Traktor rallies from 0-3, Avto thrashes Ak Bars

With three tournaments in action on Tuesday, there were plenty of talking points. Avtomobilist will be happiest after thumping Ak Bars 6-1 at Puchkov Tournament in St. Petersburg. Salavat Yulaev enjoyed a 5-2 win over Metallurg on the opening day of the Romazan Memorial. And in Chelyabinsk, Amur leads the way, while Traktor recovered from 0-3 to beat Sochi.

Romazan Memorial

Fedotov double lifts Salavat past Metallurg

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 (1-3, 0-0, 1-2) 

Metallurg had a tough start to its home tournament, suffering a heavy loss to Salavat Yulaev. The summer script had Ufa as an outsider this season as the Bashkir club grapples with financial issues, while Metallurg looks to rediscover the kind of form that won the Gagarin Cup in 2024.

Both teams approached this game with strong rosters and the action was fast from the start. Metallurg seemed to be on top, and opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Sergei Tolchinsky appeared at the right moment to find an open corner. However, Salavat responded with devastating effect. Two goals in 39 seconds saw Maxim Kuznetsov and Alexander Zharovksy turn the game upside down before the intermission. Just to rub it in, Yegor Suchkov added a third with a buzzer-beater to give Salavat Yulaev control before the break.

The middle frame was goalless. Metallurg started with a swift attack that drew a penalty when Roman Kantserov was fouled. That led to two minutes play in front of Alexander Samonov’s net, but little real peril for the visiting goalie. At the other end, Ilya Nabokov was largely a spectator, although Alex Chmelevski dinged the piping on a power play.

Metallurg struggled to take its chances: Vladimir Tkachyov was a constant threat, but his lively performance could not lead his team back into the game. It wasn’t until midway through the third that the host scored again. By the time Luke Johnson found the net, though, Salavat already had a fourth goal thanks to Ilya Fedotov. And Fedotov had the final word with an empty-netter to wrap up a 5-2 verdict.

Barys falls to VHL opposition

Barys Astana 1 Magnitka (VHL) 2 (0-1, 0-0, 1-1)

This was the first sight of Barys under head coach Mikhail Kravets. The Kazakh team struggled last season and is hoping that bringing imports back into the fray can lift it up the standings.

However, today’s evidence suggested that there may be more work ahead if Barys is to improve on last season’s 23rd-place finish.

True, Metallurg’s farm-club was bolstered by some KHL experience – notably goalie Alexander Smolin and forward Andrei Kozlov, who was named captain. Barys, meanwhile, went without its imports for Tuesday’s game, while youngster Artyom Shestakov got the start in goal.

Magnitka made the better start and deservedly took the lead midway through the first period. Kozlov offered Andrei Razin food for thought with a well-taken goal as Metallurg’s head coach watched from the sidelines. Barys also had to kill a three-on-five situation late in the frame and mustered just two shots at Smolin through 20 minutes.

The game didn’t change much in the second period, although Smolin at last had something to do. Nonetheless, scoring chances were at a premium, even though Barys got a chance at a five-on-three power play, and the game remained locked at 1-0 until the closing stages.

Two minutes from the end, Matvei Galenyuk doubled the Magnitka lead. Barys tried to recover and pulled a goal back from Semyon Simonov in the last minute, but could not save the game.

Chelyabinsk Governor’s Cup

Traktor rallies from 0-3

Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 HC Sochi 4 (2-3, 2-1, 1-0)

Beaten 3-0 by Amur in the opening game, Traktor found itself down 0-3 to Sochi in the first period today. This time, though, the tournament host managed to recover and eventually took a 5-4 verdict.

Sochi, which lost 1-3 to Lada in its opening game, made a flying start. Power play goals from Timur Khafizov and Jean-Christophe Beaudin came either side of a Matvei Guskov tally as the Leopards looked to be in command after 15 minutes.

However, Traktor discovered its goal touch at last. Alexander Kadeikin got the home tem on the scoreboard at last on 16:16, then another power play saw Andrei Svetlakov make it 2-3 at the intermission.

Sochi responded with a fast start in the middle frame Beaudin combined with fellow newcomer Noel Hoefenmayer to set up Will Bitten. That made it 4-2 on 21:06.

But that was as good as it got. Traktor set about reeling in that lead and drew level by the end of the second period on goals from Stepan Gorbunov – in his first game for the club – and Jordan Gross.

With the game tied, the third period was tense. However, Traktor managed to break the deadlock on 58:35 when Semyon Der-Arguchintsev potted the winner via an awkward bounce off a Sochi player. 

Tigers top the table

Amur Khabarovsk 2 Lada Togliatti 1 OT (1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

After defeating Traktor in its opening game, Amur underlined its position at the top of the standings with an overtime win over Lada.

This game was a tight affair. The two teams traded goals in the first period: Andrei Obidin put Lada ahead, but it took barely a minute for Evgeny Svechnikov to tie the scores.

That proved to be the extent of the scoring in regulation. Lada’s offense thrived in the second stanza, but could not turn constant pressure into a go-ahead goal. It was 20-3 in shots, but 0-0 in goals during the session.

The third period was also scoreless, but crucially Lada ended the game on the PK. Amur could not convert the power play in regulation, but the teams had barely returned to equal strength before Matvei Zaseda potted the winner on 60:27. Zaseda is back at his hometown team and marked his debut with an assist and a decisive goal.

Puchkov Cup

Motormen roll over Ak Bars

Ak Bars Kazan 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 6 (0-2, 0-1, 1-3)

After beating SKA in overtime, Ak Bars had the chance to wrap up this year’s Puchkov Cup. However, Avtomobilist had very different ideas and powered to an emphatic win. Now the Motormen are in pole position to win it all if they can defeat SKA in tomorrow’s final action in St. Petersburg.

Kazan made big changes from the team that got past SKA in the opening game. In particular, this was a chance for some fringe players to state their case for a bigger role. Leading players like Alexander Barabanov, Kirill Semyonov, Mitch Miller, Dmitrij Jaskin, Mikhail Fisenko and Alexei Marchenko were all absent.

By contrast, Avto began the tournament with a strong line-up. Curtis Valk, Brooks Macek, Alexei Byvaltsev, Nikita Tryamkin and Stephane da Costa were just some of the leaders involved.

Reid Boucher, the highest-profile signing of the summer, was another. In his first game, the American had 3 (2+1) points in a 3-0 win over Salavat Yulaev. Today, he was unable to add to that tally. But his team-mates more than made up for his quiet performance.

Avtomobilist had a 2-0 lead inside nine minutes. Maxim Denezhkin and Kashtanov scored within 30 seconds to build a decisive advantage.

Roman Gorbunov, another new signing for Avto, contributed a hat-trick of assists. He was involved as Alexei Byvaltsev made it 3-0 in the second period, and again when Yaroslav Busygin found the net in the third. In between those tallies, da Costa was on target as the Motormen ran riot.

A Valk power play goal made it 6-0 before Ak Bars got a late consolation from Timofei Zhulin. However, this was very much Avtomobilist’s evening.