Lokomotiv takes top spot in the West. March 11 round-up

Avangard forward Vladimir Tkachyov played his first game of the season after recovering from a serious summer injury. More than that, he grabbed the winner as the Hawks came back from 1-3 to beat Torpedo and climb to third in the East. Neftekhimik defeated Dynamo Moscow by the same 4-3 scoreline, and in doing so handed Lokomotiv first place in the Western Conference. Dinamo Minsk’s winning streak came to an end with defeat at SKA, Admiral eased past Amur to win its sixth Far East derby of the season and Kunlun won on the road at Sochi thanks to four points from Danny O’Regan. 

Sailors make it six out of six against Amur

Admiral Vladivostok 5 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (3-0, 1-1, 1-1)

The final instalment of the Far East derby this season saw Admiral complete a 6-0 sweep over near neighbor Amur. Today’s 5-2 victory also moves the Sailors closer to securing a playoff spot: Leonid Tambijevs’ team is eight points clear of Neftekhimik, with just 10 points still available to the Wolves.

Admiral had this one under control in the first period. Dmitry Zavgorodny opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he converted a rebound. Amur had a chance to respond on the power play, but couldn’t do much with Daniil Gutik’s penalty. Then, in the 15th minute, Admiral’s first PP brought a goal from Nikita Soshnikov. Within a couple of minutes, the home team made it 3-0: Yegor Petukhov’s goal sent starting goalie Damir Shaimardanov to the bench in favor of Viktor Kobozev. With the Sailors up 15-5 on the shot count, a three-goal lead seemed a fair reflection of the play.

After the intermission, though, a gift of a goal offered Amur a lifeline. Goalie Andrei Mishurov moved away from his net but presented the puck to Ilya Talaluyev, who immediately set up Oleg Li with a shot at the open goal. Admiral responded fast to cancel out their goalie’s blunder: Gutik soon restored the three-goal lead.

The start of the third period brought Soshnikov’s second of the game, putting the outcome beyond doubt. Amur’s ineffective power play was an issue once again: not only did the Tigers lack bite with a man advantage, they almost allowed a short-handed goal on the counter. In the end, the visitor salvaged some consolation thanks to a goal from Alexander Bryntsev. But this was very much Admiral’s day – and Admiral’s season in this Far Eastern rivalry.

Hawks rally for 12th successive win

Avangard Omsk 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (1-1, 0-2, 3-0)

Vladimir Tkachyov returned to first-team action and scored the winning goal as Avangard posted a 12th successive win. Tkachyov suffered a serious injury in pre-season and is only now fit and available for Guy Boucher’s team – just as the season gets to the business end.

However, this was by no means a straightforward afternoon for in-form Avangard. Torpedo, which secured its playoff spot on Saturday, made things tough for the home team. Igor Larionov’s team opened the scoring midway through the first period when Daniil Bokun beat Nikita Serebryakov.

After that, the Hawks took the game to Torpedo and spent several shifts around Ivan Kulbakov’s net. The visitor defended strongly, ensuring there was little open ice for Avangard to exploit. Nonetheless, after the second commercial break the home team tied the game: Giovanni Fiore produced a great feed from the corner to set up Danil Bashkirov.

Torpedo finished the first period under pressure, but responded with a pair of quick goals in the second. Maxim Letunov won a puck battle behind the net and set up Nikita Artamonov on the slot for 2-1. Then Kirill Kirsanov added a third, beating Serebryakov with a seemingly straightforward shot from the blue line. After that, the home goalie was replaced by Mikhail Berdin.

For a long time, the home offense misfired. Avangard was limited to long-range efforts as a strong Torpedo defense kept the puck out of the danger zone. It wasn’t until Torpedo’s Kirill Voronin took a double minor penalty that the home team was able to break through early in the third. Alex Grant’s slap shot found the net and brought the game back to life. Voronin had to sit out his second penalty, and wasn’t long out of the box when Semyon Chistyakov reacted fastest after a Nikolai Prokhorkin shot hit the bar. Suddenly, the game was tied and the momentum was with the home team.

Now Tkachyov came to the fore. He saw one great chance go begging before, with 2:45 left to play, he converted a counterattack to make it 4-3. Torpedo responded by replacing Kulbakov with a sixth skater, but to no avail. Avangard took the verdict, and leapt up to third in the East.

Wolves fight back to boost playoff prospects

Neftkehimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Dynamo Moscow 3 (1-2, 2-0, 1-1)

Playoff chasing Neftekhimik rallied from 0-2 to defeat Dynamo – and in doing so, handed Lokomotiv top spot in the Western Conference. The Blue-and-Whites were the last team theoretically able to overhaul the Railwaymen, but today’s result ensures that Igor Nikitin’s team will lead the section into the playoffs.

For Neftekhimik, meanwhile, this was a vital victory. It closes the gap to eighth-placed Amur to just three points in a nerve-jangling end to the season.

The visitor made a flying start and led 2-0 inside four minutes. Anton Sizov opened the scoring after 57 seconds, then Max Comtois added to his assist with a second goal on 3:34.

But there was no panic from the home team. No time out. No change of goalie. Oleg Leontyev trusted his players to improve, and they did. Kirill Kapustin converted the first power play of the game midway through the first period. In the second, Nikita Khoruzhev tied the scores, then seconds before the intermission, German Tochilkin made it 3-2.

Kapustin got his second of the night at the start of the third, giving Neftekhimik a two-goal advantage of its own. Nikita Gusev scored with four to play, giving Dynamo a chance to save the game and extend its five-game winning streak. But the Wolves held on to take a second successive victory and keep the pressure on its playoff rivals.

Danny’s day for the Dragons

HC Sochi 2 Kunlun Red Star 5 (0-2, 1-1, 1-2)

Danny O’Regan was Kunlun’s star in a comfortable win at Sochi. He had two goals and two assists to lead his team to victory and tie this season’s mini-series between the Dragons and the Leopards.

KRS took control of the scoreboard early on, scoring twice in 10 seconds after five minutes’ play. O’Regan sprinted away to pot the first on the counter, then he added an assist as Yaroslav Likhachyov doubled the lead right after the restart.

Sochi responded by sending Evgeny Volokhin into the game in place of starting goalie Nikita Tulinov. But even though the teams had similar amounts of attacking possession in the first period, the Dragons were far more effective at generating chances: the shot count at the intermission read 21-11 in the visitor’s favor.

There were more quick goals in the second period. This time, though, the teams exchanged markers 14 seconds apart. Red Star extended its lead with a power play goal from Colin Campbell on 25:48. Sochi pulled one back on 26:02 thanks to Alexander Khokhlachyov.

Red Star began the second period with a fourth goal – and a fourth point for O’Regan as he scored on the wraparound off an Ian McCoshen feed. Then, at last, O’Regan took a back seat as Jayden Halbgewachs made it 5-1. Tyler Graovac, who scored a hat-trick when these teams met a couple of weeks ago, thought he was on the scoresheet again midway through the third, but a bench challenge called it back for offside.

There was a consolation goal for Sochi thanks to Amir Garayev in the 53rd minute but KRS secured the win by the same 5-2 scoreline it enjoyed last time it came to the Black Sea.

SKA halts Dinamo’s winning run

SKA St. Petersburg 3 Dinamo Minsk 1 (2-0, 1-0, 0-1)

Minsk’s nine-game winning streak came to an end in St. Petersburg. SKA avenged a 1-2 loss in Belarus earlier in that sequence and prevented the Bison from setting a club record 10-game run.

Dinamo, as befitting its impressive recent form, made a lively start to the game. The visitor had the better of the first 10 minutes, frequently forcing SKA to ice the puck. The home team did not manage at shot on goal until the eighth minute.

However, a needless O-zone foul by Roman Gorbunov changed everything. SKA got on the power play and within 20 seconds Arseny Gritsyuk converted a feed from Alexander Nikishin to open the scoring. Two minutes later, Gritsyuk added an assist as Mikhail Grigorenko made it 2-0. Suddenly, the game was very different and SKA finished the first period strongly.

The second period saw more pressure from SKA, and a further goal arrived in the 34th minute. Despite an offside claim from the Dinamo bench, Pavel Akolzin made it 3-0 when he redirected a powerful effort from Valentin Zykov to make it 3-0. Dinamo killed its delay of game penalty, but SKA got another power play just before the intermission following a foul from Sam Anas.

Dinamo killed that penalty, and did it all again early in the third. It seemed that the game was drifting away from the visitor until suddenly penalty trouble for SKA revived everything. The home team lost Nikishin and Mikhail Vorobyov in quick succession, and the five-on-three power play brought a goal for Vadim Moroz. In five-on-four play, Dinamo hit the post but could not reduce the arrears to a single score. SKA closed out a third successive win and moves clear of Severstal into sixth in the West.