Severstal shares lead in Omsk

There was only one game on Friday in the Blinov Cup, and Severstal’s 3-2 win over Neftekhimik keeps it perfect in the tournament so far. Two warm-up games saw Ak Bars beat Dynamo Moscow, while Traktor and Chelmet tied in an intra-club scrimmage in Chelyabinsk.

Blinov Cup

Aimurzin inspires Severstal win

Severstal Cherepovets 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 (1-0, 0-1, 2-1)

The Lynx join Avangard at the top of the Blinov Cup standings after making it two wins from two games. Neftekhimik, meanwhile, fell to a second loss and is stuck at the foot of the table after Mikhail Ilyin’s late winner in Friday’s sole game in Omsk.

Severstal started the tournament with an impressive 2-0 win over Lokomotiv, and continued that bright form in the early exchanges here. Danil Aimurzin opened the scoring in the fourth minute with Ilyin among the assists.

That was the only goal of the opening frame, but although Neftekhimik was outshot through two periods, it went into the second intermission tied at one all. Bulat Shafigullin’s power play tally put Igor Grishin’s men level in the 36th minute.

Severstal made a fast start in the third period, with Nikolai Chebykin restoring the lead in the first minute. Again, Neftekhimik responded. This time, a short-handed tally from Artyom Serikov made it 2-2.

It looked like the game would go to overtime, but with 90 seconds left Aimurzin set up Ilyin for the winner. Aimurzin had a hand in all three Severstal goals, Ilyin finished with two points.

Warm-up games

Two points for Biro in Ak Bars win

Dynamo Moscow 1 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (0-0, 1-2, 0-1)

Ak Bars enjoyed a win in Moscow with Brandon Biro picking up two points. After a goalless first period, the visitor opened the scoring after 31 seconds of the middle frame. Alexander Barabanov, one of several senior players recalled to the team for this game, found the net off assists from Artyom Galimov and Kirill Semyonov.

Biro extended that lead in the 25th minute before Dynamo halved the deficit. Kirill Adamchuk, once an Ak Bars player, scored on his former club to bring the game back to life late in the second stanza.

But there was no way back for the home team. Mitch Miller restored a two-goal cushion in the third, assisted by Biro, as Ak Bars sealed the win.

Traktor ties in first pre-season test

Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Chelmet 1 (1-0, 0-1)

The first pre-season action for Traktor this summer was an in-house affair against the club’s VHL team. The format was unconventional as well: two 25-minute periods, with neither overtime nor shoot-out in the event of a tie.

Benoit Groulx used a trio of new signings, Yegor Korshkov, Mikhail Grigorenko and Pierrick Dube, on his first line. Josh Leivo, who joined from Salavat Yulaev after leading the league in scoring last term, was placed with Alexander Kadeikin and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. There were also debuts for forward Andrei Nikonov, defensemen Jordan Gross and Fyodor Kroshchinsky, and goalie Chris Driedger.

Traktor made a strong start, forcing several good saves out of Chelmet goalie Savely Sherstenev. Der-Arguchintsev opened the scoring with a power play goal in the eighth minute; it’s the second season in a row that he has scored Traktor’s first goal of pre-season. Leivo also found his way onto the game sheet, but not to his team’s benefit: he picked up a penalty later in the frame.

In the second period, Sergei Mylnikov took over from Driedger in the Traktor net. Emotions ran high, and Leivo got into a fight with Alexei Savelyev. Indeed, the box was seldom empty as both sides picked up regular penalties in the final frame. Chelmet failed to convert a five-on-three power play, but scored while playing four-on-four. Defenseman Dominik Mikanovich, who made his Traktor debut last season, tied the game and it finished 1-1.