Avtomobilist runs down Ak Bars, CSKA edges Admiral

Four unanswered goals in the second period in Kazan saw Avtomobilist power to a 6-3 victory over Ak Bars. Roman Gorbunov led the scoring with two goals. In Moscow, Spencer Martin’s first KHL shut-out backstopped a 1-0 win for CSKA over Admiral. 

Guryanov goal, Martin shut-out give CSKA the edge

CSKA Moscow 1 Admiral Vladivostok 0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0)

A solitary Denis Guryanov goal separated the teams in Moscow, with Spencer Martin securing his first KHL shut-out in only his second appearance in the league.

Both teams came into this game with one win. Admiral edged a shoot-out verdict over Shanghai Dragons on Monday, while CSKA enjoyed a derby demolition of Dynamo on Saturday.

There were opportunities at both ends in the first period. Admiral will point to a five-on-three power play as its best chance to make a breakthrough, but CSKA held on. Then, at the other end, a power play goal from Denis Guryanov gave the home team the lead. It wasn’t a typical power play goal: Guryanov got possession in his own zone and skated the length of the ice, overcoming two defensemen along the way, to beat Adam Huska through the fivehole.

The second period started with both teams struggling to create chances. Indeed, midway through the session Admiral had managed the only shot on goal in the session. But in the latter half of the frame, CSKA picked up the pace. By the intermission, the shot count was 10-2 in the home team’s favor, but the score remained 1-0.

Early in the third, Admiral got on the power play and took the chance to put pressure on Martin in the CSKA net. Captain Libor Sulak twice unleashed his powerful shot, but neither attempt was on target. Just after Kirill Dolzhenkov returned to the game, Martin made a good save to deny Muranov.

However, the Sailors’ efforts to put sustained pressure on CSKA were undermined in the 54th minute when Mario Grman took a minor penalty. The Muscovites were unable to get the second goal that would surely have killed the contest, but ate into the time available for Admiral to save itself.

And once back at equal strength, the visitor could not seriously test CSKA in the closing stages. An inviting cross-ice feed from Grman went just beyond any team-mate at the back door, while Huska was unable to leave his net until the game was into the last minute. Igor Nikitin saw his team hold on to maintain its perfect start to the season.

Middle-frame blitz blows Ak Bars away

Ak Bars Kazan 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 6 (1-2, 0-4, 2-0)

There was optimism in Kazan ahead of this season’s home opener. Two tricky road games in Magnitogorsk and Omsk had brought three points from a potential four while Wednesday’s visitor, Avtomobilist, suffered defeat at Lada in its only game.

However, a chastening second period at the Tatneft Arena set the Tatars on the way to a heavy loss, with Reid Boucher potting his first goal for his new club after arriving in the summer from Avangard. 

There was little sign of the impending Ak Bars collapse at the start of the game. The home team settled first and opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Vladimir Alistrov, who came to Kazan on a try-out contract after parting company with SKA, was the architect as he dragged a backhand shot from a dead angle and found the slot. Kirill Semyonov was the beneficiary, firing home from close range.

The home team had more chances, but Avtomobilist tied the scores in the 12th minute through Artyom Kashtanov. After that, the Motormen began to take a bigger part of the play and soon Roman Gorbunov put them 2-1 up. He picked up the rebound from a powerful Maxim Osipov point shot and scored from between the hash marks.

Ak Bars called a time-out and steadied things in the run-up to the intermission. There was no further scoring before the break, but in the 19th minute defensemen Ilya Karpukhin and Nikita Tryamkin picked up major penalties for fighting.

It remained 2-1 until the 28-minute mark, when Boucher found the net. It started with Nikita Lyamkin attempting a lacrosse goal in search of the equalizer, but ended with Boucher overpowering Mitch Miller on the Avto blue line and surging away to beat Timur Bilyalov on the counterattack.

That triggered a home collapse. A flurry of penalties gave Avto a four-on-three power play and Stephane da Costa took advantage to make it 4-1 on 30:08. Anvar Gatiyatulin responded by sending Mikhail Berdin into the game in place of Bilyalov, but the newcomer was beaten almost immediately by Maxim Denezhkin.

Another fight followed immediately, with Gorbunov and Alexander Barabanov trading blows and major penalties. The rest did Gorbunov no harm: after he returned to the game, he scored his second of the night nine seconds before the intermission. Ironically, his goal came right after his earlier antagonist, Barabanov, hit the post at the other end.

Avtomobilist had four goals from eight shots in the second period, taking the game away from the host. And although Ak Bars made a strong start to the final frame, a five-goal deficit always looked far too much.

The host had a brave attempt at it, and pulled one back in the 45th minute. Grigory Denisenko added to his debut goal with an assist here as his shot bounced off Dmitry Jaskin and into the net. Shortly after, Evgeny Alikin made a smart save to deny Alistrov and the pressure brought a couple of home power plays.

However, even on the PK Avtomobilist generated offense, with Denezhkin close to a short-handed goal. And once the Motormen had killed those penalties a visibly deflated Ak Bars found itself on the PK. Ilya Safonov and Daniil Karpovich took fighting majors, but Mikhail Fisenko joined Safonov in the home box after he was assessed a tripping minor.

Despite the Avtomobilist power play, Ak Bars found a consolation goal from Miller 10 seconds after Fisenko’s return to the game. But that was the end of the scoring as clinical finishing delivered the win for the Motormen.