Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 Avangard Omsk 0 (2-0, 0-0, 1-0)
A hard-working defensive display helped Avtomobilist to a shut-out win over Avangard. The Motormen blocked 33 shots in the game, and goalie Vladimir Galkin made 35 saves as the Hawks made 92 attempts on the home net. However, there was no way through for the Siberians, and at the other end three goals from 17 shots on target gave Avto the verdict.
The home team had mixed news on the health front. Curtis Valk returned to action for his first league game of the season, but Alexander Sharov was absence due to illness. Avangard came into the game with two days’ extra rest and scratched experienced duo Nikolai Prokhorkin and Slava Voynov. Andrei Mishurov got the start in the visitor’s net.
When these teams met in Omsk four days ago, Avangard looked to play on the front foot while Avtomobilist relied on the counterpunch. The same scenario unfolded here, and the result proved similar as well. After soaking up the early pressure, the home team took advantage of slack play from the visitor. Danil Romantsev was the first beneficiary, opening the scoring on 12 minutes. Then a power play saw defenseman Jesse Blacker double that lead when he popped up at the other end of the ice to shoot through Mishurov’s five-hole.
There was another injury concern for the Ural team in the first period when Reid Boucher was forced to leave the ice. The American forward did not return to the game, and Avangard stepped up the pressure in the middle frame. The Hawks enjoyed some good spells in the home zone, but found Galkin in good form. Not even a five-on-three power play could shake the home team’s resolve: hard work in front of the net kept any scoring opportunities to a minimum. Vasily Ponomaryov was perhaps guilty of the most glaring misses, wasting one good chance at the end of the power play, then diverting a point shot onto the post.
Overall, the Avangard offense could not find a way through a resilient home defense. Guy Boucher called Mishurov to the bench with 4:36 on the clock, but the six-man Hawks were too easy to read and Maxim Denezhin put his team’s first shot of the final frame into the empty net to secure a sixth successive victory.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (0-1, 2-0,2-0)
Evgeny Kuznetsov made his first appearance of the season. After leaving SKA in the summer, the hugely-experienced forward took his time to decide on his next move but signed a deal with Metallurg last week.
Today he made his debut for the Steelmen and claimed an assist in a 4-1 win. His helper came at the start of the second period, setting up Mikhail Fyodorov’s tying goal to cancel out Yegor Sokolov’s opener late in the first period.
Before that Kuznetsov, who was used on the fourth line today, created the game’s first big chance when he went one-on-one with Denis Kostin. He couldn’t finish that one, but kept himself in view throughout the opening exchanges. However, he finished the session with a -1 rating after his line allowed the Torpedo counterattack that led to Sokolov’s goal.
After the break, Metallurg saw a power play come and go before Kuznetsov collected that assist on Fyodorov’s goal. And, by the end of the second period, the home team was in front as Yegor Yakovlev extended his productive streak to three games with a redirect in front of the net. Yakovlev has 4 (2+2) points from two games in four days against Torpedo.
After that, Torpedo rarely threatened again. Metallurg, even on the PK, looked more dangerous. The home team began the third period on the power play and Nikita Mikhailis reacted sharply to bag a third goal for the host.
After that, the tempo dropped and it wasn’t until Torpedo got another penalty that the visitor looked capable of chasing the game. However, the only remaining goal went to Roman Kantserov into an empty net.
Lada Togliatti 4 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 (1-1, 2-1, 1-0)
A third win in four games moved Lada off the foot of the Western Conference. This clash between two teams that have already replaced their head coaches this season showed how Pavel Desyatkov’s team is improving after a long losing streak. It also suggested that Vyacheslav Butsayev has work to do for Sibir despite a winning start in his previous game.
Lada had to recover from an awful start: just 15 seconds into the game, Scott Wilson gave Sibir the lead on his 200th KHL appearance. But that’s nothing unusual for the Motormen this season, and today it found a response midway through the first period when Riley Sawchuk tied the scores with home goalie Ivan Bocharov picking up an assist.
After the intermission, Sibir came out stronger and regained the lead in the 27th minute through Sergei Shirokov’s first of the season. But Lada quickly turned the game around. Within three minutes, Andrei Chivilyov was first to react to the rebound from Andrei Altybarmakyan’s shot. The assist took Altybarmakyan to 100 points in the KHL, and 67 seconds later it was 101 when he scored a power play goal to put Lada up for the first time in the game. That’s only a second PP tally in 44 attempts, while Nikita Mikhailov’s assist extends his productive streak to four games.
At the start of the third Lada added a fourth, attributed to Ivan Romanov but put into his own net by Kirill Rasskazov. That was enough to settle the outcome, with the home team closing down much of the subsequent play to ease to victory.
Spartak Moscow 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 (0-0, 1-0, 1-1)
The Red-and-Whites are flying high. Today’s win, coupled with Torpedo’s loss in Magnitogorsk, puts Spartak up to second in the Western Conference. For Salavat Yulaev, it’s a second successive loss after back-to-back wins had pointed to brighter times ahead for Viktor Kozlov’s team.
Salavat Yulaev made the better start to the game and creating a few good chances. However, Spartak grew into the contest and finished the opening frame strongly. The best chance came on a home PK: debutant Christian Jaros was in the box when German Rubtsov got on the counter and visiting goalie Alexander Samonov just got enough of his shot to turn it round the post.
The visitor had to absorb more pressure at the start of the second period, but almost opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Danil Alalykin flew into the Spartak zone and fired against the crossbar. However, the opening goal came at the other end. In the 33rd minute, Nathan Todd made that breakthrough, collecting a pass to the blue line from Daniil Sobolev, stepping forward and shooting past Samonov.
Early in the third period, Spartak extended its lead on Luke Lockhart’s second for the club. Yegor Filin went around the net and drilled the puck to the slot where Lockhart rifled home from close range.
After that, though, the home team ran into penalty trouble. Ufa took advantage, with Denis Yan pulling a goal back in the 48th minute before the post denied Artyom Pimenov an equalizer. It took until midway through the frame for a run of penalties to expire and get Spartak off the penalty kill
A few minutes later, the home team had a power play chance but Salavat defended well to stay in contention as the game moved into the last five minutes. However, the visitor could not find a way to take the game to overtime as Spartak secured a fourth win in five games to climb to second in the west.
Dynamo Moscow 4 CSKA Moscow 3 SO (0-3, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 1-0)
A rousing fightback from Dynamo turned a 0-3 deficit into a shoot-out win, gaining some Blue-and-White revenge for an opening night loss to its city rival.
After saving the game in the 58th minute, the host was the width of a post away from losing in overtime. But in the shoot-out Vladislav Podyapolsky stopped all three CSKA attempts while Nikita Gusev potted the winner to make it seven wins from eight games.
The visitor grabbed the initiative from the off and forced the game’s first power play when Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi was assessed a hooking minor in the sixth minute. That brought the opening goal for Dmitry Samorukov, drilling home a center point shot just as the final seconds of the penalty were ticking down.
In the 14th minute CSKA doubled its lead. Kirill Dolzhenkov got the puck on the boards and moved round the back of the home net before setting up Denis Guryanov at the back door to make it 2-0.
Then came another power play and another CSKA goal. Denis Zernov surged forward to test Vladislav Podyapolsky, and Daniel Sprong put away the rebound. The first period ended was CSKA up 3-0 and in total control.
That forced Dynamo to raise the tempo in the second period and, to the home team’s credit, it did just that. However, it took time to make an impression against a visiting team that had little need to chase further goals. Eventually, after 32 minutes, Yegor Rimashevsky got Alexei Kudashov’s men on the scoreboard. He finished off after setting up a chance for Artyom Ilyenko.
And the Blue-and-Whites brought the game back to life at the start of the third period when Jordan Weal struck on the power play to claim his fourth goal of the season and his first since Sep. 24. CSKA could not clear the puck from the danger zone, Spencer Martin wandered off his crease and Nikita Gusev set up Weal for a shot from the right-hand circle into an open net.
The fightback was complete in the 58th minute. Dynamo brought Podyapolsky to the bench and the six skaters made the vital breakthrough. Spencer Martin could not freeze the puck after a shot from the right wing and Maxim Dzhioshvili spotted his chance to stuff the puck home from the crease to force overtime.
In the extras, Samorukov almost won it for CSKA with a shot against the post. Then Dynamo got to finish OT on the power play after Prokhor Poltapov’s high stick caught Igor Ozhiganov in the face. However, the home team could not take advantage of its extra man and the game went to a shoot-out.