Dynamo bounces back to sink SKA, Salavat scores eight. January 23 round-up

Thursday’s top action came in St. Petersburg. SKA jumped to a 3-0 lead over Dynamo Moscow, but after former Petersburg goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky came into the game the visitor turned it around to win 5-3. Sheldon Rempal hit a hat-trick as Salavat Yulaev crushed Sochi 8-1. Torpedo had a good day in the playoff race: a 5-2 win over Amur, coupled with Kunlun’s 0-3 loss at Severstal puts Igor Larionov’s team eight points clear in eighth place. Barys lost for the 12th time in a row, going down to Admiral in a shoot-out.

Twelfth successive loss for Barys

Barys Astana 2 Admiral Vladivostok 3 SO (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 0-1)

These two teams met for the first time this season, and Barys led twice before falling in a shoot-out.The home team opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan. It was the 21-year-old’s first goal of the season, and it was a big special as he went coast-to-coast, neatly getting past an opponent along the way.

Admiral was frustrated not to tie the game in the first period, and continued to dominate the play in the second. For 10 minutes, Barys could not get the puck to Andrei Misurov’s net, while Nikita Boyarkin faced 11 attempts at the other end. The pressure finally brought a tying goal midway through the frame when Yegor Petukhov scored on one of his former clubs.

Logic suggested that once level, Admiral would cruise away from Barys. However, the home team upset that expectation by regaining the lead in the 36th minute. Damir Zhafyarov got his first goal since Feb. 2024, ending a drought of almost a full year and opening his account for Barys at last.

The third period continued with Admiral on the front foot and Barys defending carefully. It seemed like that might be enough for a home win, but in the last minute Admiral saved the game. Daniil Gutik shot from long range while Petukhov screened Boyarkin. In the extras, Barys looked better and Zhafyarov had a genuine chance to win the game. However, Mishurov kept him out and the shoot-out saw the Sailors take the verdict with Petukhov on the mark again. 

Samoilov shuts out Dragons

Severstal Cherepovets 3 Kunlun Red Star 0 (0-0, 3-0, 0-0)

In-form Severstal climbed to third in the Western Conference as the Dragons suffered a third successive loss.

The home team dominated the first period but could not find a way past Patrik Rybar in the opening 20 minutes. The Kunlun goalie made 14 saves to keep his team in the game.

In the second period, the visitor began to pose more of an attacking threat. Yet, ironically, the more work home netminder Alexander Samoilov faced, the more goals his team scored. Artyom Shchulinov broke the deadlock in the 26th minute, David Dumbadze doubled the lead 10 minutes later. Late in the frame, a five-on-three power play saw Nikolai Chebykin add a third goal.

And that was the end of the scoring. Red Star had some chances to get back into the game, but Samoilov performed strongly in the home net. He finished with 34 saves, repeatedly denying Spencer Foo and Danny O’Regan as the visiting forwards struggled to find the mark.

Torpedo tightens grip on playoff spot

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (1-1, 3-1, 1-0)

With a third successive victory, Torpedo moves eight points clear of ninth-placed Kunlun. It’s starting to look like Igor Larionov’s team will avoid any anxious battle for the playoffs as the season moves into its closing stages.

Today, Torpedo overcame something of a slow start to take control of this game in the third period. Three goals in four minutes in that middle frame proved decisive, with Andrei Krutov scoring twice to lead his team in scoring.

Before that, Amur took the lead in the ninth minute through Roman Makarov’s goal. The Tigers arrived in Nizhny Novgorod buoyed by back-to-back wins and threatened to continue that form. However, Maxim Letunov quickly tied the scores and the game was level at the first intermission.

The decisive passage of play began on 31:20 when Nikita Artamonov put Torpedo in front for the first time. A minute later, Vladislav Firstov doubled the lead and Krutov got his first of the evening on 35:24. Devin Brosseau scored on the power play late in the middle frame to keep the Tigers interested, but Krutov made it 5-2 midway through the final stanza. 

Rempal treble leads Ufa rout

HC Sochi 1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 8 (0-2, 0-3, 1-3)

Sheldon Rempal scored a hat-trick and Josh Leivo was on target again as Salavat Yulaev crushed Sochi. Victory lifts Ufa back up to second in the Eastern Conference, while Sochi remains rooted to the foot of the western standings.

The visitor made a flying start to the game, scoring twice inside five minutes. Artyom Gorshkov opened the scoring, then Rempal got his first of the night. Either side of those, there were big chances for Dennis Yan and Scott Wilson as Sochi was in danger of being blown away from the very start.

The home team managed to escape any further damage in the first period, but could make no in-roads into the Salavat lead. Then the second period began in a manner reminiscent of the first, with two early goals for the visitor. Rempal potted his second of the game, then Leivo scored his 36th in a record-breaking season. The pressure on Sergei Ivanov’s net continued and Rempal completed his treble after 36 minutes. That prompted the home team to replace Ivanov with Evgeny Volokhin for the remainder of the evening.

Volokhin was beaten early in the third when Nathan Todd’s power play goal made it 6-0. Leivo assisted on that, then scored his second goal of the night to make it seven after 45 minutes.

Vasily Machulin gave the home team some slender consolation when he pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute, but the final word went to Ufa. Yegor Suchkov put a backhand shot past Volokhin to make it 8-1 at the hooter. 

SKA blows big lead

SKA St. Petersburg 3 Dynamo Moscow 5 (0-0, 3-2, 0-3)

Dynamo rallied from 0-3 to win in Petersburg. Back-up goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky came off the bench midway through the game and stopped every shot that came his way. For SKA, which snapped a four-game skid in Tuesday’s impressive win over Lokomotiv, it’s back to the drawing board. Dynamo bounced back immediately after a surprise loss at home to Sochi last week halted its winning start to 2025.

After a goalless first period, things escalated rapidly at the start of the second. SKA came blazing out of the locker room and scored twice in 16 seconds to take control of the game. For the opener, Sergei Plotnikov got the puck in the slot but, rather than shooting, dished it off for Mikhail Grigorenko to score. Then came Arseny Gritsyuk, unleashing a slapshot from deep to double the lead.

Dynamo’s difficulties increased in the 28th minute when Ilya Karpukhin’s point shot produced his first goal for SKA. That chased Maxim Motorygin from the visitor’s net, with Vladislav Podyapolsky replacing him.

The former SKA goalie entered the game in time to oversee a fightback from his new club. First, a power play goal from Dylan Sikura got the visitor on the board. Dynamo stepped up the pressure and, in the 37th minute, Cedric Paquette’s interception on the blue line led to him shooting home for 2-3. Then, early in the third, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi tied the game when he beat Yegor Zavragin at the second attempt.

Now Dynamo was in the ascendancy and it wasn’t long before the Blue-and-Whites had the lead for the first time in the game. Artyom Chernov made it 4-3 with a finish from the slot and SKA had thrown away a three-goal lead. Now the home team had just 13 minutes to try to save a game that seemed to be won midway through the second period. A tripping minor for Paquette opened the door for SKA to get back on level terms, but the Dynamo PK did its job. Podyapolsky defied his former colleagues to protect the Muscovites’ lead and Artyom Ilyenko found the empty net to wrap up a memorable win for the visitor.