Defending champ clinches playoff spot. February 24 round-up
Metallurg is the latest team to secure its playoff place thanks to a 4-1 win at home to Severstal. Admiral boosted its chances of a top eight finish when it beat its closest rival, Sibir, 5-2 in Novosibirsk. Avtomobilist edged a 2-1 verdict over Vityaz and a hat-trick from Tyler Graovac helped Kunlun win at Sochi.
Rodewald, Shestakov double up in important Admiral win
Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 5 (1-0, 0-3, 1-2)
The Sailors denied Sibir the chance to leapfrog them into seventh place, taking a good win on the road between two teams jockeying for position in the playoff race. Although both clubs have a solid advantage over ninth-placed Neftekhimik, the two were separated by a single point going into Monday’s game.
Sibir suffered a fourth straight loss in its previous game, but still took plenty of positives from an overtime reverse at league leader Lokomotiv. Today, head coach Vadim Yepanchintsev reshuffled his line-up, bringing back goalie Denis Kostin, captain Sergei Shirokov plus Nikita Korotkov, Georgy Belousov and Yegor Martynov. Admiral won at Barys last time out and made just one change.
The first chance of the game went to Admiral’s Czech defenseman Libor Sulak, but did not produce a goal. At the other end, another defensive import, Sibir’s Trevor Murphy, was on the mark. From the right-hand circle, the Canadian found the far corner to end his goalless streak and collect his 50th tally in the KHL. Although Admiral stepped up its attacks after that, the home team was closer to scoring again in the first period as Belousov and Taylor Beck both went close.
At the start of the second period, Admiral tied the game when Jack Rodewald batted home the puck from close range. Little more than a minute later, the visitor was up 2-1 when Arkady Shestakov finished off a well-worked move. Buoyed, the Sailors went on to dominate the second period and Shestakov’s second of the game made it 3-1 at the intermission.
In the third, Sibir again tried to raise the tempo. An early shot hit the post and there were times when Admiral was stuck in its own zone. However, the visitor padded its lead on a counter-attack: Murphy collided with an official and was unable to prevent Kirill Petkov skating away to make it four. In the closing stages, Rodewald and Pavel Gogolev exchanged goals to make the final 5-2.
Motormen edge past Vityaz
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Vityaz Moscow Region 1 (1-1, 1-0, 0-0)
The Motormen bounced back from a disappointing loss to Severstal and edged past Vityaz. The game was notable for Nikita Tryamkin’s 698th game for Avtomobilist, breaking the appearance record set by defenseman Alexander Kartsev between 1972 and 1988.
Early in the game, both teams had a power play. They produced plenty of shots, but little to test the goalies. The most dangerous incident came back at equal strength when Vityaz attempted a counterattack but failed to deliver the final pass.
It felt like a goalless opening frame was inevitable, but two goals came along almost at once. Brooks Macek forced a turnover, and Anatoly Golyshev set up Stephane da Costa for a 17th minute goal. Vityaz almost responded immediately, but Tryamkin got back to make a goalline clearance. However, the visitor tied it up in the 20th minute thanks to Andrei Chivilyov. And Vityaz had the puck in the net again, but moments after the hooter sounded.
At the start of the second period, Avtomobilist adopted a shoot-on-sight policy and Maxim Dorozhko found himself busy. It felt like a goal was coming, and it arrived after 27 minutes when Danil Romantsev restored the home lead. Avtomobilist continued to press and came close to a third goal, while Vityaz generated intermittent danger on the counter.
The third period was goalless. Vityaz made a bright start as it looked to save the game, but in the middle of the session Avto was closer to adding to its lead. Late on, the visitor stepped up the tempo in search of a tying goal but generated more anticipation than genuine danger as the host held on to take the verdict.
Razin enjoys win over former club
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Severstal Cherepovets 1 (2-1, 0-0, 2-0)
After almost a month on the road, Metallurg returned home and claimed the win that secured its playoff place for the season. Head coach Andrei Razin masterminded a comfortable victory over his former club, Severstal, which arrived following an impressive shut-out win in Yekaterinburg.
Magnitka had enjoyed some rest before this game and that freshness helped inject pace into its first shifts. The only thing missing was effective play in front of goal, and that came later when Artyom Minulin redirected Alexander Petunin’s shot into Alexander Samonov’s net. Severstal cancelled out that opener when David Dumbadze took advantage of a failed attempt to clear home lines, but Metallurg took the lead into the intermission thanks to Makar Khabarov’s long-range effort through traffic.
Metallurg did little with a power play at the start of the second. Later in the frame, Severstal posed more threat when it played four-on-five but could not find a tying goal. The visitor continued on the front foot with the teams at equal strength, but the middle frame ended goalless.
The third period again saw Magnitka start on the power play. This time, the home team got it right: Andrei Kozlov and Borna Rendulic combined to set up Troy Josephs for the third goal. Severstal again tried to find a way back, but could not get a goal. Danil Aimurzin came closest, denied by a good save from llya Nabokov. In the closing stages, the attempted fightback was undermined by another penalty and Luke Johnson’s power play goal settled the outcome.
Graovac scores three, Rau keeps up streak
HC Sochi 2 Kunlun Red Star 5 (1-0, 1-3, 0-2)
When Kunlun reached the playoffs for the first and only time, Chad Rau was key contributor. If the Dragons are to repeat that achievement this season, his younger brother Kyle might emerge as one of the men who made it happen. Today he added his fifth goal in eight games to a Tyler Graovac hat-trick, helping to secure victory in Sochi.
The win means Red Star are seven points behind eighth-placed Torpedo in the Western Conference. It’s a big gap at this late stage of the season, but perhaps not completely insurmountable. However, Sochi’s defeat today means that the Leopards are on the brink of losing even a mathematical chance of a top-eight finish: anything better than defeat in regulation for Torpedo tomorrow would officially eliminate Sergei Zubov’s team.
In the first period, the home team had the better of the game and Igor Shvyryov again showed his liking for playing KRS. He scored his sixth goal of the season, and his fourth against the Dragons to separate the teams at the intermission.
After the break, though, Red Star turned things around. Tyler Graovac tied it up, then Rau made it 2-1 after 28 minutes, scoring just as Amir Galiyev left the box following his interference penalty. Four minutes later, Alexander Sharov made it 3-1 as Kunlun dominated and Sochi struggled to get a look at visiting goalie Patrik Rybar.
Despite the visitor’s dominance, the home team pulled one back late in the frame through Alexander Khokhlachyov. Thus, despite outshooting Sochi 18-3 in the second period, Kunlun had just a one-goal lead to defend going into the third.
However, the Dragons managed to seal the win. Graovac got his second of the night midway through the game to see off Sochi’s resistance. And the Canadian finished on a high with an empty net goal to complete his treble and wrap up the win.
