Loko moves clear, Dragons halt skid

Defending champion Lokomotiv moved one point clear of Metallurg at the top of the KHL’s overall standings after battling to a 3-2 OT win over Avtomobilist. Shanghai Dragons made it two victories in three with a 4-1 success at struggling Lada; the home team suffered its seventh loss in a row. And Dinamo Minsk jumped to third in the Western Conference with a 4-2 verdict over Severstal.

Gallant’s Dragons climb to fourth

Lada Togliatti 1 Shanghai Dragons 4 (0-2, 0-1, 1-1)

Shanghai handed Lada a seventh successive loss as the Motormen’s early-season rebuild continues to make slow progress. Recently-appointed head coach Pavel Desyatkov handed a debut to experienced defenseman Viktor Antipin for the visit of a Dragons roster that has taken just one win from its last four games. The visitor made two changes to its roster, with Andrei Kareyev starting in goal and Alexander Burmistrov joining the fourth line.



Recent games have seen Lada allow early goals and the host continued that unhappy tradition in the second minute here. Nick Merkley’s opener wasn’t immediately spotted by the officials, but a review confirmed that the play was good and, for the fourth time in a row, Lada was down in the first 120 seconds. Another 40 seconds passed and Shanghai scored again with Adam Clendening’s point shot chasing Alexander Trushkov from the net in favor of Maxim Tretiak. The Motormen’s problems weren’t helped by disciplinary issues: both those early goals came on the power play.

After that disastrous start, Lada improved as the first period went on, and the home team also looked lively at the start of the second. Kareyev was regularly called into action, but he and his team-mates kept the goal intact. Gradually, the attacking balance shifted and the Dragons began to take the initiative. Another Lada penalty brought another power play goal for Shanghai, with Gage Quinnie needing just 10 seconds to punish Danil Bashkirov’s high stick.

In the third period, Desyatkov’s team was often forced to rely on counter-attacks as the Dragons shut down the game. But Lada at least managed to grab a goal back in the 54th minute when a rare spell of extended pressure saw Andrei Chivilyov on target. A hopeful attempt to save the game by calling Tretiak to the bench in the 57th minute ended in failure: Spencer Foo’s empty-net goal made the final score 4-1.  

Five out five for Hartley’s Loko

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 OT (0-0, 1-0, 1-2, 1-0)

Bob Hartley’s team recorded a fifth successive victory to move to the top of the overall KHL standings on 15 points. But today’s win over Avtomobilist was a hard-fought affair against a side that had suffered back-to-back disappointments against Neftekhimik in its last two outings.



In response to those losses, Nikolai Zavarukhin gave Vladimir Galkin the start in the hope that he would produce another of his trademark strong performances in Yaroslavl. The top line of Roman Gorbunov, Alexei Byvaltsev and Stepan Khripunov also had an influential game.

Lokomotiv had the better of the goalless first period. Avtomobilist clearly arrived with a cautious gameplan and the visitor primarily played on the counter. Loko grabbed the initiative from the start, helped by an early power play. Galkin made several big saves, while at the other end Daniil Isayev was largely a spectator unlike a Lokomotiv penalty late in the frame.

If a strong first period went unrewarded, the home team got it right early in the second through Alexander Radulov’s latest goal. But there was plenty more to enjoy. For long spells Lokomotiv was unable to deploy its usual attacking play, while Avtomobilist pushed the home team onto the back, moving ahead in shots and time on attack. That led to penalty trouble, with Daniil Misyul alone picking up four minutes.

After the intermission, Avtomobilist found a way back into the game. At the start of the third period, the visitor won possession in the Loko zone, got the puck to the slot and saw Byvaltsev tie the game. The Railwaymen responded with another goal from the top line as Yegor Surin scored for the seventh time this season. But the youngster’s penalty in the closing stages brought the Motormen back into the game: this time, Gorbunov got the goal after he came into the game in place of Galkin to force a six-on-four advantage.

Both teams had chances in the final minutes, but the game was destined for overtime. In the extras, Martin Gernat potted the winner for the defending champion.
 

Bison go third in the West

Dinamo Minsk 4 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (0-1, 3-1, 1-0)

These are exciting times in Belarus. Dinamo Minsk enjoyed its best-ever KHL season last term, and is now up to third in the Western Conference this term. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team recorded a third straight win, downing Severstal thanks largely to a strong second-period performance.



This was the third game of a long road trip for Severstal. It began in Novosibirsk with a win over Sibir, then took in a defeat at Lokomotiv before arriving in Minsk.

Although the game got off to a slow start, Severstal managed to get a foothold in the game. The visitor had the first power play of the night, and opened the scoring soon after the teams returned to equal strength. Kirill Tankov was the scorer, neatly getting away from two opponents and shooting high. At first, the officials didn’t see that the puck had found the back of the net, but a review soon confirmed that the Lynx had the lead. And, with Dinamo taking three penalties, the visitor also enjoyed more time on the attack through 20 minutes.

In the second period it was Severstal’s turn to play shorthanded, and the visitor had a tougher time when a man short. Technically, Rob Hamilton’s tying goal came at equal strength, but the defenseman scored just seconds after a too many men penalty had elapsed. Then Vadim Shipachyov scored an authentic power play goal within two minutes to give the home team the lead. Adding to the visitor’s woes, both penalties were rather soft.

Severstal got back on terms late in the frame when Yanni Kaldis scored on his former club, redirecting a Danil Aimurzin shot past Zach Fucale. However, Dinamo took a lead into the third when Shipachyov got his second on a counterattack less than a minute later.

Fucale was relieved early in the third when Ivan Poshivalov fired wide of his empty net: the home goalie had not recovered his ground after leaving the crease but failing to secure the puck. Much of the game was a battle between Severstal’s attempts to set up camp in Dinamo’s territory and the home team’s ability to break clear on the counter. Stanislav Galiyev might have put things beyond reach but ran out of space on his rush. However, the final blow came from in-form Vitaly Pinchuk, who scored into an empty net in the 59th minute.