Sibir shocks Ak Bars, Avto wins again. January 24 round-up

Friday’s action was all about the Eastern Conference. At the top of the standings, Avtomobilist moved into second with a 5-3 win over Lada. Ak Bars could have claimed second place, but fell to a 0-1 loss at home to Sibir. That result helped Sibir move seven points clear in its race for a playoff spot.

Motormen climb to second in Conference

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5 Lada Togliatti 3 (1-2, 1-0, 3-1)

The Motormen revved up for an eighth successive victory, coming from behind to defeat Lada. The win puts Yekaterinburg back up to second in the Eastern Conference, albeit level on points with Salavat Yulaev. Both are three adrift of Traktor.

The visitor handed Anthony Camara his long-awaited debut. The Canadian, who featured for Neftekhimik and Barys last season, was signed back in December but only made it back to KHL action today. He played on the fourth line, and picked up an assist for his new club.

Both teams had good early chances as Maxim Berezin and Darren Dietz went close. But the visitor was the first to really take the initiative, forcing Avtomobilist to pick up penalties. The first of those saw a shot against the piping, the second brought the opening goal of the game for Nikita Popugayev on his return from injury.

The home team responded when some great play from Stepan Khripunov set up Andrei Obidin to make it 1-1, but Lada took the lead to the intermission after Evgeny Groshev converted an odd-man rush.

That forced Avtomobilist to pick up the pace in the second period. Alexander Sharov was close to tying the game, but somehow missed an open net from a meter away. And efforts to get back on level terms were also disrupted by penalties: twice Lada got on the power play, and Dmitry Kugryshev forced Vladimir Galkin into an acrobatic save. In the 35th minute, Sharov finally made it 2-2 with Khripunov again producing an impressive pass on the play.

The teams approached the third period with some caution. However, Avtomobilist broke the deadlock in the 48th minute when Yury Zhuravlyov’s point shot led to a chance for Nikita Shashkov to make it 3-2. That’s his first goal since joining Avto, and his first since Jan. 10 last year. Soon, he added an assist, kick-starting the attack after a face-off and set up Nick Merkley on the slot to add a fourth.

The teams traded late goals: Alexei Byvaltsev scored into an empty net before Nikita Mikhailov grabbed a last-minute consolation for Lada. 

Beck’s goal proves enough for Sibir

Ak Bars Kazan 0 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0)

For the second time this season, Sibir got the verdict in Kazan. Today’s game was a bit different from October’s 6-3 road win, but Taylor Beck’s goal and a shut-out from Denis Kostin secured two vital points for the Siberians.

The result moves Sibir seven points clear of ninth-placed Lada, tightening the team’s grip on a playoff spot. Ak Bars, meanwhile, missed the chance to draw level with Avtomobilist and Salavat Yulaev on 64 points.

This was a performance built on terrific discipline. Sibir did not take a single penalty through 60 minutes. Additionally, the visiting defense blocked 21 shots, reducing Kostin’s workload with some uncomplaining play in front of his net.

Things may have worked out differently if Ak Bars had made the most of a strong start. In the opening 10 minutes, the home team dominated the game. Alexander Barabanov had a great chance to score when Albert Yarullin’s cross-ice pass found him with time and space to pick his shot. The forward really should have done better than flash a wrister off target.

After that, though, Sibir tightened up. There were fewer scoring chances as the game went on, and by the midway stage this felt like an encounter that might be settled by a single goal. In the 32nd minute, Sibir got that goal: home defenseman Stepan Falkovsky coughed up the puck in his own zone, Brendan Leipsic sent it to Igor Martynov on the right and he advanced along the boards. A cross-ice feed picked out Beck, and the Canadian fired home from a tight angle to break the deadlock.

And that wasn’t the only problem for the home team. In the middle frame, Sibir outshot Ak Bars 16-4, dominating much of the play. It was far from clear where a tying goal would come from.

In the third period, the Sibir defense showed its worth. Although Ak Bars had the bulk of the attacking possession, it struggled to turn that into good looks at Kostin’s net. Sibir blocked 10 shots in that session alone, and home frustrations boiled over towards the end. Hopes of a late flourish were undermined by penalties: first Kirill Semyonov, then Artyom Galimov went to the box, leaving Ak Bars with just three skaters for the final seconds.