Motormen snap skid in Yaroslavl, Magnitka enjoys big win. December 20 round-up

Avtomobilist ended a five-game losing streak with an impressive 2-1 victory at table-topping Lokomotiv. The other big winner in the Eastern Conference today was Metallurg, whose 4-2 success at home to Salavat Yulaev denied the visitor the chance to move clear of Traktor at the top of the section. Ak Bars suffered a surprise 1-3 reverse at home to Dinamo Minsk and remains two points back from the leading duo. In Friday’s other game, Severstal beat Sochi 2-1.

Yurov’s double lifts Metallurg over Salavat Yulaev

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (1-1, 2-1, 1-0)

Salavat Yulaev again missed the chance to go top of the Eastern Conference standings. Two goals from Josh Leivo were not enough to take something from Friday’s trip to Metallurg and Viktor Kozlov’s team remains second, level on points with Traktor.

Magnitka was looking to build on this week’s win over Avtomobilist and opened the scoring after five minutes. Yegor Korobkin ended his 26-game wait for a point thanks to some good work on the slot.

After falling behind, Salavat Yulaev began to come into the game. Mikhail Naumenkov’s tricky pass from behind the net set up Leivo for a tying goal before the intermission and home goalie Alexander Smolin found himself rather busier than his opposite number Alexander Samonov during that first frame.

Metallurg finished the opening session on the power play, but could not convert the opportunity on either side of the intermission. However, back at equal strength the home team scored twice in two minutes to open a lead. In the 27th minute, a counterattack saw Roman Kantserov set up Denis Zernov for 2-1. Then a similar raid saw Danila Yurov make it three.

Now the home team was on top of the game, but could not turn that pressure into more goals. Late in the middle frame, Leivo potted his second of the night to put Ufa right back in contention going into the third.

With a goal to make up, Salavat Yulaev had the better chances in the third period. However, Metallurg continued to look for a fourth goal with both sides well aware that each attack could be a gamebreaker. Smolin made a huge save midway through the session to deny Alexander Chmelevski an equalizer, then Yurov was unable to beat Samonov from close range at the other end. However, Yurov had the final word with an empty-net goal to seal the win for Metallurg. 

Motormen snap skid in Yaroslavl

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (0-1, 0-0, 1-2)

When Avtomobilist lost to Traktor on Nov. 30, it was in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference. That defeat triggered a five-game skid that saw the Motormen down in fifth at the start of today’s game. However, despite a daunting trip to the runaway Railwaymen, Avto snapped its losing streak in style with an impressive victory in Yaroslavl.

The home team handed a debut to Slovakian forward Richard Panik, who lined up with Brandon Froese and Daniil But. Back-up goalie Daniil Tetyushkin, 18, featured on a KHL roster for the first time.

The visitor made a more active start to the game, but chances were hard to come by early on. Nonetheless, Avto made the initial breakthrough: Mark Ulyev coughed up the puck and Stepan Khripunov pounced to score on Daniil Isayev in the eighth minute. Loko had chances to tie it up, but Vladimir Galkin denied Alexander Radulov, while Rushan Rafikov fired wide when well placed. Panik’s first taste of KHL offered glimpses of what he can do, but it was clear that he is some way off the pace of hockey at this level.

After the intermission, the home team reverted to a favored tactic – exhaust the opposition and try to force an error on the line change. That led to chances for Radulov, Stepan Nikulin and Georgy Ivanov, but Galkin was up to the challenge. Avtomobilist was limited to just four shots at Isayev, but protected its 1-0 lead.

In a low scoring game, Avto took a giant step towards victory in the 44th minute. Lokomotiv suffered a rare defensive lapse, giving up the puck in its own zone and presenting Artyom Kashtanov with a way to double the lead. That was Kashtanov’s first of the season.

Although it’s been a while since the Motormen had a lead to defend in the closing stages, this has been their strong point during the season. Once again, Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team closed down the game, making it hard for Lokomotiv to find a way back. It wasn’t until the 58th minute that Alexander Polunin solved Galkin and gave the visitor a chance. However, Andrei Obidin’s empty-netter extinguished Lokomotiv’s hopes and secured a much-needed win for Avtomobilist.

Dinamo defeats Ak Bars

Ak Bars Kazan 1 Dinamo Minsk 3 (0-2, 1-0, 0-1)

Dmitry Kvartalnov enjoyed a winning return to Kazan with his Dinamo Minsk team, grabbing a 3-1 verdict to record a third successive victory. Kvartalnov coached Ak Bars for three seasons but was released in 2022. Last season he lost here in overtime but today the Bison produced an impressive performance.

Ak Bars, meanwhile, was boosted by a 3-2 win in Wednesday’s Green Derby and had the chance to join Traktor and Salavat Yulaev in a three-way tie on 48 points with victory here. However, Wednesday’s success saw the home team hanging on towards the end as Ufa fought back and the early stages saw Kazan facing more trouble.

It started to go wrong in the fifth minute when Alexei Marchenko sat for tripping. Dinamo made the most of the first power play of the game and Alexander Volkov opened the scoring on 4:52. The visitor continued to press, outshooting Ak Bars 13-6 during the first period. There was a further reward in the 16th minute when veteran Andrei Stas doubled the lead.

After 10 minutes of penalties in the first period, both teams stayed out of the box in the second. For a time, Dinamo continued to have the better of the play. The shot count was 10-6 in the Belarusians’ favor, but Ak Bars began to spend more time in front of Vasily Demchenko’s net. That eventually saw Dmitrij Jaskin pull a goal back shortly before the intermission.

Jaskin’s marker seemed to open the door for the home team to complete its fightback in the third. Suddenly, Ak Bars was firing in more shots at Demchenko – 15 in the third period, compared with 12 through the first two. However, Dinamo kept testing Amir Miftakhov at the other end as it looked for a killer third goal. Late in the game, a home power play came and went without producing an equalizer. In the 59th minute, Anvar Gatiyatulin called a time-out and called Miftakhov to the bench. However, Dinamo settled the outcome thanks to Volkov’s empty netter 38 seconds later.

Sochi’s skid stretches to seven games

Severstal Cherepovets 2 HC Sochi 1 (2-0, 0-0, 0-1)

This was a game that followed the form book. Sochi, rock bottom of the Western Conference, arrived in Cherepovets on the back of six straight losses. Severstal, meanwhile, won four of its previous five – including a 4-2 success over the Leopards on Wednesday – to sit comfortably in sixth place. Today’s win opens a 10-point gap to ninth-placed Vityaz.

The key moment in the first period was Andrei Nikonov’s decision to swing a punch at Severstal captain Adam Liska. The 100kg Sochi forward was assessed a major for fighting while Liska faced no penalty. To make matters worse for the visitor, Nikonv was followed into the box by Vasily Machulin, and Kirill Pilipenko scored on the five-on-three power play. That gives Pilipenko 17 goals for the season and three points in two games against Sochi. His current productive streak extends to four games and is worth 6 (3+3) points.

Late in the first period, Danil Aimurzin joined Pilipenko on the scoresheet for the fourth game in a row. He had three assists in Wednesday’s win, and added an unassisted goal seconds before the intermission. Like his team-mate, Aimurzin has six points through four games, but in his case it’s two goals and four helpers.

In the second period, Sochi again faced a five-on-three penalty kill. This time, Jesse Graham and Amir Garayev were assessed tripping minors on the same shift but Severstal could not find the net despite two minutes with a two-man advantage.

The final frame saw the roles reversed: Yaroslav Dyblenko followed Nikita Korostelyov into the box and Sochi had two extra skaters for 69 seconds. There was no goal, but the power plays kept coming and Timur Khafizov halved the deficit in the 59th minute after Konstantin Shostak was called for delay of game. However, the goal was merely a consolation for the visitor as it lost again.