Eastern contenders open 2-0 leads

Traktor pulled off another comeback win to open a 2-0 lead over Dinamo Minsk in its Gagarin Cup second round series. The Belarusians led 3-0, but tied 3-3 in regulation before Grigory Dronov’s goal sent the pairing to Minsk with Traktor in control. Ak Bars also holds a 2-0 lead in its series against Dynamo Moscow. A 2-0 success in the Russian capital has Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men heading home in a strong position. 

Comeback kings do it again

Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 Dinamo Minsk 3 OT (0-2, 3-1, 0-0, 1-0)

(Traktor leads the series 2-0)

For the second time in three days, Traktor produced a dramatic comeback to defeat Dinamo Minsk. In game one, three goals in the last minute turned a 1-2 deficit into a 4-2 victory. Today, Benoit Groulx’s men trailed 0-3 but recovered to win in overtime.

After Saturday’s fightback, Groulx made changes: Ilya Nikolayev and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev made way for Vladimir Zharkov and 21-year-old Alexei Rykamanov, called up from Chelmet of the VHL. Dinamo was without Alexander Volkov, whose place on the top line went to Ilya Usov. Nikita Pyshkailo was named 13th forward.

Traktor controlled the early stages, ensuring that Vasily Demchenko was the busier of the two goalies. The home team thought it had the opening goal through Logan Day, but his effort was whistled back due to Alexander Kadeikin’s infringement on the slot.

After that, the game opened out. Dinamo began to pose more of a threat and opened he scoring in the 16th minute when Nicolas Meloche joined the attack and finished off a neat passing move. The visitor didn’t stop there and doubled the lead before the intermission. Josh Brook’s pass cut through the defense to set up Usov, who cashed in with a well-placed shot.

Things got worse for Traktor at the start of the second period. Dinamo swiftly added a third goal when Yegor Borisov was first to react to a bouncing puck and found the open corner of Zach Fucale’s net. That might have been the goalie’s last involvement, but Groulx had untested Vladislav Sukharyov as back-up and persevered with his first choice.

At the other end, Demchenko continued to frustrate Traktor, freezing out Vladimir Tkachyov’s one-on-one. There was more trouble ahead for the visitor after a delay of game penalty and while the penalty kill held, Maxim Shabanov forced the breakthrough after the visitor got back to full strength.

That set the home team on its now familiar comeback trail and Traktor found two more goals in that second period. First, Steven Kampfer made it a one-goal game, then Shabanov potted his second of the game to tie the game at 3-3.

The third period saw Dinamo get a four-on-three power play, and Vadim Shipachyov forced a big save from Fucale to keep the game level. At the other end, Demchenko was on his mettle once more to thwart Tkachyov again. Neither goalie blinked in the closing stages and the game moved to overtime.

Traktor came close to winning it in the fourth minute. Tkachyov’s line put together a neat combination for Nikita Korostelyov to score. However, Shabanov strayed offside as play moved into Dinamo’s zone and the goal was ruled out. The fans saw another seven minutes play before Grigory Dronov ended the game with a shot beyond Demchenko to give Traktor a 2-0 lead in the series. 

Ak Bars on top

Dynamo Moscow 0 Ak Bars Kazan 2 (0-1, 0-0, 0-1)

(Ak Bars leads the series 2-0)

Ak Bars blanked Dynamo in Moscow to open a 2-0 lead in this second-round series. Goals from Dmitry Katelevsky and Albert Yarullin steered the visitor to victory and a strong position on the road to the final four.

After game one in this series, both coaches made changes. Vladislav Podyapolsky got the start in goal for Dynamo, while Kirill Gotovets returned to the defense and Anton Slepyshev was scratched. Gotovets was back after injury and, perhaps, was charged with tightening up on the Dynamo slot after a weak performance in the first game.

Anvar Gatiyatulin had no obvious reason to change a winning team but nonetheless had to switch things up: an illness to Alexei Pustozyorov meant Semyon Koshelev joined Artyom Brovkin and Eric O’Dell.

Podyapolsky, seldom seen in action in recent weeks, was busy from the start. The visitor tried to test him early and often, but he stood up to the test with help from his defensemen. Ak Bars had more of the puck, winning 14 of 23 face-offs and taking the opportunity to dictate the play. That brought an in-game advantage that led to the opening goal. Mitchell Miller played the puck off the boards, it got the to the slot where Katelevsky had space to steer it home. Podyapolsky was without his stick and, despite his best efforts, could not make the save.

Dynamo struggled to create clear scoring chances, although there were some promising situations involving Dmitry Rashevsky, Cedric Paquette and Max Comtois. The latter pair were headliners in a major skirmish at the end of the opening frame when Paquette and Nikita Dynyak clashed: Comtois earned himself a 10-minute penalty in the midst of that.

In the second period Dynamo looked rather better. The home team was better able to get to the net and trouble Timur Bilyalov. The visiting goalie made big saves to stop a great shot from Rashevsky and a marauding raid from Brennan Mennel as well as other, less threatening situations. His narrowest escape came when he lost sight of the puck and it trickled along the goal-line; Paquette’s efforts to force it over the line were thwarted by some stout defending.

At the other end, Ak Bars was limited to counterattacks, with a couple of decent chances for Dmitrij Jaskin and Alexander Barabanov.

Things didn’t change much at the start of the third. Dynamo looked sharper but could not find the key to Bilyalov, who was in fine form from start to finish. But frustration took its toll, and Artyom Sergeyev needlessly slashed his way to a penalty after losing out in a hit. Oddly, Dynamo then went close to a short-handed goal from Artyom Ilyenko but once again Bilyalov made the save.

The insurance goal came after 53 minutes when Yarullin’s point shot came in just as Brovkin skated across the front of the net to take Podyapolsky’s eyes away. Chasing a two-goal deficit, Dynamo’s coaches withdrew the goalie with four-and-a-half minutes to play, but the extra skater contributed little as Ak Bars closed out the 2-0 win.