Avangard in control, Avtomobilist moves in front

A second successive overtime winner from Vladimir Tkachyov gave Avangard a 3-0 lead over Metallurg in its first-round KHL playoff series. The Hawks can complete a sweep of the defending champion on home ice on Tuesday. Today’s other Eastern Conference action saw Avtomobilist move ahead in its series against Ak Bars. After dropping the opening game, the Motormen followed up Friday’s 4-3 verdict with an overtime victory in Kazan. 

Tkachyov does it again

Avangard Omsk 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 OT (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

(Avangard leads the series 3-0)

For the second time in as many games, Vladimir Tkachyov potted an overtime winner. Today’s goal in Omsk gives the Hawks a commanding 3-0 lead in this first-round series against the defending champion, leaving Metallurg with a long road back to save the series.

Metallurg head coach Andrei Razin gave Alexander Smolin the start in goal after Ilya Nabokov posted losses in the first two games. However, he made no changes to the rest of the line-up. Guy Boucher added power forward Mark Verba to the Avangard roster, while defenseman Alex Grant was rested.

In urgent need of a win, Metallurg started fast. The visitor immediately had Avangard penned into its own zone and there were good chances for Dmitry Moiseyev and Dmitry Silantyev. Then came a Magnitka power play as Avangard struggled to get into the game. It wasn’t until midway through the session that Smolin found himself coming under any kind of fire. The visiting goalie was well covered by his defense and even the first home power play of the game could not create anything to disturb him.

At the start of the second period, Metallurg again enjoyed extended spells of pressure in front of Nikita Serebryakov’s net. Avangard came close to grabbing the lead on the counter through Ivan Igumnov, but that was merely a brief pause in the relentless pressure from the Steelmen. Eventually, midway through the frame, Nikita Mikhailis found a way past Serebryakov to give the visitor a deserved lead.

However, if it took half-an-hour for Metallurg to find a lead, it took barely six minutes to lose it. Avangard’s offense belatedly woke up. Tkachyov’s line – now centered by Nikolai Prokhorkin – was suddenly a constant threat. Tkachyov earned his team a power play, and then created the chance that saw Konstantin Okulov tie the game.

Metallurg went on to hit the post and the game remained open in the third period. Gradually, Avangard was creating more chances: Reid Boucher had a great opportunity at one end, then a Metallurg power play put the pressure on at the other. The home team finished regulation time looking the stronger of the two teams, but could not find a winner inside 60 minutes.

The Hawks started the extras on top. Prokhorkin had two great chances in one shift, but failed to convert. The play remained around Smolin’s net with few chances for Metallurg to get out. Nonetheless, when Semyon Chistyakov blundered, Moiseyev might have won it on the counter were it not for another big save from Smolin.

The winning goal also came from a defensive error. Luke Johnson’s attempt to play the puck out of the corner went astray, inviting Tkachyov to fire home the winner for the second OT in a row.

Osipov wins it in double OT

Ak Bars Kazan 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 2OT (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 0-1)

(Avtomobilist leads the series 2-1)

For the first time this season, we had double overtime. Ak Bars rallied from 0-2, scoring twice in a third-period minute to tie this game. But Avtomobilist would not be denied. It took time, but in the 93rd minute Maxim Osipov grabbed the winning goal to put the Motormen up in this series.

The decisive moment came when Nikita Tryamkin fired in a point shot. Ak Bars goalie Timur Bilyalov got enough of his blocker on it to send the puck away from the net, but only as far as Osipov. The defenseman reacted immediately, firing home to spark jubilant scenes among the traveling players and fans.

After Ak Bars won the opening game of the series 4-1, the subsequent hockey has been close-fought. Today’s first period was a case in point: much effort spent battling for the puck and, although the home team enjoyed more possession, there were relatively few big scoring chances.

The home team might have opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Andrei Pustozyorov set up the unmarked Eric O’Dell on the slot. However, Evgeny Alikin was equal to the shot as the Canadian’s tough time in front of goal continued.

Five minutes later, the opening goal arrived at the other end. Avtomobilist won a puck battle on the boards and Maxim  Denezhkin played it into the center for Sergei Zborovsky. The defenseman took control and wired a wrister into the top corner to give the visitor the lead.

After that, the game remained tight. The next big chance came just before the intermission when Alexander Barabanov was close to tying the scores. He used his strength to get the puck to the danger zone and twice tested Alikin. However, the goalie was equal to both attempts and the visitor held its lead to the intermission.

The second period began with a second goal for Avtomobilist. Alexei Byvaltsev harassed Mitch Miller into a mistake and drove to the slot. Then, a drop pass set up Stepan Khripunov to shoot into the open corner.

Yet that proved to be almost the end of the visitor as an attacking force. Ak Bars was able to secure the initiative for the remainder of the second period, outshooting Avto 10-4, even though it struggled to seriously extend Alikin.

That pattern largely continued into the third period. Ak Bars had more possession but was reduced to long-range efforts as Avtomobilist defended stoutly. But midway through the final stanza, everything changed in the space of a minute. First, a rare Avtomobilist break saw Timur Bilyalov make a huge blocker save to deny Darren Dietz a third – and surely conclusive – goal. At the other end, the home press finally forced a critical error and Dmitry Katelevsky stepped up to beat Alikin.

Then Danil Romantsev’s foul gave the home team its first power play of the night, and Dmitrij Jaskin needed just eight seconds to convert. Ak Bars won the face off, Nic Petan fired in a shot from the circle and Jaskin got the finishing touch as it flew past Alikin.

That took the game to overtime. Jaskin had a great chance to win it for Ak Bars in the first additional period, but Alikin denied him. Later, Kirill Semyonov also went close for the home team, but 20 extra minutes could not produce a winning goal.