Loko leaves it late, CSKA and Dinamo win on the road. November 19 round-up

Despite dominating its home game against Vityaz, table-topping Lokomotiv needed a last-minute goal to set up an overtime win in Tuesday’s KHL action. Earlier in the day, Vadim Shipachyov added four more points to his record tally as Dinamo Minsk won 5-2 at Avangard. CSKA also had a solid road win, defeating Lada 4-1.

Solid win for Dinamo in Omsk

Avangard Omsk 2 Dinamo Minsk 5 (1-0, 1-3, 0-2)

Nail Yakupov played his first game since returning to Avangard, joining Ilya Reingardt and Alexander Yaremchuk on the Hawks’ second line. However, his second spell in Omsk began with a defeat to a Dinamo Minsk team that bounced back from a 0-3 loss to Yakupov’s former club, Kunlun, on Sunday.

It turned out to be a big day for Vadim Shipachyov, who was rarely out of the action. The KHL’s record scorer started with an early trip to the sin bin. Avangard could not take advantage of its first power play but rode the momentum to open the scoring in the fourth minute. Yaremchuk’s pass found Igor Martynov, and the Belarusian forward accelerated down the right to score on a team from his homeland.

Avangard held that lead to the intermission but faced plenty of pressure from Dinamo. Yegor Borikov fired against the post in the closest chance for the visitor. After the break, the pressure continued and this time Shipachyov tied the game after finding himself alone on the slot.

Buoyed, Dinamo kept pressing. Shipachyov turned provider to give Vadim Moroz a shot at an open net for the second goal midway through the game. At the other end, Reid Boucher spurned a great opportunity to tie the game and Chris Tierney took it down the ice to make it 3-1 right after.

The home team got a much-needed boost when Alex Grant’s shot deflected off Andrei Stas’s stick and into the net. However, Minsk continued to dominate the game and the home team was hanging on as the second intermission arrived.

But the break changed little. Dinamo had no intention of letting its intensity drop in the third period. Instead, it padded its lead after Yaremchuk missed a good chance for Avangard. This time, Shipachyov won possession on the boards and released Moroz for his second of the night.

The KHL’s all-time scoring leader completed another four-point game late on, collecting his third assist of the night on Roman Gorbunov’s empty-net strike. Shipachyov now has 937 (294+643) career points.

Four in a row for CSKA, fourth straight loss for Lada

Lada Togliatti 1 CSKA Moscow 4 (0-2, 1-1, 0-1)

After the departure of head coach Oleg Bratash, Lada is still looking for a return to winning ways. Following the weekend’s shoot-out loss to Metallurg, the Motormen went down to CSKA. Although visiting goalie Ivan Prosvetov allowed a goal after back-to-back shut-outs, the home team rarely looked capable of getting a result here.

The key team news was the absence of home forward Troy Josephs, missing out due to a minor injury. CSKA continued with a winning team and Konstantin Okulov suited up for the 600th time in the KHL.

The early stages were quiet. CSKA had better control of the puck, but Lada showed the greater attacking intent. Gradually, Igor Vorobyov’s men picked up their game and broke the deadlock in the 16th minute when Prokhor Poltapov did well to score from a rebound. After finding a way through, the Muscovites repeated the trick 35 seconds later when Pavel Karnaukhov found Vladislav Podyapolsky’s short side.

At the start of the second, the visitor added a third goal. Vitaly Abramov pulled off a terrific pass on the turn to set up Maxim Sorkin for 3-0. Once again, the next goal arrived quickly; this time, though it was Lada finding the net. Dmitry Kugryshev scored against his first KHL club, snapping Prosvetov’s 168-minute shut-out streak. Far from triggering a fightback, that goal encouraged CSKA to push for a greater lead and it took some effort from Podyapolsky to keep the score to 3-1.

Perhaps exhausted by that effort, Podyapolsky did not return for the third period. Alexander Trushkov took over in goal but was beaten in the 47th minute. Denis Guryanov stretched his productive run to four games, moving to 6 (2+4) points in that time. That was the end of the scoring, although Lada kept looking for at least a consolation goal until the very end.

Late flourish sinks battling Vityaz

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0)

A true champion never knows when it’s beaten – and on this evidence, Lokomotiv has what it takes to be a true champion. Although the Railwaymen dominated this game, inspired goaltending from Vityaz’ Maxim Dorozhko kept the home team away. Loko had 91 goal attempts in 60 minutes, of which 49 were on target. The Vityaz defense blocked 18 of those efforts, but Dorozhko made 48 saves to preserve his team’s lead.

However, that heroic resistance ended on 59:01. A minute after Sergei Mylnikov left the Lokomotiv net to allow a sixth skater into the game, the home team finally made the breakthrough. Georgy Ivanov won an attacking face-off, sent the puck back to the blue line for Andrei Sergeyev and made it to the slot in time to redirect the defenseman’s effort into the net.

That represented salvation for Lokomotiv, which had fallen behind against the run of play midway through the second period. The goal came from Ivan Chekhovich, who left Yaroslavl earlier this season to join a Vityaz team that plays in a style better suited to his game. Today, he made his point to his former employer when he converted a penalty shot after Alexei Bereglazov hauled down the goalbound Ivan Savchik.

After Ivanov’s tying goal, Lokomotiv got a power play when Dean Stewart was assessed a slashing minor. The home team could not force a last-gasp winner in regulation, but needed just 37 second to seal it in the extras. With the extra man deployed to screen Dorozhko, Stepan Nikulin finished off a passing move to keep the league leader well out in front of the chasing pack.