Conference leaders stay out in front. October 30 round-up

Just two games in the KHL on Wednesday, but they brought two big wins for the Conference leaders. Lokomotiv travelled to second-placed SKA and defended stoutly through two periods to claim a 3-2 win. That halted the home team’s seven-game hot streak and saw the visitor move seven points clear. In the East, Traktor powered to a 5-0 home win over Sibir with Vladimir Tkachyov collecting three points in his 700th KHL game.

Big win boosts Traktor’s position

Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 Sibir Novosibirsk 0 (1-0, 2-0, 2-0)

This was these teams’ second meeting in nine days, and it produced a far more comfortable win for Traktor than the previous encounter. Benoit Groulx’s team hit five once again, but this time kept Sibir from scoring – a big contrast with a narrow 5-4 verdict in the earlier game.

Both teams made an active and aggressive start, but the result tended to be penalties rather than scoring chances. Late in the frame, the home team broke the deadlock on a goal from Mikhail Kotlyarevsky, who finished off a swift counterattack. Vladimir Tkachyov assisted on the goal in his 700th KHL appearance. Another Traktor man, Alexander Sharov, played his 500th game today.

After finding success late in the first period, Traktor repeated the trick at the start of the second. It was another rush through center ice that ended with a shot from the circle, this time delivered by Nikita Tertyshny. The home team continued to unsettle Sibir with its pace while making it almost impossible for Sibir to create anything at the other end. Eventually that brought a third goal from Vitaly Kravtsov to put the host in complete control by the second intermission. Not only did the visitor fail to score, it managed just 12 shots at Zach Fucale through 40 minutes.

Once again, the third period brought a quick goal for Traktor. Tkachyov added a goal to his earlier assist. A couple of minutes later he had a three-point game with a helper as Artyom Blazhiyevsky made it five. That spelled the end of the evening for Sibir goalie Anton Krasotkin as Denis Kostin came off the bench to replace him. He managed to prevent any further scoring, while Fucale secured his 10th shut-out in the KHL and his fourth of the season.

The victory puts Traktor eight points clear of Avtomobilist at the top of the Eastern Conference, albeit having played two games more than its Ural rival. Sibir remains in seventh place, but is tied on 19 points with Admiral and Lada in eighth and ninth.

Loko wins summit battle

SKA St. Petersburg 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (2-3, 0-0, 0-0)

Wednesday’s big game saw two in-form teams go head-to-head for the third time this season. SKA’s overtime win in Yaroslavl early in the month was a rare loss for the league leader this term, and the due resumed their rivalry in Petersburg with long winning streaks to defend. Loko had won five in a row since stumbling at Vityaz on Oct. 14, while SKA’s free-scoring seven-game surge lifted it up to second in the west.

It didn’t take long for this one to come to the boil. In the fifth minute, Lokomotiv took the lead when Alexander Polunin opened the scoring. He stormed down the left and, after his initial shot bounced back to him off Alexander Nikishin’s skate, the visiting forward fired past Yegor Zavragin in the home net.

However, the lead last just eight seconds before Ivan Demidov tied the scores. The youngster seized the initiative, skating away from Rushan Rafikov and beating Daniil Isayev.

That pattern of a goal and a quick reply repeated itself. In the 15th minute, Alexander Radulov restored Loko’s lead, only for Evgeny Kuznetsov to continue his hot streak with an equalizer a minute later. Kuznetsov has picked up points in all nine of his games since returning from injury. That was his sixth goal in that time and he has a further seven assists.

The drama continued: Lokomotiv regained the lead on 16:09 thanks to Maxim Shalunov, and this time it held onto the advantage. Maxim Beryozkin created the chance with a move behind the net and Shalunov’s finish separated the teams at the intermission.

The free-scoring first period was somewhat out of character for Lokomotiv, which typically plays cautious, systematic hockey rather than getting drawn into a gung-ho ‘next goal wins’ style skirmish. The second period was played far more in Igor Nikitin’s fashion: SKA had puck possession, but rarely opened up the Railwaymen’s defense as it remained 3-2 through 40 minutes.

And that was the story of the third period as well. SKA had possession and pressed hard in search of a tying goal. However, an offense that had scored 5+ goals in each of the last five games was frustrated by some resolute and disciplined Lokomotiv defense. There were opportunities, notably when Demidov lured Martin Gernat into a foul and gave the home team a power play in the 54th minute. And in the final seconds, with Zavragin making way for a sixth skater, Vasily Glotov came agonizingly close to saving the game, only for his shot to hit the post and bounce to safety.

Lokomotiv’s win opens a seven-point lead at the top of the Western Conference. The Railwaymen are also four points clear of Traktor in the overall standings.