Dinamo, Spartak open 2-0 leads

In the West, Dinamo Minsk and Spartak Moscow are both in strong positions in their first-round playoff series. The Belarusians again scored five on CSKA and head to Moscow with a 2-0 lead in the series. Spartak is in a similar position after beating Severstal 4-2 with Alexander Pashin moving to 4 (2+2) points in post season.

Another five-star show in Minsk

Dinamo Minsk 5 CSKA Moscow 3 (0-0, 2-1, 2-2)

(Dinamo leads the series 2-0)

For the second time in three days, Dinamo Minsk scored five on CSKA to claim a home victory at the start of this playoff series. As a result, Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team heads to Moscow in a strong position, while Ilya Vorobyov is facing a real threat of first-round elimination in his first season behind the CSKA bench.

The first period was goalless. Dinamo had two chances on the power play, helping it to lead the shot count, but there was no way past Ivan Prosvetov in the CSKA net.

The opening goal had to wait until the 32nd minute and it went to the visitor. Dinamo might have been disoriented by a problem with goalie Vasily Demchenko’s equipment that forced him to sit out a couple of minutes. He returned to the game and was almost immediately beaten by Vladislav Provolnev’s point shot.

CSKA had been here before. In the first game it led 2-0 before falling to a 2-5 loss. This time, the Muscovites did not even get a second goal. Dinamo tied it up a three minutes later and needed just two minutes more to get in front. Vadim Moroz got the equalizer, taking advantage of the space created by Vadim Shipachyov’s surge into the danger zone and collecting a drop pass from his team-mate before shooting past Prosvetov.

Then Shipachyov himself made it 2-1. First, the forward set up Roman Gorbunov on the slot, who had Prosvetov on the ground but could not finish from a tight angle. The puck returned to Shipachyov on the right-hand side, and he put it away.

At the start of the third, a defensive lapse presented Dinamo with a third goal. Alexander Volkov, two-goal hero in the opening game, was able to send Vitaly Pinchuk racing unopposed through the heart of the Moscow defense. He produced a deft ‘no shot’ finish, deceiving Prosvetov and allowing the puck’s inertia to take it into the net.

However, that was not the end of the story. CSKA got on the power play – Volkov the player penalized – and the pressure swung back towards Demchenko’s net. Dinamo killed the penalty, but the momentum stayed with the visitor. Eventually, after a spell of pressure, Dmitry Samorukov collected the rebound from Maxim Sorkin’s long-range shot and squeezed it home from the left-hand boards. That’s a second goal of the series for Samorukov, who opened the scoring in Wednesday’s game.

But it didn’t bring a way back for his team. An untimely penalty for Kirill Dolzhenkov hit the Muscovites’ momentum and while Dinamo could not rebuild its two-goal lead, it ate up a handy chunk of time. After that, the home team was able to protect its advantage until Prosvetov went to the bench, heralding CSKA’s last charge. Shipachyov missed the empty net, but Minsk held onto possession and Gorbunov made it 4-2.

But there was a further twist when a CSKA power play with 69 seconds to play offered one last hope. Yet it was a false hope, as Josh Brook added a fifth for Dinamo to render Prokhor Poltapov’s late snipe largely irrelevant in a 5-3 final scoreline.

Pashin on target again in Spartak win

Spartak Moscow 4 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (1-0, 1-1, 2-1)

(Spartak leads the series 2-0)

Spartak will take a 2-0 lead to Cherepovets after winning another exciting game between two of the KHL’s most offense-minded teams. Despite two goals for Severstal’s Mikhail Kotlyarevsky, the home team prevailed. Alexander Pashin added a goal to his three-point performance in the series opener, while Andrei Loktionov’s power play tally proved to be the winner.

This game followed a rather different path from the series opener. On Wednesday, the teams traded four goals in a blistering first period. Here, we saw just one, from Pavel Poryadin in the 18th minute. It was a classic combination from Spartak’s most dangerous trio: Nikolai Goldobin led a counterattack down the right with Ivan Morozov joining him on the other flank. However, the puck went to Poryadin in the middle and he sprinted across the blue line, darted between two defensemen and wired a shot to the far corner.

That was the first time Spartak had held a lead in regulation in this series: in the first game, it twice trailed by two and only went in front on the overtime goal.

Severstal perhaps took heart from that. The visitor began the second period well, killing the remaining 34 seconds of a first-period penalty then getting a power play of its own and tying the game. Artyom Shchuchinov picked out Mikhail Kotlyarevsky in the left-hand circle and his powerful one-timer deceived Dmitry Nikolayev with an awkward bounce before the goalie’s glove.

And Andrei Kozyrev’s team had a great chance to get ahead just before the midway mark. A two-on-one rush saw Mikhail Ilyin and Danil Aimurzin test the home defense. The passing lane towards Ilyin was blocked so Aimurzin went himself, but Nikolayev made the save.

However, there were chances at both ends and late in the middle frame, Spartak regained the lead. Alexander Pashin, who had three points in game one, continued his fine start to the playoffs with the go-ahead goal. He collected the puck on his own blue line and raced down the right wing before firing home a wrister from the face-off circle to make it 2-1.

Severstal’s problems weren’t helped by a penalty for Ilyin late in the second period. Spartak came out and converted the power play at the start of the third when Andrei Loktionov redirected Dmitry Vishnevsky’s point shot past Alexander Samoilov. Another home power play soon after promised more toil for the visitor, but this time the PK was more effective. Ilya Ivantsov even threatened a short-handed goal, and Severstal picked up momentum.

That enterprise earned a penalty shot in the 47th minute when Loktionov brought down the goal-bound Ruslan Abrosimov. However, Aimurzin could not take the chance; Nikolayev wasn’t fooled by the forward’s deke and made the save.

The next lifeline was offered by German Rubtsov, who picked up a double minor for high sticking. Severstal needed just five seconds to convert the first of those penalties, with Kotlyarevsky getting his second of the game. Ansel Galimov followed Rubtsov to the box, but Spartak survived with three skaters and, after Rubtsov’s release, Adam Ruzicka grabbed a shorthanded goal to offer some breathing space in the closing minutes. The Slovak intercepted a wayward pass from Aimurzin, intended for Kirill Pilipenko and raced down the ice to make it 4-2 in the 56th minute.

Severstal’s attempts to find a way back were hindered by a penalty for Kotlyarevsky in the closing stages and Spartak closed out the win. Alexei Zhamnov’s team heads to Cherepovets in a strong position.