Leivo treble spells more trouble for Barys. December 30 round-up

A Josh Leivo hat-trick helped Salavat Yulaev to a 6-0 home victory over Barys. That ensured that Ufa would top the Eastern Conference at the end of the year, despite a 6-2 win for Traktor at Neftekhimik. A clash of the Titans in the East saw Metallurg edge Avangard 2-1 in Omsk to move level on points with third-placed Ak Bars. The Kazan team suffered a home loss to Severstal, which finishes the year in the top four in the West. Elsewhere, Kunlun beat Torpedo for the first time since 2020, Sibir took a 4-3 verdict over Amur and Lada beat Avtomobilist in a shoot-out. 

Pyanov’s double leads Sibir to victory

Amur Khabarovsk 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 (1-2, 2-1, 0-1)

Sibir finished its 2024 program by completing a fourth successive victory in an entertaining game at Amur. The visitor avenged a 1-5 loss at home to the Tigers on Dec. 21.

Sibir had won its last two games without allowing a goal, but Denis Kostin was beaten in the third minute here. His shut-out streak ended on 141:35 as Alexander Galchenyuk opened the scoring. However, the home team could not build on that lead. Valentin Pyanov tied it up, and 56 seconds later Nikita Korotkov made it 2-1 for the visitor.

Amur responded with two quick goals of their own at the start of the second period. Ignat Korotkikh and Sergei Lapin struck 42 seconds apart to restore the Tigers’ lead. After getting in front, the host looked more likely to build on that advantage: Amur didn’t dominate the play, but had noticeably the better chances. Nonetheless, the breakthrough came at the other end when Alexei Yakovlev tied it up at 3-3 late in the middle frame.

The decider came midway through the third. Maxim Karpov’s intelligent feed from behind the net brought him a second assist in the game as Pyanov converted for his second goal. The closing stages were lively: Korotkikh got into a fight with Artyom Zhukov, then Yegor Alanov took a double minor for high sticking. That saw Amur finish the game on the power play, and ultimately with a six-on-four advantage after Matt Jurusik went to the bench. But Sibir held on to take the verdict.

Dragons down Torpedo in OT

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Kunlun Red Star 4 OT (1-1, 1-0, 1-2, 0-1)

An overtime goal from Yaroslav Likhachyov and 46 saves from Jeremy Smith helped the Dragons defeat Torpedo for the first time in four years. Mikhail Kravets’ team finished 2024 with a third successive victory, while Torpedo was unable to build on Saturday’s win over Barys.

Torpedo handed a debut to Nikita Tertyshny, signed from Traktor on deadline day. Red Star was unchanged from its win over Spartak, despite the addition of a few new players in last few days of trading.

The early stages belonged to the home team, and it was little surprise when Kirill Kirsanov opened the scoring in the seventh minute. However, Smith was in good form in the visitor’s net, stopping 18 shots in the first period alone, and that meant that Austin Wong was able to tie the game with his first goal of the season.

In the second period, Torpedo again dominated. Smith was much the busier of the two goalies, but again allowed just one shot past him as Nikita Shavin restored the home lead. Spencer Foo was closest to tying the scores with a shot off the crossbar, but it remained 2-1 until the intermission.

After the break, KRS levelled once again as Alexander Sharov potted his first goal since his move from Traktor. Then Jayden Halbgewachs pulled off a fine finish to beat Ivan Bocharov from the slot and put the visitor up for the first time in the game. Torpedo tied it up in the 52nd minute thanks to Vasily Atanasov and Sergei Goncharuk almost won it late on, denied by a goal-line clearance from Ian McCoshen.

It all went to overtime, and with barely 30 seconds left on the clock, Likhachyov produced the winner. Pace and perception got him through the Torpedo defense to fire home a shot from between the hash marks.

Late strike lifts Magnitka over Avangard

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

Guy Boucher’s first game behind the bench in Omsk was a high-scoring home win. Today, though, produced a tight loss to Metallurg. Boucher made one change to the team that edged Lada 7-6, handing a debut to new signing Giovanni Fiore. Metallurg welcomed back captain Yegor Yakovlev after he missed the shoot-out win in Yekaterinburg.

In contrast with the Lada game, today’s first period was a tactical battle with few scoring chances. Generally, such opportunities came from moments of individual skill: Fiore tested Alexander Smolin in the visitor’s net, while Danila Yurov was closest for Metallurg.

Smolin got a let-off at the start of the second period. His misplaced clearance went to Reid Boucher, who quickly found Ryan Spooner on the slot. However, the Avangard forward somehow screwed his shot wide of an open net when the opening goal seemed inevitable. The Hawks kept pushing and made the breakthrough after 25 minutes: Mikhail Gulyayev struck with a shot from the point to find the net for the third game in a row. That led to the play opening up a little compared with the first period, but did not bring any more scoring.

Up until the 44th minute, Avangard seemed fairly comfortable, even if the lead was a solitary goal. However, an unexpected center ice penalty on Igor Martynov opened the door for Metallurg. Nikita Mikhailis saw his initial shot blocked but picked up the rebound to tie the game on 45:27.

With the game tied, and the cost of any error likely to be high, we saw a return to the cautious hockey of the early stages. Avangard created the better chances, but could not beat the impressive Smolin. However, the home team also ran into penalty trouble and faced a minute of three-on-five. The PK did its job, but back at equal strength Metallurg ultimately found the winner: Robin Press shot from the point and Alexander Petunin applied the crucial touch on the slot to make it 2-1 in the 58th minute.

Leivo leads Salavat Yulaev to big win

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 6 Barys Astana 0 (3-0, 2-0, 1-0)

A comprehensive victory over Barys ensured that Salavat Yulaev would end 2024 on top of the Eastern Conference. The home team had little difficult brushing aside a struggling opponent with Josh Leivo’s hat-trick leading the way. Goalie Semyon Vyazovoi posted his second successive shut-out.

There was a debut for Scott Wilson, newly-arrived in Ufa after an unhappy spell with Metallurg. He centered the second line alongside Alexander Chmelevski and Dennis Yan.

There was rarely much doubt about the outcome of this game. Salavat Yulaev opened the scoring after 25 seconds thanks to Leivo. Home dominance continued, and the first period brought further goals from Nathan Todd and Nikita Zorkin as Ufa outshot Barys 18-2.

In the middle frame we finally saw something of the Barys offense. However, there was no way back for the Kazakhs, while Leivo showed how it should be done at the other end. He converted a power play, then finished off a three-on-two rush to complete his hat-trick. The visitor’s misery was complete in the third when Sheldon Rempal’s short-handed goal made the final score 6-0. 

Lada wins battle of the Motormen

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Lada Togliatti 3 SO (1-0, 0-2, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Goalie Alexander Trushkov back-stopped Lada to a shoot-out win in Yekaterinburg. He stopped 35 shots through 65 minutes, then went unbeaten in the shoot-out as the visitor bounced back from two successive losses and avenged a 1-0 loss to Avto on home ice at the start of the season.

The home team had to kill an early penalty, but goalie Evgeny Alikhin made up for his foul with a couple of good saves to keep the game goalless. Back at full strength, Avtomobilist converted its first real chance of the game when Semyon Kizimov finished off following a defensive error.

Lada responded by redoubling its press, but could not convert that into scoring chances and went to the intermission down by one.

At the start of the second period, the teams exchanged chances. Danil Romantsev got clear of the Lada defense but fired over Trushkov’s net. Then Mikhail Fisenko almost took advantage of a turnover but shot against the post. Midway through the session, the visitor managed to tie the scores when Dmitry Kugryshev took the puck from Nikita Tryamkin and set up an odd-man rush that saw Yegor Chernikov feed Danila Moiseyev for the equalizer. And there was more to come from Lada, with Daniil Yurtaikin making it 2-1 before the end of the period.

In the third, Avtomobilist looked to get back on level terms but for a long time struggled to establish itself in the Lada zone. It wasn’t until the last five minutes that the goal arrived, Alexander Sharov getting his first point since joining the club with an assist on Brooks Macek’s marker.

Overtime could not separate the teams, with Arkhip Nekolenko’s shot the only real chance for a winning goal. Instead it went to a shoot-out, where Dmitry Kugryshev won it for Lada.

Traktor bounces back with big win

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Traktor Chelybinsk 6 (1-2, 0-3, 1-1)

After losing top spot in the East, Traktor finished 2024 with a high-scoring road win at Neftekhimik. Benoit Groulx’s team responded to back-to-back defeats by hitting the Wolves for six, with Matvei Guskov scoring on his debut for his third club of the season.

The visitor made a perfect start to the game when Maxim Shabanov opened the scoring after 19 seconds. He had an assist from another newcomer, Vasily Glotov, who wasted no time in getting his first point for his new team. Neftekhimik tied the game on a Kirill Petrov goal in the sixth minute, but after that Traktor took control.

Steven Kampfer’s goal in the 16th minute restored the visitor’s lead and the middle frame saw Traktor put the game out of reach. Three goals in six minutes saw Grigory Dronov, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Vladimir Tkachyov extend the lead. Shabanov added two assists, and there was a helper for Guskov as well.

Early in the third, Mikhal Pashnin potted a consolation goal for Neftekhimik. However, Traktor had the final word when Guskov raced away on the counter, exchanged passes with Vitaly Kravtsov and steered the puck into the open side of the net to make the final score 6-2.

Aimurzin’s late double downs Ak Bars

Ak Bars Kazan 2 Severstal Cherepovets 3 (1-0, 0-1, 1-2)

Severstal will go into 2025 in the top four in the Western Conference thanks to a 3-2 win in Kazan. It’s the second time this season that Andrei Kozyrev’s team has beaten Ak Bars, following a memorable 7-5 win just over a month ago.

The victory came from a solid third-period performance. With the game locked at 1-1 through 40 minutes, the visitor allowed just four shots on Alexander Samoilov’s net in the final frame. With the home offense thus neutralized, the Steelmen had a foundation from which to retrieve a 2-1 deficit and snatch a last-minute winner thanks to Danil Aimurzin.

Earlier, Ak Bars looked the better team and took the lead midway through the first period. Nikita Lyamkin produced a fine pass from in front of his own net, releasing Dmitry Katelevsky one-on-one with Samoilov to open the scoring. That was the only marker of the first period, with Lyamkin recording his 100th KHL assist.

The lead endured until midway through the second period. By now Severstal was beginning to get its offense together, but there was an element of fortune about the tying goal. Mikhail Kotlyarevsky attempted to get the puck to the slot from the corner of the ice, but a looping deflection off a defenseman’s skate sent it behind the net. Ruslan Abrosimov picked it up and quickly netted on the wraparound with goalie Amir Miftakhov disoriented by the deflection.

Given what had gone before, when Dmitrij Jaskin restored the home lead at the start of the third period it was easy to assume Ak Bars would go on to win the game. However, Severstal had other ideas. The visitor stifled any further offense, leaving Kazan bereft of chances to pad its lead. Then Alexei Marchenko took the first penalty of the game in the 47th minute and Aimurzin quickly tied the game on the power play. He was first to react when Kirill Pilipenko’s shot came back off the boards.

Ak Bars was unable to reinvigorate its offense in the closing stages and overtime seemed likely. However, in the last minute Aimurzin struck again when he skated onto a fine drop pass from Pilipenko and shot home from the right-hand circle to win the game for Severstal.