Lucky 13 for Barys, Severstal goes up to second. January 26 round-up

At the 13th time of asking, Barys finally managed to win a game. Nikita Setdikov scored a hat-trick against his former club Sibir, including a last-minute tying goal and an OT winner. There was late drama in Sochi as well, where Severstal fought back from 1-3 to tie the game in the 59th minute on the way to a shoot-out win. The result has the Lynx second in the Western Conference. Neftekhimik moved in front of Lada with a 4-2 victory in the battle of the Eastern Conference playoff chasers. 

Setdikov hat-trick snaps Barys skid

Barys Astana 4 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 OT (2-2, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0)

After 12 games without a win, Barys secured victory at the 13th attempt. A hat-trick from Nikita Setdikov led the Kazakhs to an overtime verdict over Sibir. The visitor arrived in Astana lifted by wins over Traktor and Ak Bars, and added another point to support its playoff push.

Sibir was hampered by the absence of Trevor Murphy, unavailable for family reasons. The defenseman is among the leading scorers in the KHL this season, having set club records, and is in with a chance of breaking Chris Lee’s long-standing league record for scoring amongst blue liners.

The teams began on the front foot and traded goals midway through the first period. Viktor Antipin put Barys ahead in the ninth minute, but almost immediately Taylor Beck extended his productive streak to eight games when he assisted Vladimir Butuzov’s equalizer. And Sibir got in front in the 12th minute through Pavel Gogolev’s shot.

From then on, though, Setdikov became the key figure. The 29-year-old forward established himself as a KHL player after joining Sibir in 2020/2021. Today, though, he undid his former club. He cancelled out that Gogolev goal and returned late in the game to save Barys from defeat. The home team was trailing to Yegor Alanov’s second-period goal and time was running out. Galym Mambetaliyev sacrificed goalie Nikita Boyarkin for a sixth skater and, with 26 seconds left on the clock Setdikov hammered home a point shot to take the game to overtime.

After that tying goal, Sibir’s Nikita Korotkov took a penalty. That gave Barys the edge at the start of overtime and Setdikov completed his hat-trick to give the home team its first win on home ice since November.

Wolves celebrate first win in seven

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Lada Togliatti 2 (1-1, 1-0, 2-1)

This was 10th vs 9th in the Eastern Conference, with both teams eager to close the gap on Sibir in the playoff places. In the end, Neftekhimik came out on top, halting a six-game losing streak to go ahead of today’s opponent. However, the Wolves still have seven points to make up on eighth place.

Neftekhimik made a lively start to the game. Nikita Khoruzhev opened the scoring in the fifth minute, converting the first power play of the game. Soon afterwards, Lada was back in the box after a hooking call on Alexander Sevostyanov. This time, the visitor’s PK stood up to the challenge and not long after the teams returned to full strength, Magomed Sharakanov tied the game.

It remained 1-1 until the end of the first period, but Neftekhimik made another fast start in the second. Riley Barber scored after 41 seconds to restore the home lead.

Lada lost an early power play goal, but when it got a PP chance of its own in the third period, Alexander Volkov took advantage and made it 2-2. That gave the teams 13 minutes to find a winner in regulation, and Neftekhimik did exactly that. Kirill Kapustin restored the home lead, then Evgeny Mityakin made it 4-2 on another power play with four minutes left.

Dumbadze double denies Sochi

HC Sochi 3 Severstal Cherepovets 4 SO (0-0, 2-1, 1-2, 0-0, 0-1)

David Dumbadze scored twice in the third period to rescue Severstal from defeat in regulation time at Sochi. The forward extended his productive streak to four games and moved to 11 goals for the season as his team fought back from 1-3. It went all the way to a shoot-out, but Andrei Kozyrev’s team secured a fourth successive win to go second in the West.

After a goalless first period, Sochi moved in front in the second. Artur Tyanulin scored early in the frame, then added an assist as Timur Khafizov made it 2-0 on the power play a couple of minutes later. Midway through the session, Mark Barberio pulled a goal back for Severstal, but Amir Garayev restored the two-goal advantage in the third.

However, Severstal was already posing a greater attacking threat in that stanza and eventually Dumbadze turned that pressure into much-needed goals. He reduced the deficit midway through the period, then grabbed a tying goal with 1:43 left to play.

Overtime finished goalless, but Severstal prevailed in the shoot-out. The teams were locked at 1-1 after 10 attempts, but in the first round of sudden death Alexander Samoilov denied Daniil Seroukh before Alexander Skorenov converted the winner for the visitor.