SKA gets the better of Admiral, Lada rally sinks Hawks. December 21 round-up

Vasily Glotov’s overtime goal saw SKA edge past Admiral in an entertaining game in St. Petersburg. Both teams missed a penalty shot in a 2-2 tie in regulation. Lada produced a stirring fightback in the third period, turning a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 victory over Avangard. Traktor put its recent wobble behind it with two unanswered goals in the final stanza to beat Barys. And Amur snapped its skid with a thumping 5-1 win at Sibir.

Tigers end skid in style

Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Amur Khabarovsk 5 (0-1, 1-3, 0-1)

Amur snapped a four-game losing streak with a stylish 5-1 success at Sibir. The home team allowed five goals in its previous game against Avangard, made five changes ... and allowed five more tonight. It added up to an unhappy debut for Kirill Rasskazov, who centered the first line against one of his previous clubs.

The teams made a cautious start, although Sibir came close to taking the lead when Vladimir Butuzov’s shot beat Matt Jurusik but came back off the crossbar. Instead, the opening goal went to Amur in the ninth minute when Ignat Korotkikh reacted first to a turnover in the Sibir zone.

Sibir responded in the middle frame when Butuzov tied the game. That extended his personal hot streak to six games, but did not provide a platform for his team-mates to develop. Just 82 seconds later, Kirill Slepets restored the Tigers’ lead when he finished off a counterattack.

In the closing moments of the middle frame, Amur took the game away. Korotkikh got his second of the night on another counterattack, then Devin Brosseau made it 4-1 with a power play tally. Alexander Galchenyuk’s assist on that play put him among the points for the fifth game in a row.

There was no way back for Sibir in the third period. However, Brosseau joined Korotkikh on two goals to make the final score 5-1 to Amur.

Kadeikin helps Eastern leader get back on track

Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Barys Astana 2 (1-0, 0-2, 2-0)

A home defeat to Dinamo Minsk hinted at something of a blip for Traktor. The Chelyabinsk team, long accustomed to leading the Eastern Conference this season, found itself level on points with Salavat Yulaev going into today’s visit from Barys.

However, the visitor has problems of its own: despite a 2-0 win at Dynamo Moscow, which snapped an eight-game  skid, it was back to familiar troubles in a 0-2 reverse at Kunlun Red Star.

Benoit Groulx swapped his goalies after the Minsk game, giving Sergei Mylnikov the start. Barys made rather more changes, notably bringing Viktor Antipin and Alikhan Asetov back into the team.

Traktor started on time in this game, with Maxim Shabanov opening the scoring in the second minute. His one-timer converted Alexander Kadeikin’s feed from behind the net and moved him to 35 (15+20) points for the season. However, Barys did not allow a slow start to upset the gameplan and spent much of the first period on the attack. Traktor had to defend well to preserve its lead, and the d-core blocked seven shots in front of Mylnikov.

At the start of the second period, Traktor again took the initiative. However, the home team could not add to its lead and midway through the session Kirill Panyukov finished off a counterattack to tie the game. Mikhail Rakhmanov’s assist brought his first point of the season. There was more to come: late in the frame, former Traktor favorite Anton Burdasov skated onto a stretch pass to make it 2-1 for Barys at the second intermission.

Traktor thought it had a tying goal right at the start of the final stanza, but the officials saw it differently after spotting a high stick in the review. The turnaround eventually came midway through the third. Dylan Sikura tied it up on 51:10, reacting fastest to the rebound from Vladimir Zharkov’s shot. Within a minute, Kadeikin scored the winner, pouncing on a misplaced pass to claim the goal he had been denied at the start of the session.

Lada rallies from 1-3, beats Avangard

Lada Togliatti 4 Avangard Omsk 3 (1-0, 0-3, 3-0)

A big third-period fightback gave Lada victory over Avangard – and sent interim head coach Dave Barr to his first loss in the KHL. The Hawks were on a four-game winning streak, with Barr taking charge on behalf of Guy Boucher for the last two of those. Today, though, despite leading 3-1 going into the third, Avangard fell to a 4-3 defeat.

The first period was fairly even, but late in the session Lada got the first power play of the game. The home team took advantage, with Arkhip Nekolenko firing home off Danil Yurtaikin’s feed. Avangard’s bench challenged the call, claiming offside as Yurtaikin brought play down the right-hand board, but the video review upheld the on-ice decision. Lada led, the Hawks faced another PK.

However, there was no second power play goal for the Motormen. Magomed Sharakanov went to the box before the intermission, and when Avangard got a brief power play early in the middle stanza, Nikolai Prokhorkin tied the game.

Prokhorkin’s goal kickstarted an Avangard revival and the visitor scored at two-minute intervals to open a 3-1 lead. Damir Sharipzyanov’s point shot put the Hawks ahead, then Emil Galimov jumped on a loose puck in center ice and skated away to beat Alexander Trushkov in the home net.

Rocked by that blistering spell from Avangard, Lada steadily grew back into the game. By the end of the second period, the home team managed to even up the shot count but could not make inroads into the two-goal deficit.

In the third period, it was Lada’s turn to make a flying start. Two goals in 11 seconds wiped out Avangard’s lead and brought the game right back to life. First, Yurtaikin advanced down the left, found a shooting lane in the center and placed a low snipe beyond Pavel Khomchenko. Then Dmitry Kugryshev tied it up with a wrister from a tight angle.

Now Avangard needed to stabilize. The visitor managed that, keeping the game locked at 3-3 and even getting on the power play midway through the final stanza. However, as overtime seemed to be inevitable, Lada struck again in the 56th minute. Yegor Cherikov made the breakthrough, shooting home from the slot after Alexander Volkov circled the net to set him up.

Glotov ends Admiral’s resistance

SKA St. Petersburg 3 Admiral Vladivostok 2 OT (0-1, 1-1, 1-0, 1-0)

For the first time since Oct. 28, SKA recorded back-to-back wins in the KHL. But Roman Rotenberg’s men were pushed all the way by Admiral. The visitor led twice, then goalie Andrei Mishurov stopped Evgeny Kuznetsov’s late penalty shot to take the game into overtime. Eventually, Vasily Glotov potted the winner for the home team.

Admiral had a great chance to take an early lead. In the fifth minute, Leonid Metalnikov’s stretch pass sent Dmitry Zavgorodny through on goal and Tony DeAngelo needed a foul to halt his progress. Zavgorodny, playing against the club where he began his career, took the penalty shot himself but hit the post.

However, at the end of an even opening stanza, the Sailors did move in front. Alexander Shepelev’s first goal for the club separated the teams in the 19th minute.

SKA responded at the start of the second period. Alexander Nikishin joined an attack on the left wing, got past Jack Rodewald and fired the puck into the center of the zone. Ivan Demidov skated onto it and put his shot into the open corner of Mishurov’s net.

At that point, many would have expected the home team to step up and take control of the game. And SKA went on to dominate much of the play, outshooting the opposition 18-6 through the second period.

But Admiral saw it differently. When DeAngelo picked up a needless penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, the visitor regained the lead on the power play. Georgy Solyannikov sent Daniil Gutik clear on Yegor Zavragin’s net and the Sailors forward made no mistake to score his 12th goal and 30th point of the season.

SKA continued to have the upper hand in the third period and managed to tie the game in the 49th minute. Danila Galenyuk was the scorer, stepping up from the blue line to launch a shot that beat Mishurov through traffic.

But the visiting goalie would deny a late winner when SKA was awarded a penalty shot in the 56th minute. Kuznetsov stepped up for an attempt on goal after Mishurov was penalized for throwing the stick. Kuznetsov adopted his usual unhurried approach, but could not beat the blocker as Mishurov came the game tied at 2-2.

The extras did not last long. Glotov won it for SKA after just 38 seconds. The home forward spun neatly away from the boards, got the better of Gutik and advanced to wire a wrister to the top shelf.