Salavat climbs back to second in the East. January 29 round-up

Wednesday’s only KHL game saw Salavat Yulaev shrug off the absence of Josh Leivo to win 4-2 at Avangard. 

Omsk revival comes up short

Avangard Omsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 (0-1, 0-2, 2-1)

Salavat Yulaev returned to second place in the Eastern Conference thanks to a road win at Avangard. Despite the absence of in-form forward Josh Leivo, the visitor bounced back after back-to-back losses at SKA and Ak Bars, handing the Hawks a third defeat in four games.

Avangard had offensive absences of its own: Mike McCleod, Nikolai Prokhorkin and Emil Galimov remain out of action. And that loss of firepower might account for the home team’s slow start to the game. Salavat Yulaev looked much the livelier in the first period, outshooting the Hawks 15-4. That pressure brought an early goal, with Vladislav Yefremov converting the first power play of the game. However, there was no further scoring as Nikita Serebryakov withstood a barrage of shots on his net. Most notably, he denied Sheldon Rempal’s dangerous one-on-one as Avangard’s first power play spluttered ineffectively.

At the start of the second period, Avangard came out and tried to change the pattern of the game. However, the visiting defense stepped up and put in a solid performance to keep the home team to the perimeter. At the other end, Ufa’s counterattacking game continued to cause problems. Alexander Chmelevski fired against the crossbar midway through the session, and soon afterwards Salavat Yulaev managed to establish itself in home territory and Alexei Vasilevsky doubled the lead.

Avangard continued to have problems turning possession into danger, while Salavat Yulaev was happy to play calmly and await its chances. Late in the second period, Yaroslav Tsulygin took one of those opportunities, launching a slapshot that flew past Serebryakov.

At 3-0, Ufa seemed comfortable. But there’s nothing like a former player to make life uncomfortable again. Danil Bashkirov learned his hockey in Ufa before moving to Omsk via Magnitogorsk this season. This was his fifth game against his old club, and he marked it with his first goal at the expense of his former employer two minutes into the final stanza. Even as he fell under a challenge from a defenseman, Bashkirov managed to squeeze a shot past Alexander Samonov to reignite Avangard’s hopes.

And those hopes were blazing merrily midway through the third when Reid Boucher struck on the power play to make it a one-goal game. With 10 to play, Avangard looked fresher and stronger – almost immediately Ivan Igumnov had a great chance, then Ilya Reingardt got into a great position but put his shot wide of the target. Chances kept coming, and a 57th-minute penalty for Nathan Todd seemed to open the door for a tying goal.

But Samonov said no, repeatedly, as Avangard piled on the pressure. And with 20 seconds left Rempal found the empty net to seal the deal for Salavat Yulaev.