CSKA, Dinamo Minsk to play in Moscow Cup final

Today’s Mayor of Moscow Cup action decided which teams would progress to Sunday’s gold-medal game. In the end, CSKA defeated Shanghai Dragons to top its group, and will face Dinamo Minsk, victors over Dynamo Moscow. Saturday also had some exhibition action in Yekaterinburg, where Pavel Datsyuk staged a festive All-Star game. There were warm-up wins for Admiral and Ak Bars.

Mayor of Moscow Cup

CSKA prospects lead team into final

CSKA Moscow 4 Shanghai Dragons 2 (2-0, 2-0, 0-2)

A 4-2 win over Shanghai saw CSKA into Sunday’s gold-medal game, where the Muscovites will face Dinamo Minsk.

Playing a second game in two days, Shanghai made several changes for Saturday’s action. CSKA enjoyed a day’s rest before this one, but Igor Nikitin still opted to reshuffle almost every combination and named a trio of youngsters on his fourth line.

And it was that youthful trio that opened the scoring. Kirill Dolzhenkov and Ivan Yanchenko battled for possession behind the net, Yanchenko set up Yaroslav Yapparov on the slot and his effort beat Andrei Kareyev in the Dragons net.

Shanghai responded with chances of its own, but fell further behind when CSKA converted its first power play. The 21-year-old Yanchenko added to his assist with a well-taken goal as he made a real impact. At the other end, Vladimir Kuznetsov went close for Shanghai but hit the post.

After the intermission, another CSKA power play saw Vitaly Abramov extend the lead. Then Denis Guryanov made it 4-0 before a fight involving Vladislav Provolnev and Doyle Somerby. The latter stepped in to back up a team-mate and won the fight.

There was another fight at the start of the third when Pavel Akolzin squared up to Prokhor Poltapov. Those scuffles reinvigorated the Dragons and they belatedly found the way to goal. Gage Quinney potted his third of the tournament before Ivan Chekhovich pulled a second back. Soon after, Reilly Sutter hit both posts but the fightback fell short. CSKA took the verdict; Shanghai faces Dynamo Moscow for bronze tomorrow.

Belarusians rally from 0-2

Dynamo Moscow 2 Dinamo Minsk 3 (1-0, 1-3, 0-0)

The Muscovites blew a 2-0 lead as the Belarusians reeled off back-to-back wins. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team will be in Sunday’s gold-medal game against CSKA, while Alexei Kudashov’s men face Shanghai Dragons for bronze.

That outcome seemed unlikely early in the second period. Dynamo Moscow survived an early penalty and got in front midway through the first period. Jordan Weal broke the deadlock, converting his team’s first power play of the night.

At the start of the second, Anton Slepyshev doubled the lead. However, Minsk hit back quickly through Vadim Moroz. And the game swung decisively in the Bison’s favor around the midway mark. Sam Anas tied it up before getting an assist as Vitaly Pinchuk made it 3-2 with a power play tally.

After that, passions rose and tempers flared. The remainder of the game saw frequent skirmishes, regular penalties for both teams ... but no more goals. Minsk held on to books its place in the gold-medal game at this year’s Mayor of Moscow Cup. 

Datsyuk celebrates at The Magic Game

Yekaterinburg hosted an All-Star exhibition game celebrating local hero Pavel Datsyuk. A host of stars joined the Triple Gold Club member.

On Datsyuk’s Team Red, we saw Alexander Ovechkin, Valery Kamensky, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vyacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Fedorov. The opposing Team White included KHL president Alexei Morozov, Sergei Mozyakin, Maxim Afinogenov and Sergei Shirokov. The Sibir captain wasn’t the only current KHLer to play: four leading players from Avtomobilist – Anatoly Golyshev, Stephane da Costa, Brooks Macek and birthday boy Nikita Tryamkin were all invited.

In keeping with the festive atmosphere, goalies Nikolai Khabibulin and Vasily Koshechkin had a hard time and the final score was 13-8 to Datysuk’s team. More importantly the game – and the associated online auction – raised much-needed funds for the “Children of Russia” charity, which supports treatment and rehabilitation for seriously ill kids.

Warm-up games

Admiral Vladivostok 6 Dinamo Molodechno (BLR) 4 (2-2, 3-1, 1-1)

Admiral is coming to the end of its camp in Belarus and Saturday saw the Sailors play the first of two warm-up games against local opposition. Leonids Tambijevs called all his most recent signings into today’s team: Alexander Daryin, Vladislav Leontyev, Ostap Safin and Maxim Maltsev all featured.

The game got off to a fast start, and it was 1-1 inside four minutes. Savely Olshansky gave Dinamo the lead but Alexander Shepelev soon tied it up. That was not the end of Admiral’s troubles, though: a five-on-three power play saw Dinamo back in front midway through the session, but Stepan Starkov tied the scores once more before the intermission.

The middle frame saw a quick power play goal from Georgy Solyannikov to put Admiral ahead for the first time. Olshansky’s second of the game made it 3-3, but the Sailors eased clear on markers from Kyle Olson and Semyon Koshelev. That two-goal lead proved decisive. The final frame was scoreless until the final minutes, when Mark Sheremeta pulled one back for Dinamo, only to see Yegor Petukhov wrap up the win with an empty-netter. Admiral’s next and final engagement of the summer comes on Tuesday against Neman Grodno.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 Ak Bars Kazan 5 (1-2, 2-1, 0-2)

The second summer meeting of these Tatar rivals brought a second victory for Ak Bars. Neftkhimik improved on the 1-4 loss it suffered on Aug. 14, but still fell to third-period goals from Dmitrij Jaskin and Brandon Biro.

Those efforts snapped a 3-3 tie in an entertaining game. At first, Ak Bars seemed to be in control. Mikhail Fisenko scored twice in the first 11 minutes to build a lead. Even after Evgeny Mityakin pulled one back in the first period, the visitor continued to dominate. Alexei Marchenko’s point shot made it 3-1 at the start of the second period and seemed to lead his team to a routine victory.

But Neftekhimik found a way back. Damir Zhafyarov recovered one goal immediately, then a power play tally from Jean-Sebastien Dea tied it up in the 26th minute.

It remained level until the final frame. By now, penalties were becoming a factor. Ak Bars remained firm on the PK, but midway through the session Jaskin profited from Artyom Galimov’s to restore the lead on the power play. Neftekhimik created a couple of chances to save the game, but Igor Grishin’s men could not find the net again and Biro’s empty-netter settled the outcome with 46 seconds to play.