Severstal wins Blinov Cup
It took a shoot-out to separate the two undefeated teams at the 2025 Blinov Cup in Omsk. However, Severstal held its nerve to snap a 3-3 tie and deprive Avangard of the title in its home tournament. Lokomotiv secured third place with a 5-2 win over Neftekhimik.
Ivantsev ‘no-shot’ attempt gives Severstal the cup
Avangard Omsk 3 Severstal Cherepovets 4 SO (0-1, 3-2, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Severstal made it four wins from four with a shoot-out success over Avangard to secure the Blinov Cup.
It took a special penalty shot from Ilya Ivantsev to seal the deal after a 3-3 tie. Ivantsev produced a ‘no shot’ finish, deceiving Hawks goalie Andrei Mishurov to find the net. Avangard was unable to score from its three attempts – Nikolai Prokhorkin, Andrew Poturalski and Konstatin Okulov failing to beat Alexander Samoilov – and the Steelmen took the prize.
Earlier, Adam Liska gave Severstal a fast start when he opened the scoring after 55 seconds. Grudinin produced a great move through center ice, danced away from Prokhorkin and Okulov and sent a cross-ice feed for his Slovak team-mate to score at the back door.
After that, the game flowed from end-to-end but there was no further scoring in the opening stanza. It wasn’t until after the intermission that chances turned into regular goals as the lead changed hands repeatedly.
Avangard scored twice in a minute to get up 2-1 on goals from Mikhail Gulyayev and Poturalski. Gulyayev produced a fine solo effort, scything through the Severstal defense at speed before beating Samoilov. Then Artyom Blazhievsky found Poturalski in space to give the Hawks the lead.
But penalty trouble cost Avangard. Nikolai Chebykin tied the game with Okulov in the box, then Liska scored his second of the game while Daniil Chaika sat out a tripping minor. The home team almost responded at once, but Prokhorkin was denied by the piping. However, just before the second intermission Gulyayev joined Liska on two goals to tie the game at 3-3.
That was the end of the scoring. The third period was goalless, and Severstal almost won it in overtime when Mikhail Ilyin set up Ruslan Abrosimov for a shot that dinged the post.
But Avangard’s reprieve was short-lived: the shoot-out went Severstal’s way and the cup is heading back to Cherepovets.
Three points for Surin, third place for Loko
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 (2-1, 2-0, 1-1)
Loko’s hopes of winning the Blinov Cup were ended in yesterday’s loss to Avangard, but Bob Hartley’s team bounced back to finish with victory over Neftekhimik. The Wolves fell to a third loss in three games, and must be Sibir tomorrow to avoid finishing last the tournament.
Hartley rested several leading players, including goalie Daniil Isayev, defenseman Alexei Bereglazov and forwards Maxim Shalunov and Alexander Radulov. Neftekhimik handed a debut to Danil Yurtaikin.
Helped by yesterday’s rest day, Neftekhimik made the brighter start. That led to Luka Profaca opening the scoring when he forced goalie Alexei Melnichuk into an error behind his net.
Loko continued to struggle and might have fallen further behind, but an offensive-zone penalty on Neftekhimik changed the game. The Railwaymen quickly converted the power play, with Yegor Surin’s shot bouncing off Maxim Berezkin’s skate and into the net. Surin was involved again as his team took the lead: Igor Bobkov struggled to hold his shot and Georgy Ivanov finished off the rebound.
Lokomotiv took the game away in the middle frame. Byron Froese added a third midway through the session, then Surin added a goal to his pair of assists to make it 4-1 at the second intermission.
Neftekhimik’s last hope was a goal from Andrei Belozyorov early in the third period. However, the Wolves could not build on that and Andrei Sergeyev fired home a fifth goal through traffic midway through the session. That was the end of the scoring as Lokomotiv secured third place in the standings.
The tournament concludes Monday with Neftekhimik playing Sibir in a game that will decide who finishes bottom of the pile.
