Dinamo Minsk enters Western battle. February 23 round-up
In recent weeks, the Western Conference has produced an intriguing battle for position among five clubs trailing runaway leader Lokomotiv. Today, Dinamo Minsk made it a six-horse race with victory at Spartak. The 3-0 win puts the Belarusians ahead of SKA and just three points behind today’s opponent. Spartak stays second in the section. Elsewhere, Neftekhimik boosted its playoff prospects with a 3-1 win at Traktor, CSKA defeated Salavat Yulaev 4-2 in Ufa, and Ak Bars got the only home win of the day against Lada.
Mityakin’s double leads Neftekhimik to victory
Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 (1-1, 0-1, 0-1)
Neftekhimik defeated Traktor for the first time this season, having lost its previous three encounters with the Eastern Conference leader. The two points move Oleg Leontyev’s team within six points of eighth-placed Sibir, albeit having played a game more than its playoff rival.
Traktor, whose three-game winning run came to an end, remains top of the East, five clear of Avtomobilist. However, Benoit Groulx’s team has played more than anyone else in the KHL and could be caught by the Motormen if they win their three games in hand.
The home team made a flying start to this game. After just 13 seconds, Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer opened the scoring. That’s two goals in two games for the 22-year-old, and three in five. Vitaly Kravtsov’s assist extended his productive streak to four games.
However, it didn’t set Traktor on the way to victory. On the contrary, Neftekhimik was quick to tie the game. Bulat Shafigullin, another in-form player, produced a great feed for Evgeny Mityakin to tie it up in the seventh minute. The same combination struck again in the second period, with Mityakin’s fine wrister putting the visitor ahead after 26 minutes. Shafigullin moves to 5 (3+2) points from three games, Mityakin draws level with Andrei Belozyorov on 15 goals for Neftkehimik this season.
After that, Traktor seized the initiative in a bid to salvage the game. However, Filipp Dolganov kept the home team at bay, while penalty trouble also disrupted the table-topper’s efforts.
That pattern continued in the third, with Traktor having more of the play but struggling to find a goal. Neftekhimik responded with occasional counters, and eventually put the game out of reach in the 55th minute when Jean-Sebastien Dea stuffed the puck home from close range.
Minsk moves up the Western Conference
Spartak Moscow 0 Dinamo Minsk 3 (0-1, 0-1, 0-1)
In a game between two in-form teams, Dinamo proved stronger. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s men blanked Spartak to record a fourth successive victory. That run has the Bison up to sixth in the west and, in a congested table, they are now just three points behind second-placed Spartak. The home team, meanwhile, missed the chance to confirm its playoff place.
Spartak had to come from behind in two of its three recent wins. Today, once again, the Red-and-Whites allowed the first goal; Chris Tierney opened the scoring after 69 seconds when he held off three opponents to finish off Yegor Borikov’s break down the wing.
Although the home team enjoyed a slight territorial advantage in the first period, it did not produce much of a tangible reward. At the start of the second, Spartak got the first power play of the game but that, too, was unsuccessful. Vadim Shipachyov, the guilty party on that 25th minute call, returned to the game and doubled Minsk’s lead midway through the frame. That brought up 300 goals for the Dinamo forward; only Sergei Mozyakin has more in the KHL.
Spartak started strongly in the third, but puck possession did not translate into much play beyond center ice. Dinamo was happy to soak up the pressure and let the clock run down. That task was helped when Sergei Lukyantsev took a major penalty midway through the frame. The five-minute power play did not bring a goal, but it ate up a good chunk of game time for Minsk. Late in the game, Vadim Moroz finished the job with an empty-net goal to add to an assist on Shipachyov’s marker. His productive streak is now at four games, as is his team’s winning run. Goalie Vasily Demchenko stopped 33 shots for his sixth shut-out of the season.
CSKA ends losing run
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 CSKA Moscow 4 (0-0, 2-3, 0-1)
CSKA snapped a three-game skid with victory in Ufa. Salavat Yulaev is now on a three-game losing streak of its own.
The visitor refreshed his roster for this game, with Stanislav Galiyev joining the second line and Cole Cassels centering the third. Ruslan Iskhakov was among those to make way.
Viktor Kozlov also changed up Salavat Yulaev’s team on his return to Ufa after a tricky road trip. Alexander Samonov returned in goal, Mikhail Naumenkov was back on defense. Fellow blue-liner Dinar Khafizullin made his 800th KHL appearance.
The game started slowly but gradually picked up pace during the first period. A CSKA power play almost produced the opening goal: one shot hit the bar, and Maxim Sorkin also went close.
However, the breakthrough had to wait until the second period, when the Muscovites scored two in quick succession. Kirill Dolzhenkov opened the scoring, stuffing the puck home at the third attempt. Then, 33 seconds later, Nikita Nesterov’s powerful shot doubled the lead.
Salavat Yulaev rebounded and responded in kind. Dennis Yan reduced the deficit and a couple of shifts later, Sheldon Rempal tied it up with a shot over Pavel Khomchenko’s shoulder. However, the fightback was halted when an error attempting to clear the Ufa zone set up another CSKA attack and Sorkin finished it off for 3-2 at the second intermission.
In the third, the home team’s efforts to save the game amounted to little. Salavat was unable to generate enough danger around Khomchenko’s net and Pavel Karnaukhov settled the outcome with a fourth goal for the visitor in the 56th minute.
Lada misses out in Kazan
Ak Bars Kazan 2 Lada Togliatti 1 (1-0, 1-1, 0-0)
For the second time in two games, Ak Bars edged a narrow victory over a team pushing for a playoff spot in the East. After Friday’s overtime success against Neftekhimik, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team had another one-goal verdict against 10th-placed Lada. For the visitor, it was a second loss in three days against a team that has already secured a playoff spot; an untimely run in its effort to claw back a 13-point gap to eighth-placed Sibir.
Nobody could accuse Lada of lack of effort here. Over the course of the game, the visitor more or less matched its host in terms of attacking possession. It also enjoyed a slight advantage in shots on goal (30 to 26). But Ak Bars made more of its chances and edged a narrow win.
The first big moment of the game saw Lada’s Anthony Camara take a major penalty for cross-checking in the sixth minute. That eventually saw Ak Bars get in front thanks to a power play goal from Semyon Koshelev midway through the first period.
However, once Camara returned to the game, Lada began to get on top. The visitor was helped by penalties on Ak Bars, which played with three skaters for a time but could not tie the game before the intermission.
Ak Bars made a great start to the middle frame when Artyom Galimov scored after 30 seconds. However, penalty trouble struck again for the home team and, with Albert Yarullin back in the box, Danil Yurtaikin pulled a goal back in the 24th minute. Lada proceeded to have the better of the play but could not find another way past Timur Bilyalov in the home net.
The third period saw Kazan regain some control of the play. The home team had more control of the puck and, without forcing the issue, steadily shut down the visiting offense. An untimely penalty for Magomed Sharakanov in the 57th minute frustrated Lada’s hopes of a late surge; visiting goalie Alexander Trushkov only made it to the sidelines with 33 seconds left to play and Ak Bars held on to take the verdict.
