Avangard wins under new interim coach. December 4 round-up
Then the visitor earned a power play in the 58th minute following Ilya Arkalov’s foul. His cross-check on Ruslan Iskhakov proved costly: forced to defend four-on-six after Prosvetov went to the bench, Vityaz could not hold on and Maxim Sorkin sent the game into overtime. The extras did not take long. Konstantin Okulov sent the puck long, Maxim Mamin forced Shikin to commit himself and then set up Karnaukhov for a simple finish.
Kayumov pots OT winner
Amur Khabarovsk 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 OT (1-1, 2-2, 0-0, 0-1)
The league leader continues to find ways to win. An overtime success in Khabarovsk makes it three-from-three for Lokomotiv as Igor Nikitin’s men continue their progress at the top of the standings. The Railwaymen are 10 points clear of Spartak in the Western Conference, and eight better off than Eastern Conference leader Traktor.
However, this was a much tougher assignment than October’s 5-0 home win over the same opposition. In the early stages, there were signs that Loko might repeat that kind of dominance: the first period saw 25 shots at rookie goalie Damir Shaymardanov, making only his third KHL appearance. Despite that pressure, Amur opened the scoring when Ignat Korotkikh beat Sergei Mylnikov. The goal was against the run of play and the lead did not last: 68 seconds later, Alexei Bereglazov tied the scores.
There were quick goals again at the start of the second period. Stepan Nikulin put Lokomotiv in front, but only for 28 seconds before Alexander Galchenyuk replied. The pattern of play was different now, with Amur better able to go toe-to-toe with its high-flying guest. However, the home team could not get back in front: Maxim Shalunov restored Loko’s lead, only for Sergei Dubakin’s first goal since his arrival from Sibir to tie the scores going into the third stanza.
That third frame continued at a fast pace. Amur was winning more of the puck battles and managed to extend its time in the Lokomotiv zone. The visitor looked to profit from short, sharp strikes at the opposition net. Both goalies were kept busy, but the best chance was wasted when Alexander Polunin failed to score into an open net. That meant overtime, and Lokomotiv won it after 35 seconds thanks to a long-range effort from Artur Kayumov.
Sailors avenge heavy loss in Minsk
Admiral Vladivostok 4 Dinamo Minsk 0 (1-0, 2-0, 1-0)
Andrei Mishurov’s third shut-out of the season set up Admiral first home victory over Dinamo since 2019. It also brought up a fourth win to finish this five-game home series, with the only loss coming at home to league leader Lokomotiv. For the visitor, it was back to the drawing board after halting a skid with a 5-4 win in Novosibirsk on Monday.
When these teams met in Minsk two months ago, Dinamo powered to a 7-2 victory. That might explain the cautious start here, with neither team generating much offense early on. It wasn’t until the 13th minute that things warmed up a bit: at one end, Sam Anas saw the post deny him the opening goal; Admiral took it straight down the ice for Vyacheslav Osnovin to score on the counter.
That was the only goal of the opening frame, but the Sailors took control in the second. In the 25th minute, Nikita Soshnikov scored his fifth goal in six games to double the lead, with Osnovin adding an assist to his first-period strike. After that, Dinamo had the initiative for a time but could not turn possession into goals. Then, in the 35th minute, Daniil Gutik made it 3-0 with a power play goal.
Dinamo was unable to generate much of a threat at the start of the third period and rarely looked capable of recovering a three-goal deficit in the final stanza. Mishurov was underused in the home net until the closing stages, but Minsk’s late storm merely led to an empty-net goal for Alexander Shevchenko to make the final 4-0.
Coaching change brings instant reaction
Avangard Omsk 6 HC Sochi 0 (1-0, 3-0, 2-0)
After Sunday’s loss to Severstal, Sergei Zvyagin officially stepped down as Avangard’s head coach and left the club, along with his assistant Anton Kuryanov. Guy Boucher, who is set to take over the position full time, is on his way pending paperwork, but today’s game saw Andrej Podkonicky take over the interim role. The Slovak, who was on last season’s coaching staff, made a winning return to the club.
One of Podkonicky’s calls was to restore Ryan Spooner to the first line. That brought a reward in the shape of three points from the Canadian forward as he paced a comfortable win. After an early scare, which saw Sochi get a five-on-three power play in the first period, the Hawks were on top throughout. The opening goal arrived in the 14th minute when Danil Bashkirov potted his first for the club.
Two quick goals at the start of the middle frame took the game away. Ivan Igumnov doubled the lead, then Spooner added a third after exchanging passes with Emil Galimov. Sochi was sinking, and fell further behind late in the session when Reid Boucher struck on the power play.
The visitor swapped goalies ahead of the third period, but Evgeny Volokhin had little more success than Sergei Ivanov. Another power play saw Cole Cassels make it 5-0 midway through the session and shortly after that Spooner turned provider for Galimov to score the sixth. That set up the Hawks’ biggest win of the season to date, while Pavel Khomchenko secured his second shut-out of the campaign.
Spartak holds off spirited fightback
Barys Astana 2 Spartak Moscow 4 (0-0, 0-3, 2-1)
Despite a third-period fightback from Barys, Spartak secured a second win on its current road trip and remains five points clear in second place. The home team suffered a sixth successive loss but can take some consolation from the way it recovered from 0-3 to bring this game back to life.
The first period was goalless, although Spartak looked the likelier team. Barys ended the session on the power play, but could not score on either side of the intermission. Once the visitor was back to full strength it took just 10 seconds to get in front when Adam Ruzicka collected his 13th goal of the season.
After that, the visitor stepped it up. Ruzicka had another good chance, Daniel Usmanov got on a dangerous rush and eventually Ansel Galimov doubled the lead. A power play goal in the 34th minute padded the lead, Alexander Belyayev putting away the rebound from Alexander Pashin’s shot.
At the other end, Barys had another power play chance and managed to outshoot Spartak 17-11 through the middle frame. But it had to wait until the third to solve Patrik Rybar and bring the game back to the boil. Spartak ran into penalty trouble, and a five-on-three power play got Barys right back in it. First, Anton Burdasov blazed a shot from the left-hand circle and it flew into the far corner of Rybar’s net. Then, with a one-man advantage still in force, Alikhan Omirbekov made it 2-3 in a game that had seemed to be drifting away from the home team.
There was still time to save the game – more than 12 minutes left on the clock – but Spartak responded by gumming up its zone and pushing the home forwards out to the perimeter. There was little attacking intent from the visitor in the closing stages, but there was enough to protect the lead until the dying moments. Then, in the last minute, an empty net goal saw defenseman Daniil Orlov mark his 100th KHL appearance in style, securing the victory for the Muscovites.
Late drama brings victory to CSKA
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 CSKA Moscow 2 OT (0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1)
It all happened in the closing stages. After 53 goalless minutes, Vityaz broke the deadlock and thought it had a winner. A last-gasp power play saved CSKA, and in overtime the visitor quickly settled the game in its favor thanks to Pavel Karnaukhov.
It took time for this game to settle. Much of the first period was spent struggling for control of the puck, with the consequence that scoring chances were hard to come by. The visitor had more possession, but a shot count of 10-7 in Vityaz’s favor hinted at how tough it was to get good looks at either goalie.
The Muscovites began the second period on the power play and went on to enjoy a rather more productive session. CSKA had the edge in terms of shots and attacking possession, forcing 14 saves out of Dmitry Shikin in the session. However, once again, there was no way through. Vityaz posed less of a threat, managing just six shots on target from more than five minutes’ possession in the final third.
As the game moved into the third period, CSKA looked to take the initiative. By the midway stage, the visitor had a commanding lead on the shot count, and created the clearest chance of the game so far when Colby Williams drove a pass to the net and Ivan Drozdov fired in a shot from a tight angle that Shikin did well to pad to safety.
However, stepping up the tempo left the Muscovites vulnerable to penalty trouble. Barely had Ilya Vorobyov’s team killed Denis Guryanov’s penalty than Vitaly Abramov followed him into the box. Vityaz scented blood against a tiring PK and Pavel Desyatkov called a time-out to finesse the tactics. He got his reward when Derek Barach broke the deadlock in the 54th minute, only for CSKA to challenge the play citing interference on goalie Ivan Prosvetov. That appeal was unsuccessful, though, and Vityaz had both a vital lead and a further two minutes on the power play.
CSKA got a decent chance on the PK when Vladislav Kamenev spotted a breakaway and raced down the ice to test Shikin. Then the visitor earned a power play in the 58th minute following Ilya Arkalov’s foul. His cross-check on Ruslan Iskhakov proved costly: forced to defend four-on-six after Prosvetov went to the bench, Vityaz could not hold on and Maxim Sorkin sent the game into overtime.
The extras did not take long. Konstantin Okulov sent the puck long, Maxim Mamin forced Shikin to commit himself and then set up Karnaukhov for a simple finish.
Wolves hunt down Red Star
Kunlun Red Star 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 (1-0, 1-2, 0-3)
Two quick goals at the start of the third period saw Neftekhimik take control of this game. The visitor avenged a 1-3 loss at home to Red Star late last month, with former Dragon German Tochilkin scoring twice.
KRS dominated the first period and deservedly led on a Luke Lockhart goal. Recent signing Joe Duszak had the assist, moving the American defenseman to four points in three games since his arrival from Severstal.
In the second, the visitor hit back. One-time Dragons loanee German Tochilkin scored on his former club to tie the game, and Neftekhimik had more of the play throughout the session. The didn’t stop Red Star regaining the lead when Colin Campbell redirected a Jake Chelios shot past Artyom Zagidulin. But the Wolves kept hunting and tied it up for a second time thanks to Riley Barber’s second goal for the club just before the intermission.
The game took a decisive turn in the 46th minute when Neftekhimik grabbed a pair of quick goals. Tochilkin’s happy return continued with his second of the night, Nikita Khoruzhev collecting his third assist of the game in the process. Then Kirill Petrov made it 4-2 on the next shift. Former Ak Bars man Petrov scored on his debut in the defeat at Vityaz and today he made it two goals in two games for his new club. Andrei Belozyorov’s empty netter finished the job, moving him to three goals in the past two games.
