Traktor scores eight on Barys, Avangard wins eight in a row. March 2 round-up
It was a big day for teams in the East. Conference leader Traktor hammered Barys 8-0, Avangard won 5-1 at Spartak to make it eight victories on the spin, and both Ak Bars and Salavat Yulaev scored six on the road. In the West, Dinamo Minsk claimed a sixth straight win, sending SKA to a fourth successive loss. Elsewhere, Amur edged Neftekhimik in a shoot-out and Lokomotiv had a 4-2 road win at Sochi.
Salavat too strong for Admiral
Admiral Vladivostok 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 6 (1-2, 0-4, 2-0)
For the second time in three days, Salavat Yulaev won on the road at Admiral. This win was rather more comfortable than Friday’s overtime squeaker, though, with the visitor up 6-1 at the end of the second period. Admiral rallied in the third, but never looked capable of saving the game.
Salavat made a fast start, jumping to a 2-0 lead by 5:15 after Daniil Alalykin and Artyom Nabiyev scored a couple of quick goals. That prompted the home team to restore goalie Andrei Mishurov, who had started the previous game but made way for Ilya Konovalov here. The home managed to stay in the game, and halved the deficit midway through the first period on a goal from Arkady Shestakov.
After the intermission, though, Ufa assumed control. The visitor rattled up four unanswered goals to build a commanding lead. Scott Wilson frustrated the home team with an early goal on the counter, then Josh Leivo potted his 43rd of the season on the power play midway through the frame. There was more to come as Pyotr Khokhryakov and Sheldon Rempal padded the lead to an emphatic five-goal margin.
With little hope of saving the game, the Sailors at least managed to restore some pride in the final stanza. Jack Rodewald pulled one goal back, Yegor Petukhov hit the crossbar and, in the 57th minute, Daniil Gutik made the final score 3-6.
Tigers edge past Wolves again
Amur Khabarovsk 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 SO (0-1, 1-2, 2-0, 0-0, 1-0)
After Friday’s overtime win over Neftekhimik, Amur followed up with a shoot-out success against the same opponent. The victories do little to help the Tigers, whose playoff hopes evaporated some time earlier. However, Neftekhimik managed to close the gap on eighth place thanks to its bonus point and Sibir’s loss at home to Ak Bars. The Wolves have picked up at least a point in their last seven games, keeping the playoff race alive to the very end.
However, Neftekhimik may feel they should have taken the win here. The visitor got in front in the first period on Bulat Shafigullin’s goal. Although Amur tied it up midway through the second period on a power play goal from Evgeny Grachyov, the Wolves went to the second intermission with a 3-1 lead. Vladislav Leontyev restored the advantage and Riley Barber – back in action after a week’s absence – added a third.
Amur relied on its power play to save the game in the third. Ilya Talaluyev pulled a goal back on the PP, then three seconds after Ilya Pastukhov left the box, Artur Gizdatullin made it 3-3. And the home team started overtime on the power play after Barber’s late foul.
That chance went begging and the result was settled in the shoot-out. Neftekhimik head coach Oleg Leontyev made the surprise decision to replace his goalie after Alex Broadhurst put his first attempt past Filipp Dolganov. But the chance did not help: Yaroslav Ozolin came in cold and allowed two of the next three efforts into his net.
Galimov treble lifts Ak Bars past Sibir
Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Ak Bars Kazan 6 (1-2, 1-1, 1-3)
Artyom Galimov’s hat-trick helped Ak Bars to victory in a high-scoring game in Novosibirsk. He scored on the power play, at equal strength, and shorthanded to lead his team to victory. The visitor snapped a two-game losing run and also ended a sequence of three defeats against Sibir.
The visitor named American defenseman Mitch Miller on the team today for the first time in two months. Miller replaced Stepan Falkovsky as he returned from injury.
In the first period, the teams traded power play goals. Vladimir Butuzov put Sibir in front midway through the session, converting its first PP of the game. But there was also penalty trouble for the home team. Nikita Dynyak drew Ilya Morozov into a foul and Yegor Korshkov tied the game. Then Taylor Beck swung a stick at Dynyak and got a major penalty for his trouble. Galimov potted his first of the night to give Ak Bars the lead at the intermission.
In the second period Sibir had chances to tie the game, including another power play, but the next goal when to Kazan’s Eric O’Dell midway through the game. Andy Andreoff pulled one back for the home team to keep it tight going into the third.
That final frame started with a somewhat freakish effort from Galimov to make it 4-2. Another power play saw Andreoff on target once more but the next Ak Bars penalty was followed by Trevor Murphy coughing up the puck on the blue line and sending Galimov away on the counter to complete his hat-trick. In the remaining 12 minutes, Ak Bars defended its lead and the final word went to Alexander Barabanov’s empty net goal.
Kadeikin, Shabanov lead Traktor to big win
Traktor Chelyabinsk 8 Barys Astana 0 (4-0, 2-0, 2-0)
Top faced bottom in the Eastern Conference and the result was no contest. Traktor powered to a crushing victory over Barys, with Alexander Kadeikin potting a hat-trick, Maxim Shabanov collecting five points and Zach Fucale recording his ninth shut-out of the season.
Barys had lost its previous three meetings with the conference leader, and any hope of improvement today disappeared almost immediately. Vitaly Kravtsov opened the scoring in the third minute and a couple of minutes later Semyon Der-Arguchintsev doubled the lead. It already looked like a long day in prospect for the visitor, and Traktor pressed home its early advantage. Shabanov set up a second goal for Kravtsov on the power play, then Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer made it four before the intermission.
After allowing four first-period goals, visiting netminder Andrei Shutov did not return after the intermission. Artyom Shestakov was given his KHL debut – but the 20-year-old lasted just 105 seconds before allowing his first goal. Kadeikin was the scorer, getting his first of the game from close range off another Shabanov assist. Then, in the 35th minute, Shabanov made it 6-0.
The Shabanov-Kadeikin combination struck again early in the third and, as Traktor continued to dominate, Kadeikin completed his hat-trick in the last minute to make the final score 8-0.
Loko eases past basement club
HC Sochi 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 (0-2, 1-2, 1-0)
It was top vs bottom in the West as well, and once again the high-flyer came out on top. This game proved more competitive than its Eastern equivalent, though, despite Lokomotiv’s fast start.
The table-topping visitor quickly opened a 2-0 advantage on goals from Alexander Radulov – his first since Jan. 19 – and Yegor Surin, who scored the OT winner over Sibir a week ago.
After that unsteady start, Sochi found its feet and the rest of the first period was goalless. Indeed, there were relatively few chances at either end. Much of the second period was played in center ice as well. Between them, the teams shared just 3:40 of attacking possession. Yet that was enough to bring three goals.
Two of them came in the space of 35 seconds. Artur Kayumov made it 3-0 in the 34th minute, but almost instantly Andrei Nikonov got the Leopards on the board. Then, late in the frame Vasily Machulin took a major penalty for cross-checking and Richard Panik scored right on the hooter to make it 4-1.
There was still 4:52 to run on Machulin’s penalty when play resumed for the third frame, and Sochi had more problems when Timur Khafizov joined his team-mate in the box. But Lokomotiv did not punish its opponent further. In the 48th minute, Amir Gareyev pulled a goal back for the home team, but Sochi never looked likely to save the game.
In-form Avangard rolls over Spartak
Spartak Moscow 1 Avangard Omsk 5 (0-1, 0-3, 1-1)
The Hawks rolled to an eighth successive victory, comfortably defeating Spartak in Moscow. It’s the second time this season Avangard has scored five on the Red-and-Whites, but the teams’ previous meeting in October ended in a 6-5 win for the Muscovites.
Today, Avangard wasted little time in taking the lead. Reid Boucher steered Igor Martynov’s feed home in the second minute to make it four goals in four games for him. That proved to be the only goal of the opening frame, and Spartak’s situation was not helped when starting goalie Artyom Zagidulin had to be replaced by Dmitry Nikolayev after he took a knock in the 18th minute.
Nikolayev kept Avangard at bay until midway through the second, then allowed two quick goals as the visitor took control of the game. Mikhail Gulyayev made it 2-0 with a shot from a tight angle that went over the goalie’s shoulder and inside his near post. Then, two minutes later, Alexei Solovyov picked up the rebound from a Nail Yakupov slapshot and made it 3-0. The Hawks added a fourth in the closing moments of the session, Konstantin Okulov finishing off an odd-man rush.
There was something for the host to cheer at last in the 45th minute when Sergei Lukyantsev scored his first in the KHL. However, it would be little more than a consolation effort. Alex Grant celebrated his recent contract extension by making it 5-1 in the 52nd minute and that was how it finished.
Six straight wins for Minsk, four losses for SKA
Dinamo Minsk 2 SKA St. Petersburg 1 (2-0, 0-1, 0-0)
Early goals from Chris Tierney and Vadim Shipachyov set Dinamo on the way to a sixth successive victory here. SKA managed to get one back in the second period, but still fell to a fifth loss in six games. That contrasting recent form explains how the Belarusians have moved ahead of the Petersburg team into sixth in the West and, on current form, could be a dangerous outsider in the playoffs.
Before Sunday’s game, Shipachyov and head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov received commemorative medals from the KHL. Shipachyov’s award marked his membership of the snipers’ club for players with more than 250 goals. Kvartalnov joined the coaches’ club, for head coaches with more than 700 games. His current tally of 942 is an absolute KHL record.
Maybe the ceremony distracted the visitor. SKA made a dreadful start to this game. In the second minute, a penalty for Andrei Pedan handed Dinamo a power play chance and Tierny converted to open the scoring. Almost immediately, SKA’s former Dinamo defenseman Sergei Sapego went to the box and Shipachyov scored his 301st KHL goal from a tight angle to double the lead.
Until the middle of the first period there was almost no sign of the visitor’s offense. Gradually, though, SKA came into the game and the latter half of the frame was more evenly contested. However, Dinamo held its 2-0 lead to the intermission and looked fairly comfortable.
The second period was more even. SKA goalie Yegor Zavragin pulled off a fine save to snuff out a three-on-one counter. Vitaly Pinchuk picked out Sam Anas at the back door, but Zavragin got across to rob him of a goal. Moments later, Marat Khairullin struck at the other end, firing home a feed from Ivan Demidov to make it a one-goal game in the 37th minute.
SKA started the third period on the power play and immediately set off in search of a tying goal. However, despite possession and pressure, the visitor struggled to generate dangerous chances, either at full strength or with its special teams. A penalty for Vadim Moroz in the 54th minute put Minsk under more pressure, but Vasily Demchenko made a big save to stop two shots from Ilya Karpukhin. And Demchenko continued to defy the visitor, making saves to deny Demidov and Alistrov in the closing stages.
