Metallurg tops the standings, Avangard wins six in a row

An overtime verdict against Spartak saw Metallurg overtake Torpedo at the top of the overall KHL standings. Andrei Razin’s team celebrated a fifth successive win, but Avangard went one better with a sixth straight victory. The latest success came at SKA thanks to two goals in the last three minutes. Earlier in the day, CSKA edged a 5-4 thriller at Admiral.  

Fireworks in Vladivostok

Admiral Vladivostok 4 CSKA Moscow 5 (1-2, 1-1, 2-2)

After three straight losses, CSKA returned to form with a hard-fought win at Admiral. However, after conceding five or more goals in each of those defeats, allowing four more in Vladivostok will not entirely reassure head coach Igor Nikitin that things are moving in the right direction.



The Sailors had taken at least one point from the previous three games in this home stand, but lost in a shoot-out against Dynamo Moscow last time out.
The visitor wasted little time in getting ahead. Adam Huska lost sight of the puck, and Oleg Maistrenko quickly spotted the chance to pot his first ever KHL goal. Midway through the frame it was 2-0 as Kirill Dolzhenkov converted CSKA’s first power play of the game. However, Admiral was not outclassed in the opening stages and soon gave the scoreline a more realistic look when Pavel Shen led a breakaway and Stepan Starkov converted the rebound.

In the second period, Admiral managed to tie the game on a goal from Alexander Daryin. However, a couple of minutes later the home team gave CSKA too much space on the slot and Pavel Karnaukhov restored the lead. Leonids Timbijevs challenged the play, but his complaint was overruled and the Muscovites gained a power play. The Sailors killed the penalty and made things tough in the closing stages of the middle frame. Daniil Gutik was at the heart of much of the host’s best play but the chances he created went unfinished.

A Denis Guryanov goal at the start of the third period saw CSKA restore its two-goal lead. Once again, though, Admiral fought back to tie the game. A power play saw Tambijevs play six-on-four and Starkov scored his second of the night. Then Kyle Olson made it 4-4 a couple of minutes later. Almost immediately, Admiral got on the power play again and looked more than capable of going on to take control of the game.

However, the CSKA penalty kill kept the visitor level and later a power play saw Daniel Sprong produce a brilliant assist for Rhett Gardner to score from the slot. Admiral did not have time for another fightback and the visitor held on to take a nervous win. 

Magnitka moves to the top

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Spartak Moscow 2 OT (0-1, 1-0, 1-1, 1-0)

A fifth successive victory lifts Metallurg to 14 points and puts Andrei Razin’s team ahead of Torpedo at the top of the overall standings.



Razin made changes from the win over CSKA, giving Alexander Smolin the start in goal and resting Sergei Tolchinsky, Yegor Korobkin and Alexander Siryatky. Nikita Korotkov, Pavel Tyutnev and Valery Orekhov came into the team. Spartak selected Artyom Zagidulin as starting goalie, his first game for the Red-and-Whites against his hometown club.

He was treated to a lively welcome from his former team, with Metallurg finishing almost every attack with a shot on goal. However, Zagidulin answered those questions before the home defense gave away a soft goal. Danila Palivko’s misplaced pass went to Alexander Belyayev, who skated clear to beat Smolin. Midway through the session we saw a rare penalty for a face-off violation, but Metallurg was unable to take advantage and Spartak held its lead to the intermission.

The second stanza started with another big save from Zagidulin to deny Andrei Kozlov. Young Mikhail Fyodorov also played a big part for Magnitka. He created a chance that saw Daniil Vovchenko get the puck in the net, only for a long review to rule that the forward kicked it there.

But Fyodorov soon got his reward. The following shift saw him score a legitimate goal after Kozlov and Vovchenko combined to set him up. That sparked a further surge of home pressure, with Palivko hitting the post as Spartak struggled to get to the intermission at 1-1.

In the third, Metallurg almost handed Spartak another goal when Palivko lived dangerously again. Then Robin Press offered another gift that the Red-and-Whites failed to take. Instead, the home team got the go-ahead goal when Fyodorov set up Kozlov to make it 2-1.

Spartak saved itself with four minutes to play, Belyayev getting his second of the night to force overtime. Vladimir Tkachyov almost won it with a shot against the piping but the next attack saw Roman Kantserov set up the KHL’s current scoring leader Dmitry Silantyev for the winning goal.
 

Fightback falls short in Petersburg

SKA St. Petersburg 2 Avangard Omsk 4 (0-2, 1-0, 1-2)

Avangard blew a two-goal lead, but SKA was unable to finish the job and lost out to a pair of late goals.



Two in-form teams did battle in St. Petersburg. SKA had won its last four games, while Avangard was unbeaten in five. And the Hawks made the better start, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period.

The visitor got ahead after just 90 seconds when Andrew Poturalski steered home Marcel Ibragimov’s feed. That took Poturalski to 10 points in his first KHL season and midway through the frame he was close to adding a second goal.

Avangard did not have to wait long to get 2-0 up, though. Igor Larionov Jr took the first penalty of the game, and Vasily Ponomaryov doubled the lead in the 15th minute. The forward exchanged passes with Alexander Volkov before firing past Yegor Zavragin.

However, even as Avangard built that lead, SKA created dangerous moments for its former goalie Nikita Serebryakov. And, in the second period, the home team got back into the game when Brennan Menell scored on an odd-man rush. The defenseman made it four goals in five games when he converted Marat Khairullin’s set-up in the 27th minute.

After that, the Hawks had two power plays in quick succession midway through the frame, but SKA dug in to kill the penalties. It was 1-2 at the intermission, and the home team began the final stanza with nine seconds carried over on the power play.

Avangard returned to full strength, then killed another penalty before Matvei Korotky tied the game. Valentin Zykov’s assist moved him to 100 points in the KHL and the game’s momentum seemed to be moving in the host’s favor. Another SKA power play in the 56th minute offered Igor Larionov Sr’s team a great chance to complete the fightback, but Avangard survived … and went on to snatch a dramatic late verdict.

Semyon Chistyakov served the penalty and after he returned the visitor began to put pressure on the SKA net. It took just 30 seconds to force a breakthrough, and Chistyakov himself fired home the go-ahead goal with a wrist shot from the top of the right-hand circle.

Then Ivan Igumnov won possession on his own blue line added an empty-netter to put the game out of reach for SKA with five seconds left.