Six-game streak, six goal shows. October 16 round-up

Ak Bars reeled off a sixth straight win with a 4-1 success at Sibir. Barys scored six on Avangard to end its seven-game skid, and Metallurg kept up the theme with a 6-4 victory over Metallurg. The pattern was broken in St. Petersburg, where Dynamo beat Shanghai Dragons 3-2 in a shoot-out.

Six-in-a-row for Ak Bars

Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (0-1, 1-1, 0-2)

A sixth successive victory moved Ak Bars up to third in the Eastern Conference, which Sibir missed the chance to get into the top eight.



The home team welcomed back Andrei Churkin, who managed only one previous game this season due to injury. Chase Priskie took part in the pre-game skate but missed out due to on-going illness.

Sibir might have had a dream start, but Scott Wilson missed a golden chance on the first shift. After that, the home team failed to get a shot on goal for 10 minutes and spent just 27 seconds in Ak Bars territory. In that time, Mitch Miller hit the post, Ak Bars had a goal disallowed and two power plays came up short. It wasn’t until two minutes before the intermission that Artyom Galimov beat Lous Domingue to open the scoring.

During that first period, Vladimir Butuzov fluffed a one-on-one. However, in the second frame Sibir scored from a less clear-cut situation. The tying goal resembled the Ak Bars opener, with Ilya Lyuzenkov playing Galimov’s role and redirecting a Yegor Alanov point shot for his first KHL goal. After that, Sibir took control of the game and spent much of the middle frame on the attack. However, it could not convert that into more goals and paid the price just before the intermission.

Miller made the key breakthrough in the 38th minute, slaloming through the home defense before sending a pass to the slot. There, the American got a lucky break and a deflection sent the disc into the net.

In the third period, Ak Bars played cautiously, working hard to keep the game away from Mikhail Berdin’s net as much as possible. At the other end, Sibir did a good job of blocking shots but was less effective at clearing its lines. The best chance for an equalizer fell to captain Sergei Shirokov, but he could not finish it off. Instead, Ak Bars padded its lead on a Kirill Semyonov goal before Vladimir Alistrov wrapped it up with a power play tally.

Magnitka bounces back

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 (0-0, 3-2, 3-2)

After a heavy loss against Avangard, Metallurg bounced back with victory over Salavat Yulaev. Andrei Razin brought Sergei Tolchinsky, Yegor Korobkin and Artyom Minulin into the team, with Alexander Smolin stating in goal.



Ufa had the better of the early exchanges. Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up an O-zone penalty and Salavat Yulaev looked decent on the power play but failed to score. Once back at equal strength, Magnitka evened the balance of play. The Steelmen were helped with a power play of their own, which saw Dmitry Silantyev force a great save from Alexander Samonov. However, neither team could find the net before the intermission.

It didn’t take long for that to change after the break. Jack Rodewald put Salavat Yulaev in front from close range after a long spell of pressure on Smolin’s net. Moments later, Maxim Kuznetsov – a Metallurg junior hockey alum – intercepted a wayward pass from Yegor Yakovlev and skated clear to double the lead.

But the home team responded to that shock. Evgeny Kuznetsov made it three assists in three games since joining Magnitka with a delicate feed for Andrei Kozlov, then Valery Orekhov tied it up on the power play in the 33rd minute. Orekhov and Yakovlev were the defensemen on the ice for both Ufa goals, and Yakovlev joined his partner on the scoresheet, redeeming his earlier error with the go-ahead goal just before the second intermission.

The final stanza produced five more goals. Korobkin and Silantyev scored twice in a minute to make it 5-2 on 53:12. But it wasn’t long before Korobkin coughed up the puck behind his own net as Vladislav Yefremov pulled one back for the visitor. The teams shared two more goals in the closing stages – Ruslan Iskhakov for Magnitka, Alexander Zharovsky for Salavat – as Metallurg closed out the win. 

Six-shooters down Hawks

Barys Astana 6 Avangard Omsk 2 (2-1, 0-1, 4-0)

After a seven-game skid, Barys rebounded in style to thrash Avangard in a lively game in Astana. The visitor was looking to consolidate its grip on second on the Eastern Conference after impressive wins at Metallurg (5-1) and Traktor (8-5) but fell to a heavy loss despite rallying from 0-2 to tie the game in the second period.



Both teams were eager to fire in shots from the opening exchanges, and the first power play of the night saw Barys take the lead. Mike McLeod was in the box as Reilly Walsh extended his productive streak to five games. It wasn’t long before the home team doubled that advantage, with Samat Daniyar getting the puck to the slot and seeing it bounce off team-mate Mason Morelli and into the net.

It took Avangard time to recover. The visitor’s first power play was a tepid affair, but a second Barys penalty saw Max Lajoie and Konstantin Okulov set up Nikolai Prokhorkin to pull a goal back in the 14th minute. After that, the Hawks began to take control of the game, keeping Barys locked down in its zone, but there was no further scoring before the intermission.

The home team thought it had extended its lead early in the second period when Tyce Thompson beat Andrei Mishurov. However, in the build-up Vyacheslav Kolesnikov landed a check to the head of Damir Sharipzyanov. After a review, Kolesnikov was assessed a major penalty and the goal was ruled out. Avangard looked to tie the game, but Adam Scheel performed brilliantly to kill the five-minute penalty.

It wasn’t long before Thompson picked up a double minor, adding to the pressure on the home net. This time, Sharipzyanov found the top corner with a wrist shot, but before the goal was awarded the officials again went to check the video. This time, an earlier play at the other end saw Vsevolod Logvin close to scoring for Barys; the review found his effort did not cross the line, meaning the Avangard captain had tied the game with five to play in the middle frame.

At that point, momentum seemed to be with the visitor and the Hawks came close to a third goal. However, at the end of the frame Avangard took two penalties in quick succession and began the third period with just three skaters. The two-man advantage saw Barys regain the lead: just 45 seconds into the third period, Michael Vecchione produced a fine shot to beat Mishurov. Walsh and Morelli added assists to their personal tallies. Barys could not convert the second penalty, but at equal strength Adil Beketayev made it 4-2 in the 44th minute.

That took the game away from Avangard. Logvin got his goal midway through the session to put the issue beyond doubt and Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan wrapped it up with an empty-netter.
 

Revenge win for Dynamo

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

Dragons vs Dynamo is turning into one of the closest-fought rivalries of the season. This was the third meeting between the teams, the second to go beyond 60 minutes, and the third to finish 3-2. Today, Dynamo had the edge in a shoot-out after Maxim Motorygin prevented Shanghai from scoring. Jordan Weal and Nikita Gusev were on target at the other end.



Dynamo, beaten here in regulation two days ago, made a strong start in its revenge mission. The visitor got on top from the opening face-off and pushed the Dragons back for the first five or six minutes.

However, Shanghai recovered and got in front midway through the first period, and the Gage Quinney line made the difference once again. Quinney found Borna Rendulic, and his attempted pass to Nick Merkley at the back door deflected into the net off a Dynamo player. That’s the 13th goal in 15 games for Quinney’s line.

The Blue-and-Whites then found themselves on the PK – not a strong part of Dynamo’s play this season – but Maxim Motorygin frustrated the home power play. The pressure on Patrik Rybar’s net decreased as the first period went on, and the start of the second saw Kevin Labanc hit the post as Shanghai looked to increase its lead.

Instead, though, Dynamo tied the game in the 24th minute. The visitor got numbers forward and after Magomed Sharakanov’s shot was saved, Jordan Weal battled to keep the puck alive and Dylan Sikura corralled the rebound to score. After that, Dynamo had more of the puck and went on to outshoot Shanghai 11-7 in the session. However, the home team restored its lead before the intermission when Vladislav Valentsov raced down the right wing and fired into the top corner for his first goal of the season.

In the third period, the Muscovites piled up the pressure on the Dragons’ net. Dynamo spent more than six minutes on the attack, but some strong defense limited the visitor to just nine shots at Patrik Rybar. And 58 minutes had elapsed before one of those found the target: Jake Bischoff’s high-sticking minor left Shanghai playing four-on-six, Jordan Weal won the face-off, and Daniil Pylenkov’s shot was redirected home by Max Comtois.

That took the game to overtime. Dynamo had more of the play and outshot the Dragons 4-0, but Labanc had possibly the best chance, shooting over the bar from an three-on-one rush before we went to the shoot-out.