Spectacular show at Spartak, surprise loss for SKA. February 15 round-up
Spartak and Torpedo produced one of the most memorable games of the season in Moscow. The visitor jumped to a 4-0 lead inside half an hour, only for Spartak to rally in style and claim a 7-4 fightback win. There were high-scoring encounters elsewhere: Neftekhimik shocked SKA in a 4-3 game, Metallurg won 5-2 at Sibir, and it took a shoot-out to give Kunlun victory after a 4-4 tie at home to Vityaz. Eastern Conference leader Traktor won again, 2-1 at Admiral, while Avtomobilist stayed in touch with the pacesetters thanks to an OT success at Amur. Lada halted its long losing run with victory at struggling Barys.
Traktor sinks Sailors
Admiral Vladivostok 1 Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 (1-2, 0-0, 0-0)
For the third time this season, Traktor got the better of Admiral, consolidating its position at the top of the Eastern Conference. First-period goals from Vitaly Kravtsov and Maxim Shabanov were enough to secure a tight verdict in Vladivostok.
The visitor recalled Vladimir Zharkov and Ostap Safin to Saturday’s line-up, while Admiral welcomed back Jack Rodewald.
Things went wrong for Admiral at the start. Mario Grman took a tripping penalty in the fourth minute and the power play saw Kravtsov open the scoring. It took the home team more than 10 minutes to manage a shot on goal, but that didn’t prevent the Sailors from tying the scores in the 15th minute. Shane Prince’s effort benefitted from a big deflection on its way past Zach Fucale but was enough to secure the forward’s 200th (93+107) point in the KHL.
Undeterred, Traktor responded to regain the lead before the intermission. Maxim Shabanov, his team’s top scorer, potted his 19th of the season with a well-placed shot.
In the second period, the visitor again had more attacking possession and more shots on goal. However, neither team could find a goal amid strong goaltending from Andrei Mishurov and Zach Fucale.
At the start of the third, Admiral found itself pushed back into its own zone, just at the time it needed to make impressions at the other end of the ice. Gradually, the home team changed the picture and in the closing stages the Sailors came close to tying the game. However, Traktor held on to take the win.
Tigers improve, but fall in OT to Avtomobilist
Amur Khabarovsk 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 OT (1-1, 0-1, 1-0, 0-1)
After a painful 1-7 loss at home to Avangard, Amur put in a much better performance against Avtomobilist. However, it wasn’t enough to claim the win: despite saving the game in the final moments, the Tigers fell in overtime.
The Motormen suffered defeat in Vladivostok in their previous game and head coach Nikolai Zavarukhin complained that there were not enough shots on goal. Today, his players responded by testing Matt Jurusik from the first minute, firing in shots from all angles. There was also a brief but lively tussle between Nikita Shashkov and Sergei Ryzhikov as early as the second minute.
That fight seemed to fire up the visitor. Stephane da Costa opened the scoring in some style, traveling half the length of the ice and launching a powerful shot as he crossed the blue line. That was the Frenchman’s 200th in the KHL.
For a long time, Amur was limited to occasional half chances as Avtomobilist continued to dictate the play. But two penalties in 20 seconds left the visitor in difficulties. The Tigers were conservative, despite the two-man advantage, but engineered the chance for Alex Broadhurst to tie the game.
Penalty trouble continued to dog Avtomobilist in the second period: the visitor picked up three infringements in just seven minutes. However, Amur’s power play was underpowered, preferring to hold the puck rather than shoot it. Late in the frame that wastefulness was punished: Kirill Vorobyov took on a pass from Evgeny Kashnikov and advanced to score on Jurusik.
As usual, Avto looked to close the game down and protect its lead in the third. The visitor posed little attacking threat but sought to take time out of the game. However, with 36 seconds left, a penalty on Nikita Tryamkin gave Amur one last chance. Following the restart, the home forwards unleashed a flurry of shots at Evgeny Alikin’s net. And, in the final second, Ilya Talaluyev found a way through to take the game into overtime in dramatic fashion.
But Amur could not ride that momentum to victory. Instead, Talaluyev’s foul on Tryamkin gave the visitor a power play and Brooks Macek potted another of his signature goals to seal the win.
Sibir beaten in regulation for first time in 13 games
Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 (1-0, 1-3, 0-2)
Metallurg enjoyed a big win in Novosibirsk, ending a run of 12 games in which Sibir picked up at least a point. Defenseman Valery Orekhov scored twice, and Dmitry Silantyev marked his return to action with a goal.
Before all that, though, a former Steelman had his say. Brendan Leipsic spent two seasons in Magnitogorsk and today he grabbed the opening goal in the third minute. The next shift almost doubled the lead as another ex-Metallurg man, Maxim Karpov, tested Ilya Nabokov. After that, the visitor took control of the puck for long spells but struggled to generate much dangerous offense. At the other end, Sibir’s counterattacks were a persistent threat but could not produce a second goal.
That all changed in the second period. Andy Andreoff took a needless roughing penalty and Metallurg got a power play goal from Orekhov. Barely a minute later it was 2-1 after Andrei Kozlov’s redirect survived a video review looking at a possible high stick. Then came another power play and another goal for Orekhov to start moving the game out of the home team’s reach.
Right before the intermission there was some hope for Sibir. Andreoff atoned for his foolish penalty when he pulled a goal back. And the third period began with plenty of home pressure. Once again, though, penalty trouble undermined the Siberians. Ilya Morozov went to the box and even though Sibir managed to kill that penalty, Silantyev made it 4-2 shortly after the home team was back to full strength. Daniil Vovchenko added an empty-netter to wrap it up for Andrei Razin’s team; the visitor’s only concern was an injury that prevented Danila Yurov from featuring in the third period.
Lada wins at last
Barys Astana 2 Lada Togliatti 4 (0-1, 2-0, 0-3)
Lada snapped a 10-game skid with victory at basement club Barys. The result slightly enhances the visitor’s playoff prospects, but with 14 points to make up on Admiral or Sibir, and just 14 games left to find them, the equation is not promising.
Nonetheless, today’s game brought an improvement after losing 1-4 in three of the last four. Nikita Mikhailov opened the scoring midway through the first period, finding the net after Nikita Boyarkin made a series of saves.
The previous times Barys faced Lada this season, it failed to score. Today the Kazakhs put that right in the second period. Mstislav Shipilin, the 18-year-old defenseman who made his KHL debut in the previous game against SKA, tied the game early in the middle frame. Ninety seconds later, another of the Barys youngsters put the home team ahead: Kirill Lyapanov, 19, found the net in his fifth game at this level.
However, it’s typical of this season in Astana that even when things are going well, there’s a cloud behind the silver lining. Boyarkin picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Johan Mattsson. The Swede last played on Feb. 2, and before that on Oct. 5, allowing nine goals in those two appearances. However, Lada was not immediately able to test the incoming netminder: in the remainder of the second period, the visitor managed just six shots at goal and was down 1-2 at the intermission.
Lada’s cause wasn’t helped by frequent penalties. Three times, the visitor had to deploy its PK, and only the post denied Anton Burdasov a third Barys goal. However, midway through the final frame and back at full strength, Mikhailov tied the game on a counterattack.
The forward was close to completing his hat-trick, but the winning goal went instead to Alexei Ozhgikhin with two minutes to play. There was still time for a last surge from Barys, but Mattsson’s departure led only to an empty net goal for Dmitry Kugryshev to seal the 4-2 final score.
Korotky opens KHL account, but can’t stop Neftekhimik
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (1-2, 3-1, 0-0)
Inconsistent SKA fell to defeat in Neftekhimik, but the Petersburg team could derive some encouragement for Matvei Korotky’s first KHL goals.
The 19-year-old, who earned a place at this year’s All-Star Game last weekend, opened his career account in the 19th minute with a marker that put his team up 2-1. However, by the time he claimed his second in the big league, Neftekhimik was already in front. The home team went on to close out the win in the final stanza.
This game started well enough for SKA. Pavel Dedunov opened the scoring after six minutes. Bulat Shafigulin tied it up, but Korotky’s debut goal sent the visitor into the intermission with the lead.
That advantage was extinguished early in the second period when Grigory Seleznyov scored off a German Tochilkin assist. Ten minutes later, the same combination struck again and Neftekhimik led for the first time in the 32nd minute. Shafigulin scored his second of the game moments later, building a 4-2 cushion that proved big enough to secure the win.
Yes, Korotky struck again to reduce the arrears. But the third period brought a solid rearguard action as Neftekhimik defended its lead. Filipp Dolganov stopped 12 shots, his team-mates blocked 11 more. SKA finished the game strongly, but could not find the goal that would save it.
Belyayev inspires stunning fightback
Spartak Moscow 7 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 (0-3, 1-1, 6-0)
From 0-4 down to a 7-4 victory, Spartak produced a memorable recovery at home to Torpedo. Alexander Belyayev was the home hero, scoring twice including the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute.
By this stage in the game, Torpedo was feeling the pressure. After allowing three goals in quick succession – a salvo triggered by Belyayev – Igor Larionov’s men were vulnerable. The swarming Spartak press forced a turnover close to Ivan Kulbakov’s net, Belyayev took control of the loose puck and picked his moment to unleash a shot into the top corner.
That wasn’t the end of the incident, though. Tempers flared, and a fight in the aftermath of the go-ahead goal saw Ansel Galimov ejected from the game for spearing and handed another minor for roughing. His opponent, Torpedo’s Andrei Belevich, took a roughing minor of his own, giving the visitor a five-minute power play with seven minutes left.
On that power play, Slava Voynov drilled a shot against the Spartak post, but the home team withstood the onslaught. Then, back at full strength, the Muscovites finished the job thanks to an empty net goal from Nikolai Goldobin and a classy finish from Mikhail Maltsev. Six unanswered in the third period made it 7-4 at the hooter.
Despite Spartak’s strong finish, the first half of this game was all about the visitor. Kirill Voronin’s 29th-minute goal opened a 4-0 lead for Torpedo, which looked poised to record a fifth successive win with little stress.
It started with Anton Silayev opened the scoring after 46 seconds. On six minutes, Keaton Thompson doubled the lead and Spartak faced a penalty kill after an unsuccessful bench challenge. There was no power play goal, but Bogdan Konyushkov added a third in the 15th minute.
Thus, when Voronin scored a shorty on 28:41 it was hard to see any way back for Spartak. The Red-and-Whites, beaten in four of the previous five games, seemed to be a spent force. Even a power play goal from Pavel Poryadin in the 33rd minute did little to dispel the sense that this was Torpedo’s game to lose.
But everything changed in the third period. In little over 10 minutes, Spartak found three goals and tied the game. Belyayev started the fightback on 45:51. Then came a clash between Thompson and Yegor Savikov. The Torpedo defenseman took a double minor for hooking and Spartak scored on the power play through Andrei Loktionov. Suddenly, the improbable seemed entirely possible. On 48:02, Ansel Galimov picked up a rebound in the center of the zone and wired a wrister beyond Ivan Kulbakov to tie the game.
Dragons edge battle of the outsiders
Kunlun Red Star 5 Vityaz Moscow Region 4 SO (2-2, 1-0, 1-2, 0-0, 1-0)
Two goals in the last five minutes saw Vityaz rescue this game and force overtime in Mytishchi. However, the Dragons regained their composure to take a shoot-out win and move six points clear of their 10th-placed visitor.
Kunlun, bruised by its loss to playoff rival Torpedo on Thursday, made a fast start with Spencer Foo opening the scoring in the second minute. That set up an entertaining opening frame. Vityaz tied it up quickly through Yaroslav Busygin, then briefly led on a Stanislav Yarovoi goal before Kyle Rau made it 2-2 at the intermission.
After that, Colin Campbell scored twice for the home team. He made it 3-2 midway through the second period, and added a fourth after 46 minutes. However, Vityaz got a confidence injection during the week with a 3-0 win that ended a long losing streak. And the visitor refused to roll over here. Kunlun’s Danny O’Regan took an unnecessary penalty for unsporting conduct and that power play opened the door for Alexei Makeyev to get the visitor back into the game in the 56th minute.
With the deficit down to one, Frederik Gauthier tied it up for Vityaz on 57:14, sending the game to overtime. The extras could not decide the outcome, but in the shoot-out O’Regan made the decisive contribution.
