OT drama on high-scoring day. November 15 round-up

Friday’s big game turned into a classic in Kazan. SKA managed to tie the scores late in regulation, but still fell to a 2-3 loss in overtime at Ak Bars. There was OT in Sochi as well after a 5-5 tie between the home team and Kunlun. The Leopards took the verdict in the extras. Dinamo Minsk won a 10-goal thriller at Vityaz, taking a 6-4 verdict. Elsewhere, Dynamo won 2-1 at Sibir and Salavat Yulaev beat Barys 4-1.

Gusev the architect in Dynamo win

Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Dynamo Moscow 2 (1-1, 0-1, 0-0)

Two assists from Nikita Gusev helped Dynamo to victory, while Sibir slipped to a fourth successive loss.

Both teams were unchanged from their previous games. Dynamo arrived after a 5-3 win in Omsk, while Sibir took SKA all the way to a shoot-out before losing on Wednesday.

It seemed that both sides were feeling the effects of their recent exertions. Sibir had gone to OT twice in three games, while Dynamo was wrapping up a long tour in the east. Neither team injected much energy into the early stages of the game. Despite that, there were two goals in the first 10 minutes. Ilya Morozov put the home team ahead, but Kirill Adamchuk tied it up.

Dynamo had to wait until the second period to get its first chance on the power play. When it came, though, the Muscovites took full advantage. A well-worked play ended with a goal for Pavel Kudryavtsev and a second assist of the game for Gusev, whose productive streak is now five games.

The visitor went on to have the better of the middle frame but could not add to its lead. As the intermission approached, Sibir began to pose more of a threat and, in the final stanza, the home team largely dominated. Outshooting Dynamo 12-4, Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team found Maxim Motorygin in good form in the Moscow net. Hopes of a fightback took a blow on 57 minutes when home defenseman Trevor Murphy picked up an unnecessary penalty just as Sibir was preparing its final assault. In the event, Denis Kostin only managed to leave his net with 12 seconds to play, not enough time to save the game.

Ufa too strong for Barys

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Barys Astana 1 (1-0, 1-0, 2-1)

The home team eased to a comfortable victory against struggling Barys. Salavat Yulaev was rarely troubled on the way to secure a third straight win; the visitor was unable to build on its win at Neftekhimik in the previous game.

The game was competitive in the early stages, with both teams creating early chances. But when Ufa got its second power play midway through the session, Artyom Pimenov opened the scoring.

After that, Barys rarely threatened. Salavat doubled its lead early in the second when Josh Leivo brought the puck down the right and set up Denis Yan with a diagonal feed. Barys had a couple of opportunities to get back into the game, but a combination of Semyon Vyazovoi’s goaltending and a big block from captain Grigory Panin kept the score at 2-0 through 40 minutes.

The home team completed the job in the third. When Andrei Shutov threw his stick, the officials awarded a 54th-minute penalty shot, converted by Sheldon Rempal. In response came a consolation effort from Maxim Mukhametov before Alexander Sharov had the final word to make the final 4-1.

SKA’s fightback falls short

Ak Bars Kazan 3 SKA St. Petersburg 2 OT (0-0, 1-0, 1-2, 1-0)

In an exciting game in Kazan, SKA recovered from 0-2 down in the third period. But Marat Khairullin’s last-minute equalizer could not deny Ak Bars. Kirill Semyonov won it for the host in overtime.

Although the first period was goalless, SKA generated plenty of opportunities and forced Timur Bilyalov into 16 saves.

In the second frame, tensions rose – and boiled over in the 33rd minute when Tony De Angelo got into a fight with the home team’s Nikita Dynyak. Dynyak had the better of the brawl, but on the ice things remained deadlocked until late in the frame. Finally, Ak Bars got ahead in the 39th minute thanks to Semyon Koshelev’s shorthanded goal. He took a few attempts to stuff home a Semyonov feed, but got it past Yegor Zavragin in the end.

It remained a one-goal game until the 56th minute when Yegor Korshkov doubled the home lead. At this point, it seemed like the game was done: Ak Bars had neutralized the SKA offense thus far and had just a few minutes to protect a two-goal lead.

But the visitor rallied in spectacular style. De Angelo, showing no ill-effects from his fight, pulled one back. Then, in the last minute, Mikhail Vorobyov won an attacking face-off, fed Khairullin and celebrated a tying goal.

However, the visitor ran into trouble in overtime. Vasily Glotov’s penalty hampered SKA’s cause and even though Ak Bars could not force a winner with an extra man, it picked up vital momentum. Eventually, that paid off: Semyonov settled the outcome on 64:35.

Leopards edge thriller in OT

HC Sochi 6 Kunlun Red Star 5 OT (3-3, 2-1, 0-1, 1-0)

In the past two games Kunlun allowed five goals against Spartak and again against Ak Bars. So it was little surprise, perhaps, that Sochi’s forwards had a good day. However, the visiting forwards found their range as well to set up a barn-burner beside the Black Sea.

The first period set the tone. Sochi opened a 2-0 lead, with Timur Khafizov getting it started with the first goal of his hat-trick. Luke Lockhart scored twice to pull it level for KRS before Khafizov turned provider for Danil Avershin to restore Sochi’s lead. Tomas Jurco quickly made it 3-3 and a breathless opening frame finished with the teams level.

In the second period, Sochi seemed to get on top. Khafizov claimed his second goal and Daniil Seroukh added a fifth as the Leopards built a two-goal lead. However, late in the frame Parker Foo’s shorty put the Dragons back in touching distance and, late in a hard-fought third, Rourke Chartier tied it up.

However, this was very much Khafizov’s day and he completed his hatty with the OT decider. That makes it three wins from four for Sochi, and four straight losses for Red Star.

Shipachyov inspires Minsk fightback

Vityaz Moscow Region 4 Dinamo Minsk 6 (1-1, 3-1, 0-4)

This was a battle between the teams in eighth and ninth in the Western Conference – and it turned into a classic. Vityaz twice held a two-goal lead, but was blown away in the third period to miss the chance of closing the gap to the playoff places.

The first period offered little hint of what was to come. The teams traded goals, with Dean Stewart putting Vityaz in front before Jordan Gross tied it up off a superb Shipachyov assist late in the session.

The middle frame  was all about the home team. Jeremy Roy quickly restored the lead, then Ivan Vorobyov added a third in the 36th minute. That brought an immediate response from Shipachyov, but Ivan Chekhovich made it 4-2 before the second intermission and seemingly had the home team in command.

But when you’re up against the KHL’s all-time top scorer, you can never relax. Shipachyov scored early in the third, then set up Alexander Volkov’s power play goal to tie the scores. 4-4, and 4 (2+2) points for Vadim to take his record tally to 933 career points. Now Minsk had the momentum and went on to close out the win. Sam Anas got the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute and a last-second strike from Vitaly Pinchuk put some gloss on it.