four games for the Motormen, who move to within two points of Traktor at the top of the Eastern Conference. Defeat denied Vityaz the chance to return to the top eight in the west.

This game got off to a cautious start, with the teams managing just 12 shots between them in a goalless first period. There was more action after the intermission, and the home team opened the scoring midway through thanks to Ilya Arkalov’s first goal of the season. The 30-year-old forward has not been a regular in the team this season; ironically his first point of the campaign arrived in the first game where he finished on the losing side, having been a winner in his previous five outings.

The end of that sequence owed much to Avto’s foreign legion. Stephane Da Costa tied the game three minutes later off an assist from Brooks Macek. Then Nick Merkley (Canada) and Jesse Blacker (Canadian-born, Kazakh citizen) combined to set up Leipsic (Canadian-born, Russian passport) to make it 2-1 with three minutes to play. Vityaz called a time-out and played the last 2:20 with an empty net in a bid to save the game. However that merely resulted in Leipsic scoring his second of the net to seal the deal for the visitor.

Wolves salvage a tie but fall in OT

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 OT (3-1, 0-0, 1-3, 1-0)

Omsk was not the only place that saw a dramatic fightback. Neftekhimik trailed 1-4 in the 49th minute, yet rallied to take the game to overtime.

However, the fightback fell short. In the extras, Vladislav Leontyev was penalized and Torpedo grabbed a power play winner through Dmitry Kagarlitsky’s second goal of the season.

That finish seemed a long way off when Torpedo jumped to an early 3-0 lead. Bobby Lynch opened the scoring in the sixth minute, assisted by Igor Larionov Jr. on his return from injury. Then Nikita Artamonov made it two before Maxim Letunov added to his earlier assist with a third goal on 13:08. In the middle of all that, Neftekhimik head coach Oleg Leontyev called a time-out but kept faith with goalie Filipp Dolganov. Late in the opening frame, the visitor got on the scoreboard thanks to a power play goal from Luka Profaca, but Torpedo seemed well in control at the intermission.

However, the second period brought a challenge to Torpedo’s comfortable position. Although there was no further scoring, the visitor enjoyed the bulk of the possession. A shot count of 11-8 in Neftekhimik’s favor was not overwhelming, but the home defense had to block a further 10 efforts to protect Ivan Bocharov’s net.

It seemed that the danger was past, especially when a short-handed goal from Vasily Atanasov padded the lead to 4-1 in the 49th minute. But Neftekhimik produced a stunning riposte. Profaca’s second of the game started the fightback on 52:38. Three minutes later, Evgeny Mityakin’s power play goal set up a blazing finale. Then, with 90 seconds left and the goalie on the bench, Jean-Sebastien Dea tied the game.

Despite the heroics, the Wolves had to be content with a solitary point as the home team recovered to win it in the extras.

Nabokov denies Dinamo

Dinamo Minsk 0 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (0-0, 0-1, 0-1)

On a day full of goals, Ilya Nabokov proved unbeatable in Metallurg’s net. The visiting goalie stopped 26 shots, 12 of them in the third period as Dinamo battled to save this game. That was good enough to backstop another road win; the defending champion hasn’t lost away from home since Sep. 16.

It took some time for the visitor to find a way through Dinamo’s defense, though. The first period saw plenty of attacking possession, not to mention 17 shots at Andrei Tikhomirov’s net. However, the home goalie was rarely extended as he kept the game scoreless until the intermission.

In the middle frame, Dinamo came into contention a bit more. After playing much of the first period in front of its own net, the home team pushed play into center ice for long spells. However, late in the session Scott Wilson grabbed a short-handed goal to put Metallurg ahead. Immediately after that, Dillon Dube had a great chance to tie it up, but Nabokov did the splits to pad away a dangerous low shot.

The final stanza saw Minsk unleash its offense at last. Sam Anas posed an early threat, then Lipsky got the puck past Nabokov, only for Valery Orekhov to clear it from the goal-line. In the 53rd minute, Dinamo had the puck in the net, along with Nabokov and home forward Vitaly Pinchuk. An initial review confirmed that the puck crossed the line, but a bench challenge then ruled that Pinchuk impeded Nabokov and the goal was called back.

That was as close as the home team came. Late on, Metallurg wrapped it up with an empty-netter from Daniil Vovchenko to seal a 2-0 win.

Nikishin claims OT winner

SKA St. Petersburg 5 CSKA Moscow 4 OT (2-1, 2-1, 0-2, 1-0)

Games between SKA and CSKA always grab the headlines – and tonight’s was another cracker. Twice, SKA opened a two-goal lead. Twice, CSKA recovered to tie the scores. However, in overtime the host claimed victory.

Captain Alexander Nikishin was ultimately the difference between the teams. Sergei Plotnikov dragged play into the CSKA end and dropped a pass behind his back for Nikishin to step up and shoot home the winning goal.

The early stages belonged to the home team. Tony De Angelo has been a potent force since joining the club. He’s picked up points in every game except one and wasted little time in continuing that run today when he scored the opening goal in the eighth minute. That goal was assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov, and he picked up his second helper of the game when Plotnikov doubled the lead in the 15th minute. However, CSKA pulled a goal back late in the first through Alexei Churkin.

Early in the second period, Prokhor Poltapov tied the game, but SKA needed only a couple of minutes to regain the lead. Arseny Gritsyuk continued his recent productive streak, chasing Dmitry Gamzin from the visitor’s net. Ivan Prosvetov took over in goal, but late in the frame he was beaten by Vasily Glotov; Gritsyuk and De Angelo picked up their second points of the game.

CSKA again struck early in the third period, with Yegor Fateyev giving the visitor hope of saving the game. That was Fateyev’s second goal in only four appearances this season. After that, Ilya Vorobyov moved to playing with three lines as the visitor chased a tying goal. SKA killed a penalty midway through the third, but Maxim Sorkin tied it up when he won a puck battle on the slot and steered it past Yegor Zavragin.

That took the game into overtime, and Gritsyuk saw a great chance to win it halted by some great defending from Christian Jaros before Nikishin stepped up to settle it for the home team.