Hawks hunt down Hartley, Metallurg beats CSKA again

Avangard enjoyed a 4-1 win over Lokomotiv, defeating Bob Hartley on his KHL return to Omsk. Friday’s other big game saw Metallurg win 3-1 at CSKA, with Andrei Razin’s team defeating Igor Nikitin’s for the second time this season. SKA suffered a loss at Spartak by the same scoreline, Ak Bars thumped Amur 5-1 and Severstal won an entertaining game at Torpedo 5-3. Admiral’s 5-4 success at Sochi ended a four-game skid.

No happy return for Hartley

Avangard Omsk 4 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (1-0, 2-1, 1-0)

Bob Hartley returned to Omsk with his new club, Lokomotiv, but suffered a heavy loss in the battle between the two conference leaders.
It was a game likely to bring goals, with the two teams leading the league in scoring this term. Avangard made a couple of changes: Mikhail Gulyayev returned on defense in place of the suspended Joseph Cecconi while Pavel Leuka centered the fourth line. Lokomotiv recalled Daniil Isayev in goal but was otherwise unchanged from the 5-1 win over Barys.



In the early stages the teams grappled with one another in search of some momentum. The game was hard-fought, but neither Isayev nor Nikita Serebryakov were overworked. Richard Panik had Loko’s best half-chance but could not get away from his marker. At the other end, Nikolai Prokhorkin tested Isayev with an angled shot but could not find a way through. Later, Dmitry Rashevsky had a great chance but could not beat the goalie from close range.

However, Rashevsky broke the deadlock in the 14th minute. Prokhorkin and Mikhail Kotlyarevsky won several puck battles behind the net before the play moved to the slot and Rashevsky steered it home off Isayev’s shoulder. The goal sparked Loko’s offense into action and Serebryakov had work to do, while at the other end Andrew Poturalski had a chance to increase the lead but could not beat Isayev when clear on goal.

Early in the second, Lokomotiv seized the initiative and began to generate scoring chances. Alexander Volkov, Yegor Surin and Nikita Kiryanov all went close as Avangard was forced onto the defensive. The home team had a chance to change the pattern of play when it got on the PP, but the Hawks failed to capitalize and when the teams were back at full strength Martin Gernat found himself in unfamiliar territory on the opposition slot to stuff home a rebound from Nikita Cherepanov’s shot. Shortly after, the Slovak defenseman again found himself in space in front of goal but this time Serebryakov made the save.

A few shifts later, Avangard regained the lead. Leuka battled on the slot, took a step back to control the puck and lifted it into the net for his first of the season. Hartley tried to challenge the play, citing goaltender interference, but the review confirmed that it was a good goal and Loko was left shorthanded. That saw Avangard extend its lead on the power play thanks to Vasily Ponomaryov.

Late in the middle frame, Maxim Beryozkin wasted a great chance to cut the deficit. Team-mate Alexander Radulov took that one badly, and his volley of invective from the bench saw him ejected from the game for unsporting conduct. Panik picked up a penalty on the hooter, giving Avangard a power play to start the third period.

It took just 47 seconds to turn that into a fourth goal. Loko defended in depth, but Prokhorkin made the decisive contact with a rebound to beat Isayev. That effectively killed the game: Lokomotiv did not create a meaningful chance until the 12th minute of the session, but Serebryakov denied Volkov. The home team calmly closed out the rest of the game to record a third straight win.

SKA stumbles again in Moscow

Spartak Moscow 3 SKA St. Petersburg 1 (0-0, 2-1, 1-0)

SKA fell to a third straight defeat as Nikolai Goldobin suffered an unhappy return to Spartak. The forward, who was a leading scorer for the Red-and-Whites over the past couple of seasons, again played on the third line for SKA while Igor Larionov reshuffled his defensive pairings in search of greater solidity at the back.



Spartak brough Nathan Todd back into the team and handed Danil Pivchulin, impressive in the VHL with Khimik, his first appearance of the season.
The game got off to a lively start with plenty of energy. However, not much of it was directed into attacking hockey, and the first big incident brought a clash between Joey Keane and visiting forward Joseph Blandisi. SKA could make little of that power play and back at full strength, Spartak kept the opposition penned into its own zone until it was forced to ice the puck. Alexander Pashin had a great chance at one end, then Valentin Zykov hit the Spartak post at the other.

The first period ended goalless, and early in the second Goldobin had a great chance to open the scoring. However, his attempted one-timer bobbled off his stick and failed to trouble Artyom Zagidulin. Not long after, Zykov got a reward for his good work in the first period, steering Marat Khairullin’s pass into the net after holding off the attentions of a defenseman.

Spartak responded late in the middle frame, turning the game around with two goals in 50 seconds. Alexander Belyayev and Pavel Poryadin, the main driver of the home offense all night, sent the home team into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Goldobin sat a penalty early in the third but Spartak could not take advantage until it got a five-on-three advantage in the 45th minute. Nikita Korostelyov’s one-timer gave the Muscovites some breathing space. The game ended with something of a whimper for the visitor as more penalty trouble snuffed out any hope of a fightback. 

Jaskin double leads Ak Bars over Amur

Ak Bars Kazan 5 Amur Khabarovsk 1 (2-1, 0-0, 3-0)

After two wins from three on the road, Ak Bars returned home to claim a confident win over Amur. Despite falling behind early on, the host was rarely troubled and two goals from Dmitrij Jaskin led the way to a 5-1 verdict.



Jaskin celebrated his return to the top line with the go-ahead goal after 13 minutes and extended the lead at the start of the third period. Amur welcomed Yaroslav Likhachyov back to the club on loan from Lokomotiv and he slotted into the visitor’s first line. Defenseman Cam Lee was among the scratches for today’s roster.

This season, Ak Bars has struggled early in games. Today was the same story: Kiril Slepets put Amur in front with his team’s first shot of the night on 1:28. That drew a spirited response, and even after Stepan Falkovsky’s foul left the home team shorthanded, the pressure continued. Ivan Safonov scored following Nikita Lyamkin’s drive from the blue line to tie the game at 1-1.

Despite that, Amur was well in the game until a goaltending error gifted Ak Bars the lead. Maxim Dorozhko attempted a careless clearance and presented the puck to Jaskin who took full advantage. That gave the home team the lead at the first intermission for only the second time this season.

The middle frame was goalless, but Ak Bars clearly seized the initiative: a shot count of 18-4 tells the story eloquently enough.

And the first shot of the third period saw Jaskin extend the lead when he was given too much time and space in front of Dorozhko’s net. Brandon Biro soon made it 4-1, and Grigory Denisenko completed the scoring in the 53rd minute.
 

Attacking intent pays off for Severstal

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Severstal Cherepovets 5 (1-1, 0-3, 2-1)

Severstal climbs to fifth in the Western Conference with a high-scoring win at Torpedo. The visitor had to withstand a third-period fightback from the home team before sealing the verdict with an empty net goal.



From the start, the visitor tried to stamp its authority on the game, looking to shoot at any opportunity. Torpedo was ready for that and responded with some big hits, as well as getting some great chances for counterattacks. The teams traded goals inside eight minutes, with Alexander Skorenov putting Severstal in front before Alexei Kruchinin tied it up.

While the first period was an end-to-end battle, the second saw Severstal take control. Kirill Pilipenko restored the Lynx lead early in the session and the visitor assumed more possession of the puck and troubled Ivan Kulbakov with increasing frequency. In the 29th minute, Grigory Vashchenko took advantage of heavy traffic in front of the goalie to find the net with a point shot. And as the interval approached, Mikhail Ilyin’s power play goal made it 4-1.

Torpedo got back into the game in the 45th minute. Severstal’s first penalty of the night led almost immediately to a power play goal for Maxim Letunov on the rebound from a Yegor Sokolov effort. The home teams reverted to three-line hockey and enjoyed plenty of possession and territory without generating much of a goal threat.

When Kulbakov left his post with 150 seconds to play, Torpedo grabbed a lifeline. Sergei Goncharuk made it a one-goal game with a deft touch on Bobby Nardella’s shot. There were 70 seconds left to play, but instead of a tying goal the home team was hit by Ivan Podshivalov’s empty-netter to settle the outcome.

Sailors halt slide

HC Sochi 4 Admiral Vladivostok 5 (1-2, 1-2, 2-1)

A nine-goal thriller saw Admiral end a four-game skid in Sochi as the home team came up short despite a couple of late markers.



After scoring just once in the previous two games, the Sailors had two in the first period here. Arkady Shestakov opened the scoring midway through the session, and two minutes later Semyon Koshelev doubled the advantage. Sochi replaced starting goalie Pavel Khomchenko with young Alexei Shchetilin and responded through Matvei Guskov but still trailed at the intermission.

The visitor remained on top in the second period. Daniil Gutik and Kyle Olsen were on target either side of Denis Vengryzhanovsky’s power play goal and it was 4-2 at the second break.

Nikita Tertyshny, making his Admiral debut after his arrival from Torpedo, celebrated his first action of the season with a goal at the start of the third. A 5-2 lead looked very secure, but Sochi refused to roll over. A five-on-three power play helped Sergei Popov make it 3-5 in the 46th minute, and a couple of minutes after that Guskov’s second of the night put the result back in the balance.

Admiral could have eased its passage in the closing stages but for a good save from Shchetilin. At the other end, Sochi’s pressure could not find a tying goal as the clock ran out on the Leopards’ hopes. 

Magnitka beats CSKA again

CSKA Moscow 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (0-0, 1-1, 0-2)

The second meeting of these teams this season went to Metallurg – but this was a tighter encounter than the 5-4 goal fest we saw in Magnitogorsk. The result gave Magnitka a third win in four games, while CSKA’s stop-start run continues.



The home team made changes for this one, recalling defenseman Vladislav Yeryomenko and giving Dmitry Gamzin the start in goal. Metallurg brought back Swedish blue liner Robin Press and former CSKA forward Ruslan Iskhakov.

Although the first period was goalless, the play was fast and aggressive. Metallurg had several early chances but Gamzin did well to keep his goal intact. Later, Ilya Nabokov faced similar pressure.

Early in the second, with the teams playing four-on-four, Isakhov respected the law of the ex and duly opened the scoring on his former colleagues. He carried the puck down half the rink to force it past Gamzin. That stung CSKA into life and it wasn’t long before Pavel Karnaukhov tied it up with alert reactions around Nabokov’s net.

Metallurg struggled with its power play at times in this game, but got it right early in the third when Dmitry Silantyev’s deflected shot found the net. That stretched his productive streak to an impressive 15 (7+8) points from nine games. Vladimir Tkachyov helper made it six games with an assist from him.
After that the play was even, and there were few stoppages. One of those, however, saw referee Alexander Dudarov fall and limp from the ice. Metallurg sealed the game with an empty net goal from Nikita Korotkov to make the final score 3-1.