SKA ends skid at Sibir, Dynamo wins eight-goal epic in Omsk. November 13 round-up

After five straight losses, any kind of win looks good. So a shoot-out success after 65 goalless minutes won’t worry SKA at all tonight. Sibir and SKA weren’t the only teams to have shut-outs today: Traktor blanked Magnitka 4-0 and Ak Bars beat Kunlun 5-0. For high-scoring, competitive hockey, Omsk was the place to beat. Dynamo defeated Avangard 5-3 on the road. Wednesday’s other games ended in overtime wins for Barys at Neftekhimik and Torpedo at Dinamo Minsk.

SKA edges shoot-out, stops skid

Sibir Novosibirsk 0 SKA St. Petersburg 1 SO (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)

SKA put an end to its five-game skid, thanks in no small measure to a big performance from goalie Yegor Zavragin. The youngster, who is establishing himself as first choice in Petersburg after returning from his loan at Sochi, stopped 29 shots through 65 goalless minutes, then won all five duels in the shoot-out to help secure a much-needed win.

At the other end, Sibir’s Denis Kostin – currently the undisputed choice with Anton Krasotkin injured – made 39 saves and was beaten just once in the shoot-out but ended up on the losing side despite that effort.

Although there were no goals in the game, there was plenty of incident. The first period was punctuated by regular penalties – the teams had two power plays each in that opening frame. There were also scoring chances: Sergei Plotnikov and Ivan Demidov went close for the visitor, while Maxim Karpov and Timur Akhiyarov threatened for the host.

Things were calmer in the second period, with fewer penalties. For a long time, SKA dominated the play but struggled to turn territory into scoring chances. When it did, the visitor could not find a way past Kostin, who made a few big saves. Sibir only came back into the game after another penalty, with Sergei Tolchinsky sitting for tripping in the 34th minute and undermining the momentum his colleagues had generated.

For a time in the third, Roman Rotenberg played with just two lines for SKA. Surprisingly, the game remained open until the end and the goalies had to remain alert to preserve their shut-outs. Kostin denied Marat Khairullin, while at the other end Zavragin stopped Vladislav Kara from grabbing a late winner.

It ended up in a shoot-out, SKA’s first of the season. Valentin Zykov at last managed to get the puck in the net and give the visitor the win. That’s a first success for his team since Oct. 28 when, ironically, the previous victory also came against Sibir.

Entertaining win for Dynamo

Avangard Omsk 3 Dynamo Moscow 5 (0-0, 0-3, 3-2)

After Monday’s win over SKA, Avangard felt little need for changes to the line-up. Alex Grant returned to action as a seventh D, but otherwise Sergei Zvyagin went with the same roster. Dynamo, beaten at home by Lada last time, made bigger changes. Alexei Kudashov switched up his offense, with Yegor Rimashevsky and Artyom Chernov replacing Dmitry Rashevsky and Matvei Guskov.

There were no goals in the first period, although Dynamo had the better of the play. The visitor got a first-minute power play and enjoyed the momentum from then on. However, despite some dangerous moments for the first line – most notably Cedric Paquette – there was no way past Pavel Khomchenko in the Hawks’ net.

The second session, began with Avangard getting a power play. Like Dynamo, the home team could not score. Unlike the visitor, the Hawks failed to keep up the pressure and allowed two goals in the 25th minute. First, a routine shot from Igor Ozhiganov somehow got past Khomchenko. Then, on the next shift, Nikita Buruyanov was left unguarded on the slot to double the lead.

Down, and seemingly deflated, Avangard lacked energy. That listless performance was punished further when Artyom Ilyenko added a third before the intermission. At the other end, Reid Boucher missed a couple of good chances on the same shift as Dynamo looked to have everything under control.

However, the intermission injected some life into the home team. There was a slice of luck about Alexei Makeyev's power play goal; the puck bouncing off him and into the net as Artyom Sergeyev attempted to clear. Just 45 seconds later, Matvei Zaseda put a wrister past Maxim Motorygin for his second goal in two games.

Now Avangard was eager to push forward in search of a tying goal. With pressure on Motorygin’s net, Dynamo responded with a counterattack and a goal for Jordan Weal. A couple of minutes later, he added a power play tally to his account and restored a comfortable three-goal lead for the Blue-and-Whites.

That wasn’t quite the end of it: Igor Martynov added a third Omsk goal with four to play, bringing a flicker of hope into the embers of the game. However, within a minute Martynov himself effectively extinguished that flame when he took a penalty and eased Dynamo’s task in the final moments.

Special teams tip the balance for Traktor

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 0 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (0-1, 0-2, 0-1)

Last season’s champion hosted this season’s Eastern conference leader in the first South Ural derby of the season – and the end result was very much one for the future. Traktor rolled to a comfortable win, backed up by Zach Fucale’s fifth shut-out of the season. Metallurg’s three-game winning run came to an abrupt halt.

The home team had cause to feel a touch aggrieved at falling behind, though. Metallurg made a bright start to the game and enjoyed more attacking possession, even if it could not create much to test Fucale. However, a botched line change and a series of positional errors invited Alexander Sharov to give Traktor the lead in the fifth minute. The visitor continued to press, both on the power play and at equal strength, while the home PP seemed toothless in comparison, even when Magnitka got to play five-on-three.

That ineffective power play continued in the second, while Nikita Mikhailis seemed to be the fall guy for Metallurg’s frustrations. After the first period, he did not return to the ice until a couple of shifts late in the third. By then, the game was gone. Traktor took the opportunity to show how a power play should be exploited to the maximum: Vitaly Kravtsov’s wrister converted a five-on-three chance and, after Metallurg got one player back, Andrei Svetlakov made it 3-0 while playing five-on-four.

At the start of the third, Svetlakov’s second of the night padded the visitor’s lead. Pushed into a desperate situation, Razin opted to boost the next power play by swapping Ilya Nabokov for a sixth skater, but his team still could not find a way past Fucale. The Canadian finished with 26 saves as Traktor closed out the win.

Revenge win for Barys

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Barys Astana 2 OT (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 0-1)

An overtime win saw Barys avenge Monday’s 1-4 loss here in Nizhnekamsk and open a three-point gap over Amur at the foot of the conference standings. For the home team, which was looking to build on the end of a five-game skid, this loss meant a missed opportunity to consolidate in the top eight. Neftekhimik remains seventh, but is just two points clear of ninth-placed Lada.

The first period was evenly matched. It seemed destined to be level on the scoreboard as well, with neither team able to make a breakthrough. However, 90 seconds before the hooter Alikhan Omirbekov broke the deadlock with his fourth of the season.

In the second, Neftekhimik dominated the play. The home team outshot Barys 17-5 but found Nikita Boyarkin unbeatable in the visitor’s net. However, the momentum continued into the third, and Jean-Sebastien Dea tied the scores in the 42nd minute. Soon afterwards, Artyom Korolyov was assessed a holding minor and Neftekhimik had the first power play of the game. That didn’t deliver, but midway through the period the shot count was 10-2 in the Wolves’ favor and a second successive victory seemed to be a matter of time. However, Barys calmed the storm and the game moved into overtime.

The extras did not last all that long. On 61:39, Kirill Panyukov potted the decider, halting a three-game skid for Barys.

Dinamo Minsk 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 OT (1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Torpedo, lifted by a 7-1 thrashing of Sochi, posted back-to-back wins for the first time since Oct. 10. The visitor defended strongly after allowing an early goal and won it on Vasily Atanasov’s OT tally.

Dinamo, looking to build on its own back-to-back victories over Salavat Yulaev and Severstal, made a spectacular start. Alexander Volkov needed just 22 seconds to open the scoring. However, the home team was unable to build on that fast start and Torpedo came back into the game. The balance of play was even, and by the end of the period so was the scoring. Keaton Thompson tied it up in the last minute of the frame, scoring his first KHL goal off Mikhail Abramov’s assist.

That was the end of the scoring in regulation. It was striking that, although the teams produced plenty of goal attempts, few of them troubled the netminders. In the second period, there were just eight shots on goal in total, compared with 15 blocked shots and 16 more that missed the mark altogether. Along the way, Dinamo saw a 35th-minute goal whistled off when a video review spotted a high stick.

Dinamo looked the more likely winner in the third period, with Torpedo limited to just two shots at Andrei Tikhomirov. However, the home team could not find the decisive goal and had to take its chances in overtime.

The extras saw the Bison enjoy more possession and territory, but Torpedo’s defense allowed no shots at Ivan Kulbakov. Then came the sucker punch on 64:36 when Atanasov grabbed the winner with the first shot on target of overtime.

Big night for Komkov

Ak Bars Kazan 5 Kunlun Red Star 0 (1-0, 1-0, 3-0)

Ak Bars had little trouble in seeing off Kunlun. Denis Komkov had a day to remember, scoring twice for his first goals in the KHL, while Amir Miftakhov made 27 saves for his third shut-out of the season.

The home team had the better of the first period, outshooting KRS 17-8. Kirill Semyonov got the only goal of the opening frame when his effort took a kind bounce off a defenseman’s skate to convert the first power play of the night.

The Dragons didn’t give and managed to out-shoot Ak Bars 12-8 in the middle session. However, the visitor could find no way past Amir Miftakhov in the Kazan net. At the other end, Denis Komkov doubled the home lead. The 23-year-old is most often seen in the VHL with Neftyankik but today, playing only his sixth KHL game in three seasons, he potted his first goal in the big league.

Komkov’s big day got even bigger in the 56th minute when he scored again. Once again, Semyon Koshelev had the assist. By that time, Ak Bars had already built an impregnable lead. Dmitry Katelevsky and Artyom Galimov were on target in a bad-tempered final frame as the home team pushed its lead to 5-0.