Salavat needs shoot-out to beat Sochi, Torpedo downs Neftekhimik. October 22 round-up

Sochi pushed Salavat Yulaev all the way in Ufa, but the home team eventually edged a shoot-out verdict over Sergei Zubov’s men. The visitor’s captain Artur Tyanulin established a club record 10-game productive streak. In Tuesday’s later game, Torpedo defeated Neftekhimik for the second time in the space of a week, taking a 3-1 verdict in Nizhnekamsk.

Rempal earns Ufa a shoot-out success

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 HC Sochi 2 SO (1-0, 1-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Two days after defeating CSKA, Sochi came close to claiming another big scalp on its visit to Ufa. Salavat Yulaev, meanwhile, found itself down in eighth place in the East after defeat to Traktor in its previous game.

Sochi might the better start to the game and Nikolai Chebykin’s efforts on the slot created the first meaningful scoring chance. It wasn’t until midway through the first period that the home team rose from its slumbers. First, forward Sheldon Rempal attempted to outwit visiting goalie Sergei Ivanov, than defenseman Alexander Komarov got forward to drill a shot against the piping. Eventually, the pressure paid off when Alexander Sharov set up Josh Leivo for the opening goal. At the other end, Ufa captain Grigory Panin, attempting to halt opponent Jesse Graham, inadvertently laid his hit on team-mate Nathan Todd. The latter needed a moment to recover before returning to the game.

After the intermission, Sochi again started stronger. Artur Tyanulin, the Leopards’ scoring leader, let Salavat Yulaev off early in the frame when he got away from two defensemen but failed to beat goalie Semyon Vyazovoi. Sochi continued to press and got its reward when Danil Avershin fired home the tying goal.

However, the response was immediate. Just 37 seconds later Todd made the most of a kind bounce off the boards to shoot home from a tight angle and extend his productive streak to five games.

Tyanulin’s hot streak is even longer and he was looking to set a club record today. Once again, he got a clear run at Vyazovoi’s net, only to be halted by a foul. However, he could not convert the penalty shot. Instead, Sochi’s captain had to wait until a power play late in the second period. Then he got the assist as Daniil Seroukh made it 2-2. That’s a 10-game productive series for Tyanulin, moving him ahead of Sergei Kostitsyn’s club record.

The third period remained goalless, despite some strong pressure from Salavat Yulaev. Ivanov did well in the Sochi net, making 13 saves to take the game to overtime. The extras could not separate the teams and it took a shoot-out to find a winner. Unusually, the series was disrupted by a bench challenge: Viktor Kozlov’s men successfully demonstrating that Leivo’s attempt did not cross the line despite beating Vyazovoi. In the end, it took 14 shots before Rempal potted the winner for the home team.

Torpedo sinks Neftekhimik again

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (0-1, 1-2, 0-0)

Torpedo moved into the top four in the West with victory at Neftekhimik. The home team suffered a fifth successive loss and remains sixth in the East, a point ahead of Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars.

The visitor was in front quickly. Denis Pochivalov, whose previous goals this season came in an explosion of scoring that brought 17 goals in two games for Torpedo, made it 1-0 after two minutes. However, this time his marker did not trigger an avalanche. Instead, it was the only score of the first period.

There was little to choose between the terms on the balance of play in the opening frame. However, the second period tipped firmly in Torpedo’s favor. It started with a careless pass the enabled Dmitry Kagarlitsky to intercept the puck in his own zone. The experienced Torpedo forward left the defense trailing in his wake as he charged ahead and beat Filipp Dolganov to make it 2-0.

Neftekhimik responded quickly: Kirill Urakov, who move from Nizhny Novgorod to Nizhnekamsk last season, scored his first goal of the season to get the home team off the mark. But Torpedo was always the more active team around the net in the middle frame, and Kagarlitsky added to his goal with an assist as Kirill Kirsanov made it 3-1 at the intermission.

There was no further scoring in the third period as Torpedo closed out a second win of the season against the Wolves. This time, however, the 3-1 final was more comfortable than the 5-4 OT verdict five days ago.