First home win at Avto’s new arena. March 13 round-up
A 2-1 victory over Torpedo saw Avtomobilist celebrate its first success at the new UGMK Arena in Yekaterinburg. The result snapped a four-game skid for the Motormen, and also means that Torpedo can finish no higher than eighth in the West – setting up a playoff meeting with Lokomotiv. That was confirmed as Severstal beat Dinamo Minsk in a high-scoring game in Severstal. There were goals in Vladivostok as well, with Barys coming from 1-4 to beat Admiral in a shoot-out. Sibir boosted its playoff prospects with a 4-2 win at home to Amur, and Nikita Gusev scored twice as Dynamo Moscow won 3-1 in Ufa.
Down 1-4, Barys hits back to win
Admiral Vladivostok 4 Barys Astana 5 SO (2-0, 2-1, 0-3, 0-0, 0-1)
Playoff chasing Admiral blew a 4-1 lead and ended up losing to Barys in a shoot-out. On the face of it, this was a surprise result. However, previous meetings between the teams this season suggested there wasn’t much between them. Although the Sailors won all three, two of them went to overtime and the third finished 4-2 in Admiral’s failure.
Defeat is unlikely to deny the Sailors a playoff place, though. Leonids Tambijevs’ team is still nine points clear of Neftekhimik, and the Wolves have only 10 more points available. However, with the teams due to meet twice in the final week of the season, things could yet get tense.
For two periods here, there was little tension. The home team eased into a 4-1 lead despite seeing an early Libor Sulak effort cancelled by a video review. Sulak himself shrugged off that disappointment to claim a legitimate goal on 2:30. Then came a power play goal from Jack Rodewald to make it 2-0 in the ninth minute. Both Admiral goals were assisted by Arkady Shestakov, who was up against his brother Artyom in the Barys net.
Early in the second period, Pavel Shen made it 3-0 before Barys began to make an impression. Alikhan Omirbekov pulled a goal back, then Admiral took its first penalty of the game. However, Barys could not capitalize and when Daniil Gutik returned to the game, he jumped onto Dmitry Zavgorodny’s pass and raced away to score his 23rd of the season.
That seemed to be the game, but Barys had other ideas. With nothing to lose, the visitor piled forward in the third. A youthful combination involving Kirill Lyapanov and Vsevolod Logvin set up Semyon Simonov to reduced the deficit, then Mikhail Rakhmanov potted a power play goal on 48:56.
Admiral had to soak up the pressure in the closing stages and cracked with two minutes to go. A Barys power play offered a chance to go six-on-four and the visitor managed to tie the game through Adil Beketayev. Admiral recovered to dominate overtime, outshooting Barys 10-1 but finding Artyom Shestakov in great form. Then, in the shoot-out, Roman Starchenko gave the visitor a rare win.
Important win for playoff-chasing Sibir
Sibir Novosibirsk 4 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (0-0, 4-1, 0-1)
After an unhappy road trip, Sibir returned home to grab an important win in its playoff push. Two points from today’s game against Amur restores a five-point cushion to ninth-placed Neftekhimik. It’s not a decisive advantage, but it certainly makes Vadim Yepanchintsev’s men firm favorites to go to post season.
Perhaps the biggest surprise from the first period was the lack of goals. Sibir attacked with menace from the start. In the first minute, Andy Andreoff was close to scoring on young Amur goalie Viktor Kobozev. Then Pavel Gogolev and Georgy Belousov had a two-on-zero rush but failed to score. At the other end, a rare combination involving Alex Galchenyuk and Alex Broadhurst represented the biggest threat to Denis Kostin’s net.
The second period saw Sibir settle the outcome. The home team potted two quick goals early in proceedings, with Nikita Korotkov opening the scoring before Andreoff doubled the lead. Amur was struggling until Andreoff took a penalty and allowed the visitor to move the play away from its net. Then a speculative shot from Vyacheslav Gretsky halved the deficit with five to play, ending a 46-game goal drought for the Belarusian forward.
However, there was no chance to build on that. Within a minute, Sergei Ryzhikov was assessed a minor for a head butt on Taylor Beck. Sibir parlayed that advantage into two goals. First Sergei Shirokov claimed his 550th KHL point, making it 3-1 just 30 seconds after Ryzhikov went to the box. Then the veteran hit the frame of the goal before Beck added to a couple of assists with the fourth goal for the home team.
In the third period, Kobozev made way for Matt Jurusik in the Amur net. The American halted Sibir’s scoring, but the visitor could not make significant inroads into the home lead. Oleg Li claimed a consolation goal with five to play, but Sibir closed out the win.
Late strike gives Avto first victory in new home
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
The Motormen celebrated their first victory in their new arena. A late Danil Romantsev goal was enough to edge past Torpedo and move Avtomobilist to fourth in the East ahead of Ak Bars and Avangard. In a tight race for position behind Traktor, just three points separates second-placed Salavat Yulaev and the sixth-placed Hawks.
It was an unfamiliar roster for the home team. Established leaders Anatoly Golyshev, Stephane da Costa, Nikita Tryamkin and Nick Merkley all sat this one out and a clutch of players from the Gornyak farm club stepped up.
Torpedo had the first opportunity in the game, quickly earning the first power play and testing Vladimir Galkin in the home net. Back at full strength, the Avtomobilist press helped to change the balance of play. The host had the better chances, notably a breakaway for Nikita Shashkov, before opening the scoring after 14 minutes. Semyon Kizimov found a shot from a dead angle to beat Ivan Kulbakov.
The first period ended with serious penalty trouble for the home team. Eleven seconds after Nick Ebert was called for hooking, Andrei Obidin was assessed a major penalty for a check to the head. Yet Torpedo could not capitalize and five-on-three became four-on-four when Kirill Kirsanov was called for holding an opponent.
Nonetheless, Torpedo got back on level terms in the second period. Alexei Byvaltsev won a penalty shot, but failed to score. Then, in the 33rd minute, Yegor Vinogradov tied the game with a goal on the counter following some extended pressure from the visitor.
That disappointing second period inspired Avtomobilist to seriously step up the pace and creativity in the third. However, for a long time it looked as though the absence of some key forwards might cost the home team. Kulbakov made some good saves early in the session, but then the Motormen ran out of gas and the game hit a lull. It wasn’t until the final moments that Avto found new energy: Nikita Shavin went close, then with eight seconds left to play Romantsev potted the winner to secure the first home victory at the UGMK Arena.
Gusev double sinks Salavat
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 Dynamo Moscow 3 (0-1, 1-1, 0-1)
This battle of the second-placed teams in each conference went the way of the West, with two goals from Nikita Gusev making the difference for Dynamo.
It was a frustrating evening for Salavat Yulaev, and especially for forward Josh Leivo. He had an assist but failed to score, and remains four behind Sergei Mozyakin’s record for goals in a regular season.
The home team had a six-day rest after its Far East tour and that pause may account for some rustiness in the early exchanges. Certainly, it took a while for Ufa to get its game together. Dynamo, meanwhile, got in front after eight minutes when Dmitry Rashevsky fired the puck to the slot and Max Comtois immediately reacted to score. Things might have got worse for the home team when Mikhail Naumenkov took a major for a slash at Cedric Paquette. However, Dynamo’s own discipline let it down: head coach Alexei Kudashov talked his team into an unsporting conduct penalty and ate into the five-minute power play.
The second period showed Dynamo’s power play in a better light. A five-on-three power play saw Daniil Pylenkov combine neatly with Gusev to double the lead. However, midway through the session the home team pulled one back when Leivo set up Scott Wilson for a PP tally at the other end. As tempers heated up, Comtois found himself indulging in some pushing and shoving with Nikita Zorkin and Danil Alalykin; the officials opted not to apply any further sanction.
Twenty-three seconds into the final frame, Gusev scored his second of the night to make it 3-1 for Dynamo. From that point on, the visitor could enter game management mode. Keeping it simple, the Blue-and-Whites deprived Salavat Yulaev’s dangerous offense the time and space to cause trouble. Maxim Motorygin provided a reliable barrier in goal as the Muscovites took the verdict.
High-scoring win for Severstal
Severstal Cherepovets 5 Dinamo Minsk 4 (2-2, 1-2, 2-0)
An entertaining game in Cherepovets saw Severstal come out on top. In the process, it confirmed the first playoff pairing for 2025. Torpedo can no longer finish better than eighth, and will face Lokomotiv, already assured of top spot in the West. Severstal climbs to sixth, level on points with SKA and four points behind today’s opponent in fourth.
The teams traded goals in an entertaining first period. Severstal struck first, with Mikhail Kotlyarevsky’s power play goal opening the scoring in the fifth minute. Dinamo then killed a major penalty before converting a power play of its own in the 16th. Alexei Kruchinin soon restored the home lead, but Vitaly Pinchuk’s second of the night sent us to the intermission locked at 2-2.
At the start of the second, Mikhail Ilyin put Severstal ahead once more. However, Dinamo recovered again. Moroz tied it up a three, then Andrei Stas’s power play goal gave the Belarusians the lead for the first time midway through the session.
That lead held until the third period. Then Daniil Davydov picked a good moment to score his first KHL goal. The on-loan Dynamo Moscow prospect tied the game in the 46th minute. Then, with six to play, Nikolai Burenov made it 5-4 to the home team and that was how it finished.
