Goal-crazy in Chelyabinsk, Minsk hits seven. October 14 round-up

The goals kept coming. In Chelyabinsk, Avangard beat Traktor 8-5 in a wild game. In Minsk, Dinamo racked up seven on Torpedo. Alexander Chmelevski’s marker for Ak Bars at Salavat Yulaev was perhaps the most resonant of the day; the American forward scored on his first return to his former club. Shanghai Dragons moved level with Lokomotiv at the top of the Western Conference thanks to a 3-2 win over Dynamo, while Sibir won its sixth shoot-out of the season at Barys. 

Chmelevski on target in Ufa

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (1-3, 0-1, 0-0)

Alexander Chmelevski scored a power play goal on his return to Ufa, helping Ak Bars to victory in the latest edition of the Green Derby. The 4-1 win stretches Kazan’s hot streak to five games as Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men climb to fourth in the East.



The home team hadn’t lost to Ak Bars here since 2022 and Viktor Kozlov’s players tried to force the tempo at the start. However, while looking to attack, Salavat Yulaev lost concentration at the back allowing Ilya Safonov to open the scoring on a counterattack that brought an assist for visiting goalie Mikhail Berdin.

Later, Ak Bars again punished a defensive lapse when Dmitrij Jaskin doubled the lead on another counter. Home captain Grigory Panin pulled goal back, but Ufa’s joy was short-lived: just before the first intermission, Stepan Falkovsky’s wrister restored the two-goal advantage.

After the intermission, Salavat replaced starting goalie Alexander Samonov with Semyon Vyazovoi. He had plenty to do, with Ak Bars outshooting its host 16-4 in the middle frame. Chmelevski made his attempt count, converting a power play in the 35th minute to mixed reviews from the Ufa crowd. Some applauded their former favorite, others jeered. For Ak Bars, a major penalty on Alexander Barabanov late in the frame was the only blot on a strong performance.

Salavat Yulaev could not take advantage of that five-minute power play. Once Barabanov was out of the box, Ak Bars was able to play its game calmly and close out a victory that proved surprisingly routine.
  

Shoot-out success for Sibir

Barys Astana 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 SO (2-0, 0-3, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Sibir underlined its reputation as this season’s shoot-out king, winning a game in this fashion for the sixth time in six attempts. The visitor recovered from 0-2 to lead in the second period, but Barys struck back in the third to force the extras.



The first action was a proper old-school fight. Right from the opening face-off Mason Morelli and Alexander Lukin dropped the gloves and the home team’s American came out on top.

That was the first of several successes for Barys in the opening frame. Midway through the session Samat Daniyar fired in the opening goal from the point right at the end of a home power play. Four minutes later, Tyce Thompson doubled the lead from the slot. The scoreline at the intermission was a fair reward for the Kazakhs’ efforts.

But the second period saw Sibir turn the game around. Vladimir Tkachyov forced home the first for the visitor in the 29th minute. Five minutes later, Vladislav Kara tied the game on the power play, with an assist from new signing Ivan Chekhovich. Within a minute, Scott Wilson made it 3-2, completing a turnaround that took barely six minutes.

Barys regrouped during the second intermission and tied the game in the 44th minute. In-form American defenseman Reilly Walsh got his second point of the game after assisting on Thompson’s tally. His productive streak is now up to four games.

The game went to overtime, and Barys had a power play following a penalty on Vladimir Butuzov. Morelli had a chance to win the game but couldn’t take it. Instead, Sibir survived until the shoot-out, where goalie Anton Krasotkin was flawless and Wilson delivered the decisive blow.

Hawks win 13-goal battle

Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 Avangard Omsk 8 (2-4, 3-2, 0-2)

A crazy game brought 13 goals before Avangard avenged its 1-5 loss in its previous game in Chelyabinsk.



Traktor had a great chance to grab an early goal, but Semyon Der-Arguchintsev could not score into an open net. Then at the other end, Avangard took its chance: Damir Sharipzyanov fired in the puck and Vasily Ponomaryov redirected it home.

The host hit back to tie the game 46 seconds later through Yegor Korshkov and that pair of quick tallies set the tone for a game that forwards and fans loved, while coaches looked to their defenses and despaired.

The Hawks regained the advantage with two goals in a minute. Sharipzyanov converted Andrew Poturalski's feed, then Dmitry Rashevsky’s intended pass deflected into the net off Logan Day. Avangard wasn’t done, adding a fourth through Nikolai Prokhorkin’s power play tally, but Fyodor Kroshchinsky pulled one back with his first goal for Traktor on 16:29.

There was no let-up in the second period, a frame that visiting head coach Guy Boucher likened to pond hockey. Josh Leivo made it 3-4 on the power play, but Poturalski increased Avangard’s lead on the counterattack three minutes later. Traktor responded within 26 seconds through Pierrick Dube but the home team was always playing catch up. Late in the third, the teams traded two more goals: Rashevsky claimed his second, Mikhail Grigorenko made it 5-6 at the second intermission.

Despite all the goals, both starting goalies returned for the third period. It wasn’t until Prokhorkin potted his second power play goal of the night midway through the session that Sergei Mylnikov made way for Chris Driedger in the home net. That changed little; the Canadian went back to the bench as Traktor made a late push, but Poturalski scored his second into the empty net to seal the win. Poturalski finished with 4 (2+2) points and was the game’s leading scorer, Avangard snapped a two-game skid and returns to second in the Eastern Conference.
 

Seventh heaven for Dinamo

Dinamo Minsk 7 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (3-0, 0-0, 4-1)

Avangard wasn’t the only team to score heavily today: Dinamo Minsk put seven on Torpedo to enjoy its biggest win of the season so far. Two goals apiece from Sam Anas, Sergei Kuznetsov and Stanislav Galiyev led the way in a one-sided game in Belarus.



Effectively, this one was settled in 10 minutes. Kristian Khenkel put Dinamo up on 1:24, assisted by Kuznetsov and Andrei Stas. Kuznetsov doubled the lead on 9:44, and barely a minute later Galiyev added a third on the power play.

That was the end of the scoring until early in the third period. Then Anas got his first of the game. Torpedo pulled one back when Alexei Kruchinin struck on the power play, but the visitor had nothing else to cheer. Anas scored again within a minute to make it 5-1, then Galiyev and Kuznetsov completed the rout in the final minutes. It’s Dinamo’s second victory over Torpedo this season after the Belarusians were the first to defeat Alexei Isakov’s team in regulation time back on Sep. 24. The result puts the Bison up to fourth in the West, while Torpedo drops to third behind Shanghai.
 

Dragons snap Dynamo’s streak

Shanghai Dragons 3 Dynamo Moscow 2 (2-0, 1-2, 0-0)

The Dragons are roaring. Today’s win over Dynamo puts Gerard Gallant’s team level with Lokomotiv at the top of the Western Conference. The Muscovites, whose four-game winning run came to an end, drop to fifth behind Dinamo Minsk.



When these teams met in September, Dynamo edged an overtime verdict thanks to Jordan Weal’s goal. Today, the Dragons got revenge, helped by some clinical finishing the first period. The Blue-and-Whites shaded the play during the opening frame, but went into the intermission down 2-0.

Nikita Popugayev opened the scoring after four minutes, with an assist from debutant Kevin Labanc. After that, Dynamo got a power play but struggled to make an impression. And Shanghai doubled its lead in the 15th minute, Gage Quinnie forcing the puck home from close range after Dynamo failed to clear its lines.

However, the visitor got back into the game at the start of the second period. A Labanc penalty carried into the middle frame, and Cedric Paquette pulled one back for Dynamo. However, the goalscorer soon found himself in the box for hooking, and the Dragons converted their first PP of the game. Quinnie collected an assist as Borna Rendulic made it 3-1. The Croatian forward leads Shanghai in scoring with 14 (6+8) points this season.

As the second period progressed, the Dragons had two more power play chances but could not add to the lead. And just before the second intermission Igor Ozhiganov fired home from the right-hand circle to make it 2-3 going into the third.

In the third period, Dynamo dominated in search of a tying goal. The visitor outshot the Dragons 15-7, and spent 6:23 on offense against 1:38. But the goal would not come. In the closing minutes, the Blue-and-Whites got on the power play, then Vladislav Podyapolysky went to the bench to trigger a final surge. But Shanghai held on to take the verdict and move to 20 points, level with Lokomotiv at the top of the conference.