11-goal thriller in Moscow, rookie goalie posts first shut-out. December 23 round-up

The headline bout between Dynamo Moscow and Ak Bars turned into a classic. The visitor won it 6-5, with defenseman Nikita Lyamkin collecting 4 (2+2) points in an epic battle. Salavat Yulaev’s young goalie Semyon Vyazovoi celebrated his first KHL shut-out in a 3-0 victory over Amur. Another youngster, Roman Kantserov, scored twice to take Metallurg past Avangard in OT, and Sibir closed out a 4-2 win over Admiral.

Finishing flourish gives Sibir a lift

Sibir Novosibirsk 4 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (0-0, 1-1, 3-1)

After a heavy loss at home to Amur, Sibir needed a boost. Monday brought encouragement for Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team both on and off the ice. In the morning came confirmation that forward Brendan Leipsic had been claimed off waivers and agreed a contract in Novosibirsk. The former Avtomobilist man was unable to join his new team for the game at home to Admiral, but the host was able to welcome Taylor Beck back into action and skated to a 4-2 victory.

Eager to atone for the failure against the Tigers, Sibir dominated the first period. Admiral is used to playing without the puck, but was unable to get its preferred counterattacking game to work here. The only thing missing was a goal, but that arrived early in the second period. Nikita Korotkov emerged from the penalty box to help set up Vladislav Kara’s opener on 22:08. However, when Beck took a penalty midway through the session, Daniil Gutik tied it up on the power play. Later he might have had a second but Denis Kostin denied him as Beck sat out another infringement.

After a quick goal for Sibir in the second stanza, Admiral struck early in the third. Andy Andreoff lost possession on the blue line and Nikita Soshnikov set up Yegor Petukhov for his 16th goal of the season. Then came a late flourish as the home team turned the game around. Andreoff quickly atoned for his blunder, tying the game on the power play in the 47th minute then assisting as Trevor Murphy made it 3-2 in the 50th minute. Three minutes later, Beck put the game out of reach when he finished off a solo rush to make the final score 4-2.  

Kantserov’s double downs Hawks

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Avangard Omsk 1 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0)

This was the fourth meeting between these teams this season, and the third to go to overtime. Today, Roman Kantserov’s double gave Metallurg the verdict, tying the mini-series at 2-2.

Right before Monday’s game in Magnitogorsk, the home team confirmed a trade with SKA. As a result, forward Pavel Akolzin was unavailable as he made his way to St. Petersburg, while incoming import Borna Rendulic was in transit the other way. That prompted Andrei Razin to recall Boris Osipovich and Valentin Zhugin.

Avangard, still awaiting Guy Boucher’s full-time return to Russia, made a lively start under acting head coach Dave Barr. Within a minute, Ilya Nabokov was forced into saves before his Metallurg team-mates began to find their game. A power play helped, as did Danila Yurov’s creativity. However, neither team could find a breakthrough in the first period.

After a fast start from Avangard in the first period, Metallurg responded in kind in the second. And the home team went one better, grabbing the opening goal after 27 seconds when Nikita Mikhailis set up Kantserov. Visiting goalie Nikita Serebryakov had his work cut out, with Mikhailis having a good chance on the rush and Daniil Vovchenko going close from the slot. At times, the Hawks could not get play away from Serebryakov’s net but the visitor made it to the second intermission with just one goal against.

Moreover, Avangard got there on the power play after Yurov took a somewhat needless foul in the closing moments of the second period. Although the Hawks could not convert that advantage, it helped wrest the initiative away from Metallurg. That momentum helped Mikhail Gulyayev find a tying goal in the 48th minute, and the next shift saw Nabokov at his best to prevent Nail Yakupov putting the visitor ahead.

Regulation finished with the teams locked at 1-1. In overtime, Avangard tried to take control from the start. However, despite having more of the play, the visitor was caught on the counter after three minutes and, for the second time in the game, Mikhailis set up Kantserov for a goal that broke the deadlock – this time, decisively.

Vyazovoi blanks the Tigers

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Amur Khabarovsk 0 (1-0, 0-0, 2-0)

Young goaltender Semyon Vyazovoi recorded his first KHL shut-out as Salavat Yulaev snapped a two-game losing run. The 21-year-old stopped 32 shots to backstop a 3-0 verdict. Visitor Amur was looking to build on a 5-1 victory at Sibir, but instead suffered a fifth loss in six games and remain adrift at the foot of the standings.

The Tigers went with an unchanged roster after that win in Novosibirsk, while Salavat Yulaev made changes. In addition to Vyazovoi getting the start, Artyom Nabiyev was an unexpected pick to center the third line.

For much of the first period the teams were more preoccupied with scrapping for possession than fashioning meaningful chances. Two power plays came to nothing for the home team, but Salavat Yulaev eventually opened the scoring at equal strength. Dinar Khafizullin burst out of defense to set up Josh Leivo for his 20th goal of the season. The Canadian leads the KHL in goals so far this term.

The middle frame was goalless, although that had much to do with some smart work from Vyazovoi. As Amur enjoyed its best spell of the game towards the end of the session, the home goalie did well to deny Vyacheslav Gretsky, Viktor Baldayev and Sergei Lapin.

There was another big moment for Ufa’s goalie at the start of the third when Alex Broadhurst had a great chance to tie the game. Once again, Vyazovoi came up with the answer. And those misses proved costly. Salavat Yulaev absorbed the pressure, then hit on the counterattack: Artyom Gorshkov set up Danil Alalykin for the second, killer goal before Alexander Sharov put the third into an empty net.

Lyamkin leads Ak Bars to thrilling victory

Dynamo Moscow 5 Ak Bars Kazan 6 (2-1, 2-2, 1-3)

A roller-coaster of a game saw Dynamo and Ak Bars trade 11 goals before the visitor claimed a second high-scoring win of the season over this opponent. For much of the night, the Blue-and-Whites had the lead, but the Tatars clawed back a two-goal deficit before getting in front for the first time on Nikita Lyamkin’s 54th-minute power play tally.

Lyamkin had a four-point game here, adding to the three assists he collected when Dynamo lost 4-5 in Kazan at the start of the month. Meanwhile Alexander Barabanov contributed 2+1. For Dynamo, Max Comtois had 1+2 and Nikita Gusev made two assists on a high-scoring night in the capital.

The action started early, with Dynamo getting in front in the third minute. Comtois and Alexei Mikheyev combined to set up Dmitry Rashevsky for the opener. The home team got the first power play of the night, but rather than extending the lead, the Muscovites saw Lyamkin’s short-handed effort tie it up.

After that, though, the Blue-and-Whites seemed comfortable enough. Goals from Comtois late in the first and Kirill Adamchuk early in the second opened a 3-1 lead and chased Amir Miftakhov from the Ak Bars net. Nikita Yevseyev pulled one back midway through the frame, but when Gusev set up a power play goal for Cedric Paquette, the home team looked poised to take a solid advantage into the break.

However, just as Dynamo scored quickly either side of the first intermission, Ak Bars did the same around the second pause. Albert Yarullin got a goal back on 38:05, then Alexander Barabanov tied the scores within a minute of the restart.

Another home power play brought another Gusev assist as Pavel Kudryavtsev restored the Dynamo lead in the 44th minute. But in a crazy game, the goals – and the penalties – kept coming. First, Paquette sat and Barabanov got his second of the night to tie the game, firing home a one-timer off Nic Petan’s whippy pass from the left boards.

Then Ak Bars needed just 21 seconds to punish Igor Ozhiganov’s cross check, with Lyamkin waiting on the blue line for the perfect moment to launch his slap shot through traffic to put the visitor up for the first time in the game. Dmitrij Jaskin did a fine job on the slot, screening Maxim Motorygin in the home net.

That was the end of the scoring, but not the end of the drama. Dynamo got one more power play chance, but Comtois’s efforts to force a tying goal came to nothing. Late on, Motorygin went to the bench, but the Ak Bars d-core buzzed around the zone to block any shooting lane and run down the clock on a memorable victory.