Flying start for Dragons, Nikitin returns with big win

Saturday saw the new-look Shanghai Dragons play their first competitive game. Gerard Gallant’s team claimed an entertaining 7-4 win over SKA in front of more than 15,000 people. CSKA also enjoyed a big victory, thumping Dynamo 6-2 in Moscow as Igor Nikitin began his second spell with the club in style. Metallurg edged a shoot-out win over Ak Bars, and Torpedo took a 4-3 verdict against Salavat Yulaev in Alexei Isakov’s first game as a KHL coach.

Iskhakov sees Magnitka edge tight verdict

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Ak Bars Kazan 3 SO (1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 0-0, 1-0)

A Ruslan Iskhakov penalty shot settled this clash of two Eastern Conference big guns after an absorbing 3-3 tie in the teams’ opening game.

Metallurg went with the roster that finished the Romazan Memorial, which meant no place for last season’s captain Yegor Yakovlev, nor summer signing Derek Barach. Ak Bars included Grigory Denisenko on his return to the KHL despite his lack of pre-season action. He joined a line with Dmitrij Jaskin and fellow newbie Brandon Biro, but defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk has to wait for his debut.

The home team made the better start, with Sergei Tolchinsky close to a debut goal in the opening seconds. Timur Bilyalov saved Ak Bars on that occasion, but the home team continued to impress. The pressure brought an opening goal from Alexei Maklyukov just before the intermission. The newly-appointed captain timed his rush to the back door perfectly to put away the rebound from Dmitry Silantyev’s shot.

The second period began with Metallurg extending that lead on a goal from Yegor Korobkin before Ak Bars began its fightback. A short-handed tally from Mikhail Fisenko reduced the arrears against his hometown team. Fisenko’s productive debut continued at the start of the third with an assist as Mitch Miller tied the game.

Magnitka’s power play had come up short on its first three attempts, but #4 saw Alexander Petunin redirect a Robin Press shot beyond Bilyalov to make it 3-2 after 44 minutes. But this time the lead was short-lived: young Alexander Siryatsky’s error gifted Alexei Pustozyorov a goal.

That was the end of the scoring, despite plenty of enterprising play in overtime. In the end, it went to a shoot-out before Iskhakov gave Metallurg the verdict. 

Demolition derby for CSKA

CSKA Moscow 6 Dynamo Moscow 2 (3-1, 1-0, 2-1)

The second Igor Nikitin era at CSKA got off to a flying start. The Muscovites thumped city rival Dynamo 6-2, and saw summer signing Daniel Sprong pot a debut goal while fellow newcomer Rhett Gardner had two assists.

It’s a new-look CSKA this season. The top line – Nikolai Kovalenko, Denis Zernov and Dmitry Buchelnikov – is all new, goalie Spencer Martin took his bow and Jeremy Roy lined up alongside Nikita Okhotyuk in the second defensive pair.

Dynamo, too, had new faces: former CSKA men Maxim Mamin and Fredrik Claesson made a quick return to their former club, with Magomed Sharakanov back in Blue-and-White after a loan spell at Lada. Devin Brosseau also made his competitive debut for Alexei Kudashov’s men.

The home team seized the early initiative. A power play in the sixth minute led to the opening goal in the eighth, albeit Pavel Karnaukhov’s effort was one second after Dynamo got back to full strength. Dylan Sikura, who took the early penalty, atoned with an assist as Nikita Gusev quickly tied the game, but CSKA remained on top. Kirill Dolzhenkov restored the lead before Denis Guryanov added another power play goal to make it 3-1 at the first intermission. Roy and Gardner’s assists brought their first points for their new club.

At the start of the second period, Dynamo had a great chance to get back in the game when Vitaly Abramov took a double minor. However, CSKA’s PK worked hard, blocked shots and protected Martin’s net. A further Dynamo PP came and went, but the only scoring in the middle frame saw Sprong become the first Dutch player to score in the KHL.

Kudashov tried to reshuffle Dynamo’s forwards in search of a way back into the game. There was some success when Kirill Adamchuk fired home from the blue line midway through the third period, but CSKA was not going to let the lead slip. The closing stages saw Ivan Drozdov add a fifth before Abramov’s empty-netter completed the rout. 

Isakov celebrates first victory

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 (1-0, 1-2, 2-1)

Opening night for these teams was a step into the unknown. Torpedo had new head coach Alexei Isakov in his first game in the KHL, while Salavat Yulaev’s enforced exodus of star players left Viktor Kozlov with an unfamiliar roster.

It ended with Isakov celebrating his first victory – and relieving some of the pressure that built up during a long winless streak in pre-season. But Ufa had some reasons for optimism after rallying from 0-2 to lead before falling late in the game.

The first period was evenly matched, but the only goal went to Torpedo. Vladislav Firstov was first to react to a rebound following Bogdan Konyushkov’s point shot.

In the 27th minute, Torpedo increased its lead on Vasily Atanasov’s goal: Alexei Kruchinin, back at the club after a year with Severstal, circled back to the blue line and drilled the puck to the slot, where Atanasov steered it past Alexander Samonov.

But late in the frame, Salavat hit back. Two goals in 40 seconds saw 24-year-old defenseman Ildan Gazimov pot only his third marker in the KHL before Maxim Kuznetsov tied the scores.

Kuznetsov was involved as Ufa got ahead in the third period. His hit in center ice saw Maxim Zorkin win possession before advancing down the left to set up Danil Alalykin to make it 3-2. However, Torpedo found a swift response. First Kruchinin tied the scores in the 50th minute, then Yegor Vinogradov launched a counter-attack that saw Nikita Shavin fire home the game-winning goal.

Popugayev, Quinney pot two apiece

Shanghai Dragons 7 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (2-2, 4-1, 1-1)

New name, new home ... and new hope? Shanghai Dragons, previously known as Kunlun Red Star, began life with an impressive victory over SKA. With more than 15,000 spectators in SKA Arena, the venue for Shanghai’s games this season as the club works towards relocating to China, this was a franchise record crowd and they saw an entertaining, high-scoring victory for Gerard Gallant’s team.

However, for the first ever Petersburg derby in the KHL, many of those fans were likely to be looking closely at Igor Larionov’s first game as SKA head coach. Initially, the Professor was giving out lessons: SKA opened the scoring after four minutes through Valentin Zykov on the first power play of the game. It was back in front in the eighth minute thanks to Mikhail Vorobyov. In between, the Dragons tied the game thanks to a goal from Parker Foo: Shanghai’s first goal in the new era scored by one of the players who remains from last year’s KRS line-up.

Subsequently, the scoring was all about newcomers. Nikita Popugayev, previously with Lada, put the Dragons level before the first intermission but SKA got its third lead of the game thanks to Nikolai Goldobin. The former Spartak man, claimed off waivers last month, struck on the power play to make it 3-2 at the start of the middle frame.

Then Shanghai clicked into gear. Four unanswered goals in the second period took the game away from SKA. Gage Quinney tied the scores, then Popugayev and Borna Rendulic scored twice in 25 seconds to give the Dragons a two-goal cushion. Rendulic was starved of game time at SKA last season, and the Croatian forward enjoyed a two-point game here. Another 58 seconds elapsed and Max Ellis made it 6-3, chasing Sergei Ivanov from the net in favor of Artemy Pleshkov.

The incoming goalie went unbeaten, but SKA could only find one goal in reply. American forward Rocco Grimaldi, top scorer at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, got his first in the KHL but the Dragons would not let their lead slip. And Quinney had the final say with an empty-net goal to seal an emphatic win.