Shipachyov sets one record, ties another. October 19 round-up
Dinamo Minsk forward Vadim Shipachyov played his 1,002nd KHL game, setting a league record for appearances. And with a minute left, his assist brought him level with Sergei Mozyakin’s all-time scoring record in a 4-1 win over Neftekhimik. Elsewhere, leader Lokomotiv defeated struggling Barys 3-1 while defending champion Metallurg suffered a 0-2 loss at Vityaz. There were high-scoring games in the Far East, with Spartak winning 5-4 at Amur and Admiral beating Lada 5-3. Severstal enjoyed a 4-2 verdict over Sibir, while Torpedo and Dynamo Moscow went to a shoot-out before ...
Revenge win for Admiral
Admiral Vladivostok 5 Lada Togliatti 3 (1-1, 3-1, 1-1)
Two days after suffering a 1-6 drubbing on home ice, Admiral got revenge with a 5-3 win over Lada. The Sailors, who had sustained three successive defeats, responding to Thursday’s thrashing by grabbing the initiative early – and got in front in the second minute. Libor Sulak was probably looking to get the puck to the slot rather than shoot at goal, but the defenseman wasn’t complaining as he found the net to record his 100th KHL point.
Admiral’s attacking start was halted when Andrei Mishurov got a penalty and Lada took advantage to tie the game through Ostap Safin. It remained level until the intermission, but the second period saw the home team take control. It started with a shorthanded goal from Kirill Petkov, racing away from two opponents and getting past a third before beating Alexander Trushkov. Then came a power play snipe from Daniil Gutik, triggering a rush of three goals in 78 seconds. Vyacheslav Osnovin, fit again, marked his Admiral debut with a goal before Ivan Romanov pulled one back for Lada.
Going into the third period, Oleg Bratash replaced Trushkov with back-up goalie Maxim Tretyak, who made his Lada debut. He lasted just three-and-a-half minutes before allowing a goal: Osnovin potted his second of the game. Maxim Berezin pulled one back for the visitor with four minutes to play, ensuring the finish remained lively, but Admiral held on to win.
Goldobin’s 100th goal helps Spartak to victory
Amur Khabarovsk 4 Spartak Moscow 5 (2-0, 1-5, 1-0)
Spartak rallied from two down to win a breathless battle in Khabarovsk. A five-star performance in the middle frame steered the visitor towards victory, although the outcome remained in the balance until the very end.
The Red-and-Whites began with a solid press but could not turn that into a goal. Instead, Amur opened the scoring in the seventh minute through Yefim Gurkin. The home defenseman fired in a shot from the blue line and a slight deflection off Andrei Loktionov took it away from Patrik Rybar. At times, Spartak whipped a storm around Dmitry Lozebnikov’s net, but the home team stood up well and doubled the lead through Alex Broadhurst 38 seconds before the intermission.
However, the game turned around completely in the second period when the Muscovites found their scoring touch. Alexander Pashin pulled one back in the 23rd minute, then Cam Lee’s tripping penalty midway through the session added to the pressure on the home team. The PK almost held on, but just as Lee was getting ready to return, Loktionov grabbed the tying goal.
After that, Pavel Poryadin came to the fore. He scored two, and assisted on another for Nikolai Goldobin as Spartak took control of the game. Goldobin’s effort was his 100th goal in the KHL. In between, Broadhurst got his second of the day for Amur, but the visitor took a two-goal lead into the second intermission.
In the third period, the teams traded attacks. However, it wasn’t until Ignat Korotkikh’s goal in the 53rd minute that either side found any success. That close-range effort brought Amur back to 4-5 and the Tigers threw everything into a bid to safe the game. When Poryadin went to the box with two minutes left, the home team had a real chance but even playing six-on-four was unable to find a tying goal.
Steelmen continue to impress on the road
Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (1-1, 1-2, 0-1)
Severstal’s road trip continued after two victories in the Far East. Despite the absence of three key defensemen – Yanni Kaldis, Yaroslav Dyblenko and Joe Duszak – the Steelmen continued that good form against a Sibir team that had been inactive for a week. The home team was without Yegor Martynov and Taylor Beck, both of whom scored when the teams met early this season in Cherepovets.
Despite that lack of firepower, Sibir got an early goal through Vladislav Kara, assisted by some strong pressing from Valentin Pyanov. In general, though, it was Severstal who got more out of the press. The visitor regularly forced turnovers and spent plenty of time in the O-zone. That eventually brought a tying goal for Adam Liska, converting a pass from behind the net.
After the intermission, David Dumbadze put Severstal ahead with a goal that closely resembled the first. Then came a tally from Ivan Podshivalov, stretching the lead to 3-1 when he put away the rebound from an Alexei Kruchinin shot. In response, Trevor Murphy stepped up from defense to score Sibir’s second of the night and maintain his position among the top-scoring blue liners in the KHL.
For much of the game, both teams showed impressive discipline and the first power play had to wait until the 47th minute. It went to Severstal, and Nikolai Burenov converted it to build a 4-2 lead. That proved to be the final score, with Sibir failing to convert two PPs of its own in the closing stages.
Dorozhko denies Zernov as Magnitka center returns
Vityaz Moscow Region 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Metallurg got a boost ahead of this game with news that center Denis Zernov was fit again after his operation in the summer. He went straight back into the top line, alongside Scott Wilson – playing against his former club – and Dmitry Silantyev.
However, that reinforced forward line fired blanks in Balashikha. Maxim Dorozhko, fresh from 43 saves in his team’s win over Lokomotiv, recorded a shut-out today with 34 stops.
At the other end, Derek Barach’s 11th goal of the season put Vityaz in front in the eighth minute. As well as giving his team the lead, he strengthened his position at the head of the goalscoring race this season.
Metallurg’s offense struggled. The visitor got a five-on-three power play but could not take advantage early on. Maybe it was a side-effect of Zernov’s return, but it seemed that the players lacked cohesion and will need time to get used to new partnerships.
In general, this was a goaltending duel, with Metallurg’s Alexander Smolin also producing some big stops to keep his team in the game. However, he was beaten again in the third period when Vladislav Tsitsyura squeezed in a shot from a dead angle that clipped the goalie’s mask and dropped into the net. That sealed a 2-0 verdict as the defending champion was frustrated on the road.
Dynamo takes shoot-out verdict
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Dynamo Moscow 3 SO (0-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Torpedo twice hit back to tie this game, but eventually lost out in the extras. Dynamo goalie Maxim Motorygin made four saves in that shoot-out, while Jordan Weal and Nikita Gusev converted their attempts to give the Blue-and-Whites victory.
After back-to-back wins, Dynamo travelled to in-form Torpedo looking to consolidate its place in the top eight. The home team, meanwhile, was hoping to extend a sequence of five wins in six.
In an even first period, the first power play of the game proved crucial. Cedric Paquette took advantage after Evgeny Svechnikov sat for tripping. The goal prompted a bench challenge from Torpedo, claiming that Ivan Kulbakov was impeded. However, the review found that the goal was good, and Torpedo faced a further penalty for delaying the game.
Dynamo was unable to add to its lead and it was 1-0 at the intermission. Torpedo began the second frame strongly. Mikhail Abramov dinged the piping early on, although Dynamo came agonizingly close to doubling its lead on a power play midway through the session. Once back at equal strength, Abramov tied the scores but the visitor regained the lead right on the hooter when former captain Nikita Gusev set up current captain Igor Ozhiganov to make it 2-1.
Early in the third, the Torpedo bench was challenging another Dynamo goal. This time, the officials upheld the complaint and the visitor was denied a 3-1 lead. Then, midway through the session, Maxim Letunov’s power play strike tied it at 2-2.
That took us all the way to a shoot-out. Motorygin had the measure of the home forwards to backstop a Dynamo win.
New-look Barys suffers another loss
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Barys Astana 1 (1-0, 1-0, 1-1)
The on-going turmoil at Barys continued during the week. Head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev departed the club within a month of taking over from David Nemirovsky. Galym Mambetaliyev took his place behind the bench, while the club’s new management announced a mass exodus of imports, including Alex Grant, another player who arrived within the past couple of weeks.
Lokomotiv is enjoying a much calmer time of it, making serene progress at the top of the table. The Railwaymen returned home after a convincing 5-1 win at Kunlun Red Star in midweek and opened a 2-0 lead in this game. However, it wasn’t exactly convincing stuff. The first period was short on scoring chances, although Dmitry Simashev put the home team in front in the 18th minute.
In the second period, Barys belatedly found its offensive game. The visitor had 14 shots on Daniil Isayev’s net but could not find the tying goal. Then, at the other end, Yegor Surin scored his first in the KHL. The 18-year-old was playing his 15th game of the season.
The third period saw the play slow down again, with Barys struggling to reproduce its attacking play from the middle frame. Ironically, though, it was the visitor that got the next goal when Alikhan Asetov halved the deficit in the 55th minute. However, hopes of a fightback were extinguished when Alexei Bereglazov found the empty net in the last minute to seal the deal for Loko.
Big day for Shipachyov
Dinamo Minsk 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 (0-0, 2-0, 2-1)
Vadim Shipachyov suited up for game number 1,002 of his KHL career. That’s a new league record, moving ahead of Evgeny Biryukov, who retired last season after 1,001 games.
The forward was also looking to match Sergei Mozyakin’s record 928-point career tally in today’s game against Neftekhimik, and got there with just over a minute to spare as Dinamo sealed a comfortable win. A late power play saw Shipachyov set up Brady Lyle for Minsk’s fourth and final goal of the game.
After a goalless first period, Dinamo broke the deadlock on a goal from Roman Gorbunov. That was no more than the home team deserved after dominating the play against a Neftekhimik side that lacked much by way of offense in the early stages.
As the game passed the midway mark, home defenseman Nicolas Meloche got into a fight with Andrei Belozyorov. Both players took major penalties and watched from the sidelines as Jordan Gross doubled the home lead 30 seconds later.
However, despite trailing by two, Neftekhimik came more into the game in that second period. And, after killing a penalty at the start of the third, the visitor got back in the game thanks to a Belozyorov goal on 47 minutes. For a time, there was some anxiety in the home ranks. However, a short-handed goal from Rob Hamilton made it 3-1 and Neftekhimik’s hopes of a fightback were hampered when defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich took a double minor in the closing stages. The visitor’s loss was Shipachyov’s gain as he got his milestone assist.
