Hawks rally from 0-2, Dragons win again. January 12 round-up
Avangard secured its fourth successive victory this year despite allowing two early goals against Salavat Yulaev. The Hawks responded to win 3-2. Kunlun celebrated its seventh successive victory thanks to a hard-fought shoot-out verdict at Lada, and is closing on a playoff spot in the West. Avtomobilist also took a shoot-out verdict over Dinamo Minsk, while Severstal won 2-1 at Vityaz.
Fightback win for Avangard
Avangard Omsk 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (0-2, 1-0, 2-0)
A two-goal lead is often regarded as slippiest score in hockey – and Salavat Yulaev learned that the hard way as Avangard rallied to win its fourth game in a row this year. For Ufa, 2025 has been more of a struggle: this was a third loss in four as Viktor Kozlov’s men have fallen from first place in the East.
Today Salavat Yulaev got off to a great start. Sheldon Rempal opened the scoring on 3:14, forcing a turnover and advancing to shoot past Nikita Serebryakov. And, a couple of minutes later, Artyom Nabiyev doubled the lead when he was left unmarked on the slot to convert Artyom Pimenov’s feed.
That sluggish start demanded an improvement from the home team, and gradually the Hawks came into the game a little. However, the visitor had the better of the opening frame and deservedly took a 2-0 lead to the intermission.
After the intermission, Avangard improved significantly. Reid Boucher went close in a one-on-one against Alexander Samonov. Moments later a flurry of penalties had the home team with a four-on-three power play and Boucher converted with a great shot.
Avangard showed plenty on its next power play, midway through the second period. This time, though, the visiting PK withstood the pressure and there was no further scoring in the middle stanza.
With 20 minutes to play, the home team put everything into the attack. It made for some heart-in-mouth moments when Salavat Yulaev got on the counterattack, but the visitor could not take those chances. Instead, Avangard drew level in the 47th minute when Nail Yakupov fired home an Ilya Kablukov feed.
Inspired by that success, the home team continued to press for a winner. Mike McCleod saw a great chance go begging, then Danil Alalykin spurned a great chance at the other end. It was clear that both teams wanted to get the win in regulation, and in the end Avangard managed to do just that. Samonov made multiple saves during a late surge of pressure, but ultimately Damir Sharipzyanov forced the puck home in the 59th minute to make the final score 3-2.
Shoot-out success for Motormen
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 Dinamo Minsk 3 SO (1-1, 2-1, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)
Dinamo’s recent run of good form owes much to impressive performances from goalie Vasily Demchenko. However, he suffered an injury during the win against Sibir and today his place went to Yegor Velmakin. That change offered an opening for Avtomobilist, and the Motormen took a shoot-out verdict to seal a third successive win. The home team scored three goals on 19 shots before edging a shoot-out verdict.
Despite the defeat, Dinamo showed character to come from behind three times. In the first period, Sergei Kuznetsov cancelled out a 14th-minute opener from Anatoly Golyshev. Then, in the middle frame, Vitaly Pinchuk wiped out a Jesse Blacker power play goal. However, another home PP saw Brooks Macek restore the home lead in the 38th minute.
Dinamo responded with a big performance in the third. Dillon Dube, who was dropped down to the fourth line after some indifferent recent form, responded with a tying goal midway through the session, and that sent the action to overtime. Nobody could win it in the extras, but the shoot-out went to Avto. Alexander Sharov was the only player to score; Dinamo missed five attempts to beat Vladimir Galkin.
Dragons record seventh successive victory
Lada Togliatti 2 Kunlun Red Star 3 SO (0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
A shoot-out success saw Kunlun make it seven wins in a row. The visitor faced former team-mate Konstantin Volkov making his Lada debut, and after a close game Red Star denied an old friend a first victory of the season. The result moves Kunlun to within two points of Torpedo in the race for the playoffs in the West.
The Dragons made a fast start with Colin Campbell opening the scoring in the fifth minute. However, the game was always close and competitive, with little to choose between the teams.
Lada tied the scores in the 28th minute when Alexander Volkov beat Patrik Rybar. That was the first goal the Slovak allowed since joining KRS: he began with a debut shut-out against CSKA on Friday. Later in the second, Austin Wong and Rafael Bikmullin got into a fight.
Wong had the better of the brawl, but Bikmullin retaliated with Lada’s second goal, giving the host the lead at the start of the third period. But a couple of minutes later, Yaroslav Likhachyov produced a great shot to tie the game at 2-2. It stayed that way until the end of overtime, with the latter stages of the third period turning into a scruffy penalty-strewn affair.
The shoot-out needed 18 shots to separate the teams. The two goalies came out on top in the first 17 duels, but at last Campbell found the net, adding to his opening goal to keep Red Star’s record winning streak alive.
Severstal extends Vityaz’s losing run
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (0-0, 1-1, 0-1)
Kunlun’s winning streak has seen it overtake Vityaz to become the main contender to break into the top eight in the West. Today, Vityaz fell to a sixth straight loss and is in danger of dropping out of playoff contention. Severstal, which continues to alternate wins and losses, steps ahead of SKA into sixth place – and in a tight Western Conference, is now just two points off second.
This game stayed goalless for the first half-hour and, in all honesty, neither offense looked to be on top form. Eventually, Severstal got in front thanks to Mikhail Kotlyarevsky’s goal midway through the game, but the visitor could not build on that advantage. Instead, Vityaz tied it up through Yaroslav Busygin in the 38th minute, the goal coming during a passage of four-on-four play.
In the third, Vityaz looked the more likely to score. It wasn’t exactly an awesome attacking performance, but the home team did limit Severstal to just three shots at Dmitry Shikin, who took over from Maxim Dorozhko in the 34th minute. However, the visitor made the most of its chances, and David Dumbadze broke the tie in the 50th minute.
That proved to be the winning goal. Vityaz was unable to elevate its attacking play in the closing stages and is now nine points back from eighth placed Torpedo.
