Avangard beats Avto, Dynamo edges Metallurg. December 7 round-up

There were only two games on Saturday’s KHL card, but both were full of entertainment. In Omsk, Avangard powered to a 4-0 lead over Avtomobilist only for the visitor to launch a fightback that saw the Hawks struggle to see out a 4-2 win. Then in Moscow, Dynamo trailed twice to goals from Roman Kantserov, but recovered to win 3-2.

Fast start gives Avangard the edge

Avangard Omsk 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (3-0, 1-1, 0-1)

After two defeats against Avtomobilist this season, Avangard finally got the better of its opponent from the Urals. Andrej Podkoncky, in his second game as Hawks’ interim head coach, made no changes to the team that comfortably beat Sochi. Avtomobilist, on a run of indifferent form, did switch things up. Among the changes was a debut for defenseman Darren Dietz against the club he left in November.

Dietz wasted no time in making his presence felt, fouling Emil Galiyev to give the Hawks an early power play. As the PP was coming to an end, Avangard scored after Ryan Spooner took matters into his own hands, advanced and beat Vladimir Galkin with a backhander. Avtomobilist had a power play chance of its own soon after, but failed to generate much danger with it.

At equal strength, Avangard looked the better team. Ivan Igumnov doubled the lead midway through the session, then Spooner turned provider to help Reid Boucher score his 150th KHL goal.

Avtomobilist started the second period on the power play, and Dietz was in the thick of it again with a shot that dinged the crossbar. Once the Hawks were back to full strength, Spooner set up Boucher to make it 4-0, welcoming Evgeny Alikin to the game after he took over from Galkin in the Avtomobilist net.

With a commanding lead, it looked as though Avangard would go on to win at a canter. However, Avtomobilist raised its game from that point on. The Motormen held their host to just four shots on goal through the second and third periods, and steadily upped the pressure on Pavel Khomchenko in the Omsk net. Dietz, in particular, was fired up for this one and banged in shot after shot before securing an assist when Vladimir Kuznetsov finally got the visitor on the scoreboard. Not long after that, Brooks Macek uncharacteristically fluffed a big chance on the power play.

For the most part, Avangard defended well, even if it was rarely able to move the puck down the ice. The third period produced a dangerous counterattacking chance for Cole Cassels, but he could not get his shot on target when he might have ended the contest. Instead, Avtomobilist kept pushing for a way back, but had to be content with a late power play goal from Maxim Denezhin when the game was already gone.

Rashevsky and Comtois orchestrate Dynamo win

Dynamo Moscow 3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (1-1, 1-1, 1-0)

Roman Kantserov scored twice for Metallurg, but also missed a penalty shot as Dynamo recovered to win a thriller in Moscow. The home team was indebted to two goals from Dmitry Rashevsky and three points from Max Comtois as Alexei Kudashov’s men sealed a third win in four games.

The first period was played at a fast tempo. The teams exchanged scoring chances towards the midway stage, with Maxim Motorygin doing well to block a Nikita Mikhailis effort before denying Vladislav Yeryomenko on the rebound. The next shift saw Dynamo test Alexander Smolin in the Metallurg net when Comtois fired the puck to the slot where Alexei Mikheyev threatened on the slot but could not force it home.

Late in the frame, the teams traded goals. Kantserov added to his hat-trick in the previous game by making it 1-0 for Metallurg in the 16th minute. But within a couple of minutes Rashevsky burst into the danger zone and fired a low shot through Smolin’s pads to tie the scores at the intermission.

Early in the second, Comtois took a major penalty for a check to Yeryomenko’s head. Kantserov’s impressive form continued with another goal within a minute of the foul. The power play continued, but Metallurg could not build on the advantage. Shortly after Comtois came out of the box, the visitor earned a penalty shot when Pavel Akolzin was fouled on his way to goal. Kantserov, eyes on back-to-back hat-tricks, stepped up to take it but Motorygin made the pad save.

By the 32nd minute, Metallurg was up 10-0 in second period shots, helped by that major penalty. However, when Artyom Minulin’s foul gave Dynamo a power play, Comtois turned his evening around by scoring the tying goal. The Canadian forward was first to the rebound after Smolin parried Pavel Kudryavtsev’s shot.

After two periods of breathless action, the teams slowed a little in the third. There was a more cautious approach as the two coaches emphasized the high cost of any mistake. Even when Dynamo got a power play midway through the session, there wasn’t a lot of incisive play from the home team. Later, Metallurg had a man advantage and Ilya Vorobyov called a time-out with six minutes to play. The Blue-and-Whites responded with a strong press to kill the penalty – and that energy translated into a game winner once the teams were back at full strength. Rashevsky got his second of the night in the 57th minute after Comtois won a puck battle on the boards and got it to the slot.