Kvartalnov celebrates 600 wins, Lokomotiv bounces back.October 6 round-up

Dinamo Minsk’s 4-1 win over Traktor marked Vadim Shipachyov’s 900th KHL game, and head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov’s 600th victory. The Belarusians stay third in the West, behind Lokomotiv after the defending champion beat SKA 4-2 and bounced back from its disappointment in Omsk. Avangard could not build on that win over the Railwaymen, falling 1-4 at home to Avtomobilist.

Avtomobilist keeps on winning

Avangard Omsk 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 (1-1, 0-2, 0-1)

The Motormen rolled to a fourth successive victory and moves just one point behind Avangard in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks ended a strong home stand in disappointment, failing to build on an early goal.



The home team could not call on Pavel Leuka, a goalscorer against Lokomotiv last time, after he picked up an injury. However, Avangard welcomed back defenseman Joseph Cecconi after suspension. Avtomobilist was unchanged after winning at Neftekhimik two days earlier.

The host made a fast start, testing Vladimir Galkin early in the game. It didn’t take long to win a penalty, and Andrew Poturalski’s feed set up Nikolai Prokhorkin for the fourth-minute opener. After the goal, Avangard continued to dominate and looked quicker than the visitor all over the ice. Mikhail Kotlyarevsky was close to a second goal after more good work from Prokhorkin.

But as the game progressed, Avtomobilist got stronger and Nikita Serebryakov found himself with work to do in the home net. In the 14th minute Stepan Khirpunov tied the score thanks to some good work on the slot, but Avangard finished the opening frame with good chances for Igor Martynov and Alexander Volkov.

The game opened up in the middle frame. Dmitry Rashevsky and Roman Gorbunov traded chances as the teams rarely lingered in center ice. But once Avangard began to build the pressure on the Avtomobilist net, it fell victim to a slick counterattack when Gorbunov beat Serebryakov. Reid Boucher missed a glorious chance to score on his former club, but a minute before the intermission Alexander Sharov scored on the power play with a redirect on Jesse Blacker’s shot.

Avangard began the third period on the power play and spent two minutes pressing for a goal. However, Max Lajoie’s effort against the post was as close as the Hawks came. Back at equal strength, the hosts continued to lay siege to Galkin’s net but Avtomobilist’s defense was almost flawless. The home team’s hopes were hit by two penalties in the closing minutes and Boucher had the final word with an empty-net goal to seal the visitor’s win.
 

SKA rallies from 0-2, then allows two more

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 SKA St. Petersburg 2 (1-0, 1-0, 2-2)

Returning from Omsk after a heavy 1-4 loss, Lokomotiv head coach Bob Hartley refrained from widespread changes to his team. He contented himself with swapping Alexander Volkov and Denis Alexeyev. Ignat Lutfullin and Nikita Nedopyokin got their first call-ups for SKA, featuring on the fourth line, while Nikolai Goldobin was scratched. Yegor Zavragin shrugged off an injury in the warm-up to take to the ice.



The visitor started well. In the first shift it took a big intervention from Andrei Sergeyev to deny Valentin Zykov an opening goal. After the first cycle on shifts, the visitor went close again but Daniil Isayev saved his team. In response, Maxim Shalunov found the net when he responded brilliantly to a rebound off Zavragin to give Loko the lead. Once in front, the home team was unable to build on its lead. Penalties disrupted the game, but SKA could not take advantage.

It was a similar story in the second period. SKA again did most of the attacking, Isayev kept the visitor at bay. Then came the sucker punch in the 29th minute when Alexander Radulov scored from Lokomotiv’s first shot on target in the frame.

At the start of the third, Nikita Dishkovsky pulled a goal back with Lutfullin getting his first point in the KHL. Lokomotiv then failed with two power plays in a row. Midway through the session Sergei Plotnikov’s rough hit on Sergeyev saw both players leave the game: the SKA captain was ejected, the Loko defenseman injured. Lokomotiv could not capitalize on the major penalty and towards the end of the powerplay the home team was penalized. That helped Zykov tie the game on SKA’s PP in on 56:45.

Thoughts turned to overtime, but Loko had other ideas. Shalunov got his second of the night, then Martin Gernat had the final word with an empty net goal to condemn SKA to a fourth straight loss.
 

600 wins for Kvartalnov

Dinamo Minsk 4 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (1-1, 3-0, 0-0)

Like SKA, Traktor also suffered a fourth straight defeat. Dinamo, meanwhile, bounced back from defeat against Severstal to maintain its push towards the top of the Western Conference. Today’s win makes it 600 victories in the KHL for head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov.



One problem for Traktor has been slow starts: in eight out of 13 games to date, Benoit Groulx’s team has allowed the first goal. That happened again today, when Daniil Sotishvili was left unguarded on the slot to beat Chris Driedger. This time, the visitor responded fast and a power play saw Jordan Gross mark his return to Minsk with a point shot that Pierrick Dube tipped into the net. Kvartalnov claimed interference on his goalie Zach Fucale, a former Traktor man, but merely got a delay of game minor for his pains.

Vadim Shipachyov, playing his 900th KHL game, took that first penalty. He was back in the box later in the first period, but Traktor could not convert that chance.

Dinamo had a power play that straddled the second intermission, but could not regain the lead until Traktor returned to full strength. Then Vitaly Pinchuk’s long-range effort surprised Driedger to make it 2-1. That seemed to deflate the visitor and there were two more home markers in the middle frame. Michael Dal Colle, playing only his third game of the season, opened his account for Dinamo when he steered home a great pass from Ilya Usov, then Pinchuk got his second while Sergei Telegin sat out a penalty.

In recent games, despite ultimately losing, Traktor pulled off huge fightbacks to salvage a tie. That persuaded Dinamo not to risk sitting on its lead. It wasn’t until the closing stages that the visitor managed to gain significant momentum, and Groulx called Driedger to the bench with six to play. However, he had to return when Gross was assessed a tripping minor and the Belarusians closed out the win.