Hawks snap Metallurg’s streak, Ak Bars wins at CSKA. October 1 round-up
Avangard won 5-1 in Magnitogorsk to halt Metallurg’s five-game winning run. Mike McLeod made his debut for the Hawks after agreeing a three-year deal with the Omsk club. Ak Bars posted a fourth successive win, beating CSKA 3-2 in Moscow on Alexander Barabanov’s power play goal. Sibir handed Neftekhimik a fifth successive loss with a shoot-out verdict, while Torpedo got back on form with a 5-3 result at Barys.
Wolves fightback falls short
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 SO (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Sibir blew a two-goal lead in Nizhnekamsk but managed to recover and win the shoot-out. That sent Neftekhimik to a fifth successive loss and Igor Grishin’s team will perhaps be relieved to get back on the road after an unimpressive home stand.
The visitor made a bright start and Nikita Soshnikov hit the post in the first minute. It wasn’t long before Sibir got the opening goal: Arkhip Nekolenko’s one-timer finished off a great cross-ice feed from Yegor Alanov. After that, Neftekhimik stepped up and took the initiative, but Anton Krasotkin was in fine form on his return from injury. He stopped 15 shots in the opening frame to preserve his team’s lead.
The home team outshot Sibir again in the second period, but once again Krasotkin came up strong. And the visitor extended its lead on the power play in the 35th minute when Vladimir Butuzov scored his first of the season. That was only the fourth PP marker of the season for one of the least productive special teams in the KHL to date.
It all meant that Neftekhimik really needed a strong start to the third period – and Matvei Nadvorny delivered. His deft redirect lifted Danila Kvartalnov’s shot out of Krasotkin’s reach to start the fightback. Then, in the 52nd minute, Andrei Belozyorov danced his way through the visiting defense, earning the slice of good fortune that saw his attempted pass deflect into the net off an opponent to tie the scores.
That took the game to overtime, where both teams played cautiously, and then to a shoot-out. Sibir took the verdict thanks to Soshnikov, making it two wins from three under incoming head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev.
Avangard thumps Metallurg to cool hot streak
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 Avangard Omsk 5 (0-1, 1-2, 0-2)
Avangard ended Metallurg’s five-game winning streak in emphatic fashion. The Hawks move to third in the Eastern Conference, four points behind a Magnitka team that still leads the way, with Mike McLeod making his debut for the visitor after signing a three-year contract during the week.
Metallurg had a great early chance when Ruslan Iskhakov surged forward, only to be denied by Nikita Serebryakov. Iskhakov’s line was the liveliest in the opening stages and midway through the session the trio combined to release Nikita Mikhailis. Once again, Serebryakov had the answer. Yet the only goal of the opening frame went to Avangard. On a rare foray forward, Alexander Volkov took advantage of a fortunate deflection to beat Ilya Nabokov.
It took Metallurg until the middle of the second period to tie the game. Roman Kantserov enjoyed his own slice of good fortune to convert a rebound in front of Serebryakov’s net. For the second game in a row, new signing Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up an assist. However, Avangard responded 40 seconds later when Giovanni Fiore redirected a Joseph Cecconi effort into the net. Then, after Metallurg failed to convert a power play, the Hawks added a third through Max Lajoie after Robin Press was whistled for playing with a broken stick.
Another power play at the start of the third period brought another goal for Lajoie as Avangard took control of the game. Metallurg was forced to gamble, and played with a sixth skater from the 50th minute after getting on the power play. However, the visitor managed to kill the penalty and, three seconds after Artyom Blazhievsky returned to the game, Vasily Ponomaryov found the empty net to wrap up an impressive win.
Torpedo snaps skid, Barys slips to fifth straight loss
Barys Astana 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 (2-1, 1-4, 0-0)
Both these teams came into Sunday’s game on four-game losing streaks, but it was Torpedo that snapped its skid to leave Barys still struggling. The Kazakhs started with Adam Scheel in goal and recalled defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon and forward Tice Thompson. Kirill Panyukov, who recently signed a try-out in Astana, made his first appearance of the season.
Torpedo, beaten 4-1 in Magnitogorsk last time out, made three changes including a debut for forward Anton Kosolanov. Alexei Kruchinin and Alexander Yaremchuk returned to the attack.
The first period favored the home team. Panyukov was quick to show his value to the team, potting the opening goal in the fifth minute. He got to the slot and steered the puck home after Alikhan Omirbekov drilled it in from the boards. It didn’t take long for Torpedo to recreate its own version of that goal, Maxim Letunov scoring off Anton Sizov. But Barys took a lead to the intermission thanks to a shot from defenseman Reilly Walsh.
However, that was as good as it got for Barys. In the second period, Torpedo turned things around. Panyukov’s afternoon changed complexion as well: his foul led to Sergei Goncharuk’s power play goal to tie the scores. At equal strength, a counterattack from the visitor ended with Yaremchuk making it 3-2.
Barys responded to tie the game at the midway point. Omirbekov got another assist with a perfectly-placed feed on to Semyon Simonov’s stick as he arrived at the back door. But Torpedo had the momentum now and Mikhail Abramov restored the lead before Kruchinin made it five and chased Scheel from the game in favor of Andrei Shutov.
The Kazakhs had chances to get back into the game in the third period, but ultimately ran into penalty trouble. Simonov took a minor penalty, then Jake Massie’s major in the 58th minute undermined any plans for a late charge. Torpedo, despite its recent blip, returned to second place in the West on 19 points. Barys remains seventh in the East.
Barabanov’s goal beats CSKA
CSKA Moscow 2 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (2-2, 0-1, 0-0)
Ak Bars recorded a fourth successive victory over a stuttering CSKA team. The home team, which has been alternating wins and losses in recent weeks, led twice in the first period but could not hold onto the lead. And a power play goal from Alexander Barabanov late in the middle frame proved to be decisive.
The Muscovites came into this game on the back of a painful shoot-out loss to Dynamo, a derby disappointment that saw CSKA blow a 3-0 lead. They made a fast start today, getting the first power play of the night in the first minute. That led to Jeremy Roy opening the scoring when he converted the rebound from a Prokhor Poltapov shot.
However, after struggling to hold a lead on Friday, CSKA was pegged back again within minutes. Mitch Miller tied the game when he grabbed a loose puck on the blue line and got round Roy before scoring on Dmitry Gamzin.
And the teams traded goals again before the end of the first period. Mikhail Fisenko’s high-sticking penalty gave the host the initiative and Dmitry Buchelnikov claimed a second power play marker. But then a too many men call led to Ak Bars going forward and tying it again through Kirill Semyonov to make it 2-2 at the intermission.
Ak Bars had the better of the play in the opening frame and continued in that vein after the break. Moreover, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men stayed out of the box and made it harder for CSKA to generate offense. At the other end, a numerical advantage late in the session saw Barabanov pot the fourth power play goal of the night with 53 seconds on the clock. Dmitrij Jaskin did a fine job in pulling the home defense out of position while Barabanov found the space to take advantage.
Once in front, Ak Bars did a good job of killing the game in the third. In the past, we’ve seen CSKA head coach Igor Nikitin shut down the ice to preserve a lead in the final third; today his team was on the receiving end of that tactic. The host managed just four more shots at Timur Bilyalov and the final shot count was 37-17 in Kazan’s favor. The only hint of a chance for CSKA came when Igor Safonov took a penalty in the closing stages but the previously effective home power play could not grab a saving goal.
