Levio hits another hat-trick, Kravtsov sets personal best. January 15 round-up

Josh Leivo got his 30th goal and 50th point of the season after scoring a hat-trick in Salavat Yulaev’s 5-0 win over Neftekhimik. Vitaly Kravtsov also had a good day, scoring twice in Traktor’s shoot-out success at Sibir. That takes Kravtsov to 36 points, his best tally for a regular season so far. Spartak’s Adam Ruzicka also scored two as his team faced Avtomobilist but ended on the losing side after a late Stephane da Costa goal. Sergei Zubov set a club record as head coach of Sochi, but his 189th game behind the Leopards’ bench ended in an overtime loss at Vityaz. 

Kravtsov scores twice in Traktor triumph

Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 SO (1-1, 1-2, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

In recent years Traktor has been a real bogey team for Sibir, winning each of the last 10 meetings between the teams. Today, the Eastern Conference leader kept up that record, but only after a shoot-out.

It’s the third time in a row that Sibir has gone beyond 60 minutes. Another point helps keep Vadim Yepanchintsev’s men ahead of its immediate rivals in the race for the playoffs.

Today’s game saw Traktor lead three times in regulation without managing to finish the job. Artyom Blazhievsky opened the scoring with his team’s first shot of the game in the fifth minute, but the visiting defenseman later lost track of Brendan Leipsic as Sibir tied the game towards the end of the first period.

In the second period, Vitaly Kravtsov twice scored on the power play for Traktor, extending his hot streak to four games. Kravtsov also moved to 36 points, his most productive regular season in the KHL to date. In between, Sibir responded through Georgy Belousov. Nonetheless, the visitor took a 3-2 lead to the second intermission.

The lead did not last long in the third period, with Andy Andreoff tying the game three minutes after the restart. After that, Sibir claimed the upper hand and its Leipsic-Andreoff-Beck line was especially threatening. At the other end, Traktor’s best chance saw Maxim Shabanov denied by the piping as the game went into overtime.

The extras saw Trevor Murphy close to a second game-winner in as many games after his OT goal on Neftekhimik. However, neither team could settle it before the shoot-out, where Traktor scored three out of three to claim the win.

Leivo’s treble sets up a big win

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 0 (1-0, 3-0, 1-0)

A Josh Leivo hat-trick – his third of the season – lifted Salavat Yulaev to a convincing victory over Neftekhimik. The home win keeps Ufa in touch with Eastern Conference leader Traktor, while Neftekhimik lost further ground in its playoff push after falling to a ninth loss in 10 games.

The opening goal came in the fifth minute. In a single shift, Nathan Todd hit the post before the next phase saw Scott Wilson score from close range. Neftekhimik had one good chance to tie the game, but Jean-Sebastien Dea was unable to take advantage.

Early in the second period, Neftekhimik had another big opportunity but failed to convert a five-on-three power play. And once Salavat Yulaev killed those penalties, the home team extended its lead. Nikita Zorkin led an odd-man rush to set up Leivo for his first of the game. Midway through the session, Alexander Chmelevski added a power play goal before Leivo’s second took him to 30 goals for the season. That’s a record for any Salavat Yulaev player in a regular season.

Early in the third, Leivo completed his hat-trick while Todd contributed his third assist of the night. That chased Filipp Dolganov from his net, with Yaroslav Ozolin taking his place. The remainder of the game was notable for two fights. First, Chmelevski dropped the gloves with Kirill Urakov after the visiting forward slammed Yegor Suchkov into the boards. Late on there was another bout as Danil Alalykin tangled with Ilya Pastukhov.

OT goal spoils Zubov’s big day

Vityaz Moscow Region 2 HC Sochi 1 OT (1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Head coach Sergei Zubov took charge of Sochi for the 189th time in the KHL, setting a club record. The Leopards’ visit to Vityaz saw Zubov overtake Vyacheslav Butsayev.

However, the big issue in Wednesday’s game was whether Vityaz could move closer to the playoff spots in the Western Conference. Pavel Desyatkov’s team began the day nine points behind eighth-placed Torpedo after a miserable run of six successive defeats dating back to Dec. 27.

Up against the Western Conference’s basement team, Vityaz made a good start. The home side got in front in the eighth minute on a power play goal from Dmitry Buchelnikov. However, it could not hold onto that lead. In the 13th minute, Will Bitten scored his seventh goal in eight games for Sochi – a run all the more remarkable considering his team had just one victory in its previous seven games.

The visitor ran into trouble late in the opening frame. Andrei Nikonov was called for hooking on 16:07 and talked his way into a further minor penalty for unsporting conduct. Time in the box apparently didn’t calm the young forward’s emotions and as he headed to the locker room for the intermission he continued to question the call, earning a game penalty.

However, four more penalty minutes did not help Vityaz find a power play goal and although the home team largely dominated the second period it could not get back in front.

The third period was also goalless, but Vityaz claimed the win in overtime. Vladislav Tsitsyura potted the decider two minutes into the extras.

Da Costa grabs late winner for the Motormen

Spartak Moscow 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (0-0, 1-2, 1-1)

Avtomobilist made it four wins in a row as it tries to close on the top four in the Eastern Conference. A late goal from Stephane da Costa was enough to sink Spartak, which has just one win in five games this year.

Spartak had problems going into this game, with Nikolai Goldobin, Ivan Morozov and Pavel Poryadin all unavailable. There was better news on defense, where Andrei Mironov returned after a long injury layoff.

The first period did not produce a goal, although Avto was the closer to scoring. Brooks Macek, lurking in his familiar position at the back door, forced a smart save from Artyom Zagidulin early on. Then in the final seconds the home goalie had to be alert once more to deny Evgeny Kashnikov.

In the second period, Spartak made progress. The home team had more of the play and parleyed that into an opening goal in the 35th minute. It was a well-worked play, with Ansel Galimov winning possession behind the net, Yegor Filin forcing goalie Evgeny Alikin to commit himself then slipping the puck to Adam Ruzicka for a simple finish.

However, the provoked an immediate response from Avtomobilist. Two goals in a minute turned the game in the visitor’s favor. Maxim Denezhin scored the equalizer from the left-hand circle, then Nick Merkley converted the rebound from Nikita Shashkov’s shot after Spartak got caught on the change.

Early in the third period, the Red-and-Whites had the puck in the net again. However, Galimov clearly used his hand to knock it home after Roman Bychkov’s shot looped up off Alikin.

For much of the session, the Motormen defended carefully. Spartak struggled to create chances and the game seemed to be drifting away. However, in the 53rd minute Ruzicka scored his second of the night to change the narrative. Filin’s attempted feed from behind the net bounced off Alikin’s stick and dropped kindly for the Slovak to score from the slot.

That looked like it would take the game to overtime, but da Costa wasn’t interested in staying out late. Anatoly Golyshev wrestled the puck away from Dmitry Vishnevsky in the corner and found the Frenchman on the slot – and the center produced a backhand shot that beat Zagidulin and settled the game.