Thriller in Moscow, hat-trick in Ufa. December 25 round-up

The game of the day saw CSKA take on SKA. It looked like it was all over in 15 minutes at the Muscovites powered to a 5-0 lead. But SKA kept believing, and got it back to 5-6 in the 56th minute. CSKA just about held on to clinch a thrilling win. There were goals in Ufa, too, with Josh Leivo’s first KHL hat-trick helped Salavat Yulaev to an OT win over Amur. Lokomotiv scored five at Torpedo, Dinamo Minsk put five past Ak Bars and Vityaz goalie Maxim Dorozhko denied Dynamo Moscow with 43 saves in a 2-0 win. 

Leivo pots first hat-trick as Ufa win thriller

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 Amur Khabarovsk 4 OT (1-1, 3-2, 0-1, 1-0)

Two days after Salavat Yulaev eased to a 3-0 victory over Amur, this renewal of hostilities was a very different encounter. The teams put on a real show, tying 4-4 in regulation before Danil Alalykin potted the OT winner for the host. Josh Leivo, who scored in the first game, got his first KHL hat-trick to kickstart the Canadian’s Christmas celebrations.

Amur made changes after Monday’s loss. Evgeny Kulik was traded to Avangard, so Alexander Shchemerov lined up alongside Cam Lee. In addition, 22-year-old Damir Shaimardanov got the start in goal at the club where he began his hockey career. Salavat Yulaev also switched three players, bringing in goalie Alexander Samonov, defenseman Ildan Gazimov and forward Vladislav Yefremov.

Amur had a great early chance when it got a five-on-three power play, but the home PK did its job. Back at equal strength, it wasn’t long before Sheldon Rempal put Salavat Yulaev in front. However, after Amur failed to beat Semyon Vyazovoi on Monday, it found Samonov’s goaltending more amenable. Late in the opening frame, Devin Brosseau converted a counterattack to tie the game.

The action picked up pace in the second period. Leivo scored his three goals in this session, starting with a power play effort on 20:14 and completing his treble on 39:05 to put Ufa up 4-3. That was the fourth time his team had led in the game, but Amur kept responding. Brosseau got his second of the night, and Vladislav Barulin was also on target for the visitor in an absorbing battle.

After tying the scores three times, the Tigers did it once again in the third period. This time, Artur Gizdatullin was the scorer, redirecting Kirill Slepets’ shot. That proved sufficient to force overtime. In the first seconds of the extras, Amur was close to grabbing a winner before Samonov got behind Lee’s shot. But in the 64th minute, Salavat Yulaev claimed the win: Dennis Yan and Danil Alalykin went on a raid that saw Alalykin claim his second goal in successive games against Amur. 

Bison beat Ak Bars again

Dinamo Minsk 5 Ak Bars Kazan 1 (3-0, 2-0, 0-1)

This was another quick rematch. On Dec. 20, Dinamo Minsk won 3-1 in Kazan. Today, five days later, the margin was even more convincing.

The Belarusians, back on home ice after visiting Tashkent in the KHL World Games at the weekend, quickly settled into familiar surroundings. The host made the brighter start and even if scoring chances did not come at once, the first period was a big success for Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team. Midway through the session, defenseman Brady Lyle potted his eighth goal of the season to open the scoring, and 58 seconds later Ilya Usov doubled the lead. Dinamo had a further tally whistled off, but there was still time for Sam Anas to pot a third before the intermission.

Ak Bars struggled to pose much of a threat in the early stages, and the second period continued in similar vein. Dinamo looked sharper, and added to its lead thanks to goals from Daniil Lipsky and Vadim Moroz. The latter was assisted by Vadim Shipachyov, who moves to 949 points in the KHL. That fifth goal also prompted the visitor to replace starting goalie Timur Bilyalov with Amir Miftakhov.

Miftakhov did not allow any further goals, but a five-goal deficit was too much to retrieve in the third period. Alexander Barabanov converted a penalty shot in some style in the 53rd minute, but it was never more than a consolation effort.

Panik opens his KHL account

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 0 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5 (0-0, 0-2, 0-3)

Richard Panik got his first KHL goal to help Lokomotiv to a convincing win on the road at Torpedo. The Slovak international struck in the second period as the league leader eased to a 5-0 verdict.

The first period in Nizhny Novgorod was goalless, with the teams locked in a physical battle and unable to generate much offense. However, in recent games Torpedo has been leaking goals and once Lokomotiv got in front early in the second, Igor Larionov’s men found themselves allowing far too many opportunities once again.

Alexander Polunin opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. He advanced down the right, spotted Pavel Kraskovsky screening Ivan Kulbakov in the home net, and fired in a shot that bounced through the goalie’s defenses.  Then came Panik’s big moment. A defensive error saw Danil Bokun present the Slovak with the puck and he unleashed a powerful shot from the left-hand circle in the 31st minute.

By that time, Torpedo had yet to manage a shot on goal in the second period and things did not much improve on that count before the intermission. To make matters worse, two home players took minor penalties on the hooter and a five-on-three power play saw Lokomotiv extend its lead at the start of the third. Maxim Shalunov kept up his impressive form with the third goal on 40:33, leaving Torpedo with a tough task to get back into the game.

Tough became impossible by the middle of the final stanza. Shalunov turned provider for Georgy Ivanov to add a fourth, then Kraskovsky made it 5-0 with 10 to play. The closing stages saw the tempo drop. Torpedo had a chance for a consolation goal late on when Rushan Rafikov and Nikita Kiryanov sat for minor penalties, giving the home team a five-on-three advantage. However, Lokomotiv killed the penalty to help Alexei Melnichuk to his second shut-out of the season. 

Defiant Dorozhko backstops improbable win

Vityaz Moscow Region 2 Dynamo Moscow 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)

It took 59 minutes for the teams to break the deadlock here as home goalie Maxim Dorozhko produced a goaltending masterclass. But once Vityaz found the net, a second goal arrived almost immediately to give Pavel Desyatkov’s team the verdict. Dynamo suffered a second successive loss, while Vityaz posted back-to-back wins and moves to within three points of ninth-placed Torpedo.

For a long time, this was a goaltending duel. Dorozhko was the busier netminder in the home net, making 15 saves in the first period alone. Vladislav Podyapolsky, making his Dynamo debut after leaving Lada, was rather less active: through 40 minutes he faced just seven shots as the visitor dominated without finding a way to score.

Much of Dynamo’s control was due to regular power plays. Vityaz had fewer chances with an extra man, but began to extend Podyapolsky at last when Jordan Weal sat midway through the third. At the other end, Dorozhko made his 40th save of the game to frustrate the Blue-and-White offense. Then came the sucker punch: Ivan Chekhovich moved into Dynamo territory, drew the attentions of two defensemen and picked out a pass for the wide open Dmitry Buchelnikov. The youngster saw his chance and took it, giving Vityaz an unexpected lead on 58:39. Podyapolsky went to the bench, but six Dynamo skaters had no better fortune than five. Alexei Makeyev’s empty netter sealed the verdict; Dorozhko’s 43 saves were the key factor in the game. 

Host’s fast start edges visitor’s strong finish

CSKA Moscow 6 SKA St. Petersburg 5 (5-0, 0-1, 1-4)

A storming first period saw in-form CSKA build an unassailable lead over SKA. Despite a strong rally in the third period, Roman Rotenberg’s team was unable to claw back the five-goal deficit it faced in the opening session. But it did battle back to 5-6, setting up an anxious finale in Moscow.

Yegor Zavragin was the starting goalie for SKA tonight, but he left the game after less than a minute. CSKA made a dream start and was up 2-0 after 57 seconds. Pavel Karnaukhov opened the scoring when his attempted pass to the slot deflected into the net off Danila Galchenyuk’s skate. Fourteen seconds later it was two: Denis Guryanov’s redirect put Colby Williams’ shot beyond Zavragin and steered the goalie back to the bench.

Incoming netminder Pavel Moisevich faced problems of his own. Vitaly Abramov added a third in the ninth minute, then the home team again scored twice in a minute. Maxim Sorkin’s wrister made it 4-0, then Karnaukhov got his second of the game on 14:38. The goaltending game of musical chairs continued, with Zavragin sent back into the game in place of Moisevich.

After all that, SKA managed a couple of chances late in the first period and proceeded to have the better of the play in the second. However, despite outshooting the home team 14-6 in the middle frame, the visitor could manage just one goal: Sergei Sapego struck late in the session to get SKA on the scoreboard.

In a game where goals came in flurries, the third period provided a swift exchange of fire. SKA’s Alexander Nikishin got his team’s second in the 48th minute, blasting home a point shot after Vasily Glotov’s clean win at the draw. Immediately, Kirill Dolzhenkov responded for CSKA, beating Nikishin to the rebound from a Christian Jaros shot.

However, SKA was finishing the stronger of the two. Arseny Gritsyuk quickly made it 3-6, then Ivan Demidov got the visitor back within two goals. There was still five minutes to play and the visitor believed it could save the game. Rotenberg called a time-out, Zavragin made way for a sixth skater and Sergei Plotnikov set home nerves a-jangle when he made it a one-goal game on 55:52. Zavragin returned for the restart, but quickly went back to the sidelines as SKA poured forward in search of salvation. But this was not the day: Guryanov missed a great chance to hit the empty net, Nikita Nesterov fired narrowly wide from long range and the buzzer halted the visitor’s final surge with CSKA clinging on to that 6-5 lead.