Nikitin loses on Yaroslavl return, dramatic finish at SKA. October 15 round-up
Wednesday’s big game was at Lokomotiv, where Gagarin Cup-winning head coach returned to Yaroslavl with his CSKA team for the first time since leaving the defending champion. The home team rose to the occasion, winning 4-1 to leave the Muscovites outside the playoff places. There was drama in St. Petersburg, where SKA saw a last-minute goal disallowed before tying its game against Neftekhimik: the verdict went to the visitor in a shoot-out. Avtomobilist welcomed back big-name forwards Stephane da Costa and Brooks Macek, but failed to score in a 0-2 loss at Severstal. Earlier, Admiral thrashed Lada 6-1 and Amur snatched a last-minute victory over Spartak.
Spartak fights back but Amur grabs late winner
Amur Khabarovsk 4 Spartak Moscow 3 (1-0, 1-1, 2-2)
A last-minute goal from Sergei Dubakin gave Amur the edge in a hard-fought clash in the Far East. The home team blew a 3-1 lead, with Spartak tying the scores on 58:50. But there was still time for the Tigers to grab the victory before the game went into overtime.
Dubakin’s winner came with 15 seconds on the clock and stemmed from an error by visiting captain Andrei Mironov. He underhit his intended clearance around the boards, then chased into the corner with team-mate Daniil Osipov in an attempt to correct that mistake. However, Ignat Korotkikh got the puck away from the two Spartak men and sent it back to the center where Dubakin was all alone in front of the net to put away the winner.
It was fitting that Korotkikh got the assist after his scored twice earlier in the game. Midway through the second period he put Amur up 2-1 after Adam Ruzicka cancelled out Kirill Slepets’ first-period tally. Then, in the 47th minute, Korotkikh’s power play goal made it 3-1, undermining a good start to the third period from Spartak and seemingly putting the home team on the way to a comfortable win.
But Spartak rallied strongly. The Red-and-Whites quickly earned a power play, and Alexander Belyayev’s one-timer converted that chance. Then, with 90 seconds to play, Alexei Zhamnov replaced goalie Dmitry Nikolayev with a sixth skater and reaped the rewards when Luke Lockhart tied the game. That felt like enough for overtime, but Dubakin had other ideas.
Sailors surge past Lada
Admiral Vladivostok 6 Lada Togliatti 1 (2-0, 1-1, 3-0)
A 10-day rest worked in Admiral’s favor as the Sailors enjoyed their biggest win of the season. The previous game brought an OT win in Togliatti, but the Motormen responded with wins over Sochi and Sibir before heading to Vladivostok for today’s return fixture.
Wednesday’s encounter proved rather more one-sided than the previous game. Admiral opened a 2-0 lead in the first period, seeing off some early Lada pressure before Daniil Gutik opened the scoring on the counterattack in the eighth minute. It didn’t take long for that lead to increase: Lada’s problems on the penalty kill were exposed again as Stepan Starkov potted a second.
The visitor did not give up. There was almost a goal back late in the first, but after the puck beat Adam Huska it slipped along the goal line without crossing into the net. Then in the second period a spell of penalty trouble put Admiral under pressure. Lada could not convert a power play, but pulled a goal back through Andrei Obidin at equal strength in the 28th minute. The game was back in the balance, but just before the intermission Kyle Olson made it 3-1 for Admiral and dealt a fatal blow to the visitor.
The third period saw the Sailors practice their power play. Libor Sulak added a fourth on 41:21 while Artyom Kuznetsov sat for high sticking. It was a similar story a couple of minutes later when Gutik got his second of the night, again on the PP. And, in the 57th minute, Starkov claimed his second power play goal of the game to make the final score 6-1.
Avto blanked despite returning forwards
Severstal Cherepovets 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Improving Severstal moved into the top four in the West with a second shut-out in three games. Today’s victim was Avtomobilist, which fell to back-to-back losses after its six-game hot streak. Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team remains third in the East.
The home team had the better of the opening frame, with the Motormen limited to just 90 seconds of attacking possession. Avtomobilist wasn’t helped by taking the only two penalties of the first period and Severstal took the lead on its first power play. Twenty-year-old forward Timur Mukhanov got his first goal of the season after Alexander Skorenov spun and slung the puck across the face of the net to the back door.
However, Avtomobilist had extra firepower for this game. Leading forwards Stephane da Costa and Brooks Macek, both out injured since early September, returned to action here. Neither made much impact in the first period, but both were steadily more influential as the visiting offense showed more after the intermission.
The second period, although goalless, brought plenty of attacking effort at both ends and in the third, the visitor outshot Severstal 12-8 as it sought a way back into the game. But Alexander Samoilov stood firm in the home net and, at the other end, Danil Aimurzin doubled the lead midway through the session. Aimurzin, typically one of Severstal’s leading scorers, also doubled his personal tally for the season; as Andrei Kozyrev’s team picks up pace, he will be hoping that’s the beginning of the end for his cold streak.
Shalunov’s double paces Loko win
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 CSKA Moscow 1 (2-0, 1-1, 1-0)
Igor Nikitin’s first return to Yaroslavl ended in defeat as Lokomotiv eased to a 4-1 victory over CSKA.
It was the second meeting of the teams this season, with the defending champion winning 5-1 in Moscow on Sep. 18. And today, Lokomotiv snapped its two-game losing streak while sending the Muscovites to a third successive loss. That means the home team restores its two-point lead at the top of the Western Conference, while CSKA remains outside the playoff spots.
The first period brought Lokomotiv goals at the beginning and the end. Byron Froese quickly opened the scoring after Nikita Kiryanov’s battling work behind the net. Froese picked up the puck and squeezed it home from a tight angle to the left of Dmitry Gamzin’s net.
Then, in the last minute, Kiryanov made it 2-0. Alexei Bereglazov drove the play from the corner to the slot, where Kiryanov got free of the attentions of Prokhor Poltapov and forced the puck home.
In between, CSKA had its chances. A neat combination almost brought an instant equalizer for Rhett Gardner and the visitor had the edge until Poltapov took the first penalty of the night in the 15th minute. That enabled Lokomotiv to move play away from Daniil Isayev’s net and, after Gamzin produced a great double save to deny Yegor Surin and Georgy Ivanov, the home team got that second goal.
CSKA got one back in the 26th minute thanks to Denis Zernov. Nikolai Kovalenko won possession behind the net and sent the puck to Dmitry Buchelnikov. His pass from the corner found Zernov with time and space to beat Isayev and put the Muscovites back in the game.
Nikitin then saw his team go close to tying the scores when Kirill Dolzhenkov tested Isayev from close range. At the other end, Surin spurned a glorious chance to restore the two-goal advantage with the goal at his mercy, but in the 34th minute a wonderful Alexander Radulov pass enabled Maxim Shalunov to convert a power play after Colby Williams sat for hooking. Then, just before the intermission, Richard Panik almost added a fourth when he met Alexander Polunin’s feed with a powerful one-timer. Gamzin made the save to keep his team in contention at the start of the third period.
But CSKA was unable to close the gap in the final frame. Shalunov got his second of the game midway through the session. Artur Kayumov sent Maxim Beryozkin sprinting into the Muscovites’ zone and he dished off the puck to Shalunov for a one-timer from the right-hand channel to make it 4-1.
Dramatic finish as Neftekhimik edges SKA in shoot-out
SKA St. Petersburg 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 SO (1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Two goals disallowed on a video review, a last-minute tying goal and eventually a shoot-out win for Neftekhimik that snapped a five-game skid: this game was full of incident.
SKA’s previous game was decided by a goal which, on closer inspection, should not have been given; video evidence showed that the puck entered the Avtomobilist net via a hole in the side netting. Nonetheless, Igor Larionov’s men got a valuable win to end a five-game slump.
And today there was more drama when the home team was denied a tying goal on a video review in the last minute. Trevor Murphy drilled home a terrific shot from the blue line, but was ruled to have had his stick too high when he stopped Avto’s attempted clearance.
But that wasn’t the end. After Murphy’s no-goal, Matvei Korotky popped up with an even later, legitimate marker to force overtime. The home team continued to play with six skaters, Korotky got the puck in the left-hand circle and wired a shot to the top corner to save the game.
In overtime, SKA got on the power play but could not finish the job, sending the action to a shoot-out. Neftekhimik replaced goalie Filipp Dolganov with back-up Yaroslav Ozolin for the shoot-out and that move paid off. Ozolin made three saves, while German Tochilkin found the net to give the visitor the verdict.
Earlier, SKA grabbed the lead at the end of the first period through Joseph Blandisi. The forward got the puck on the blue line, advanced on the net and elevated it over Filipp Dolganov’s pad.
After the intermission, we saw more of the Neftekhimik offense, but a strong display from home goalie Artemy Pleshkov preserved the lead until a power play late in the session. Then leading scorer Danil Yurtaikin rifled home his fifth of the season following a rebound to the right circle.
In the final frame, SKA dominated for long spells. However, two disallowed goals frustrated the home team. In the 54th minute, with SKA on the power play, another Murphy point shot seemed to get through Dolganov’s defenses, but a video review ruled that the goalie managed to scoop it off the goal-line. Then, in the last minute, Murphy was denied by the officials again.
In between, Nikita Khoruzhev struck in the 55th minute to give Neftekhimik the lead. A bad defensive error as Damir Zhafyarov left the box helped him get the puck to his team-mate and Khoruzhev skated away to score.
