100 wins for Zhamnov, Avto forward back among the goals. October 17 round-up
Spartak’s 4-3 success at Admiral makes it 100 wins in the KHL for head coach Alexei Zhamnov. Avtomobilist got a welcome boost as Stephane da Costa and Brooks Macek scored their first goals after returning from injury, helping secure an overtime win at Sochi. There was OT in Minsk, too, where Neftekhimik grabbed a last-minute tying goal before winning in the extras. Spencer Martin and Maxim Dorozhko celebrated shut-outs, respectively helping CSKA win 1-0 at Torpedo and Amur down Lada 3-0.
Dorozhko shuts out Lada
Amur Khabarovsk 3 Lada Togliatti 0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
Maxim Dorozhko’s third shut-out of the season backstopped Amur’s second home win in three days.
The Tigers began the game well, regularly testing Ivan Bocharov in the Lada net for various angles. The visiting goalie dealt with all that came his way and midway through the frame the Motormen took the initiative and started posing questions of Dorozko, particularly on the counterattack. However, neither team could make a breakthrough in the opening stanza.
Early in the second, Amur got the puck in the net but the officials called it back after a bench challenge. That decision gave Lada a boost and the visitor was better able to dictate the play and pressure Dorozhko. However, the opening goal came at the other end. Matvei Zaseda’s finish off a tricky feed from Kirill Slepets was somewhat against the run of play, but his 37th-minute tally gave the Tigers the lead at the second intermission.
Once in front, the host looked to finish off the game at the start of the third. Amur’s attacking approach paid dividends in the 48th minute when Ignat Korotkikh got into a good position to shoot past Bocharov. Lada rushed to respond, but little went its way in front of the Tigers’ net. In the closing stages, Sergei Dubakin made the final score 3-0 to secure a fourth straight win for his team.
Landmark win for Zhamnov
Admiral Vladivostok 3 Spartak Moscow 4 SO (1-1, 0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 0-1)
Alexei Zhamnov recorded his 100th victory as a head coach in the KHL after a hard-fought verdict in Vladivostok. The home team was largely unchanged after a 6-1 win over Lada, with Yegor Petukhov the only new face in place of Vyacheslav Osnovin. Spartak lost 3-4 at Amur last time out and made more changes. Artyom Zagidulin took over in goal, Yegor Zaitsev returned on defense and offense saw Grigory Kuzmin and Sergei Lukyantsev back in action.
Those changes helped Spartak enjoy the better of the first period. The Red-and-Whites spent more than six minutes on the attack, with Admiral struggling to manage two at the other end. Adam Ruzicka opened the scoring, putting Spartak ahead when he was first to react to Andrei Mironov’s backhanded feed from the blue line. However, the lead did not hold: in the last minute of the first period, Pavel Koledov beat Zagidulin from the point.
The pattern of play remained the same in the second period, but neither team could add to its tally. Spartak again had three times longer on the attack, helped by a run of three penalties on Admiral. Adam Huska’s goal led a charmed life, with post and crossbar saving the home netminder as the game remained deadlocked.
At the start of the third, Admiral delivered the sucker punch. Outplayed for much of the game, the home team got in front after a break down the left saw Semyon Ruchkin’s shot get away from Zagidulin. Pavel Shen gobbled up the rebound for 2-1. Spartak turned things around to lead 3-2 on a power play goal from Joey Keane and an equal-strength effort from Daniel Usmanov.
But that wasn’t enough to win it in regulation. Daniil Gutik was given too much space to convert Stepan Starkov’s pass in the 52nd minute and that sent the game to overtime. The Muscovites then had to kill a penalty during the extras after Keane took a hooking minor. Later, the visitor got on the power play, but was unable to take advantage. In the shoot-out, Nathan Todd won it for the visitor.
Martin blanks Torpedo, CSKA back in top eight
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 0 CSKA Moscow 1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0)
CSKA snapped a three-game skid to return to the playoff places thanks to victory at Torpedo. The home team remains third in the Western Conference, but owes that position to its fast start to the season rather than a troubling run of form that has now garnered just one win in seven outings.
There was no scoring in the first period, and not much to choose between the teams. After 20 minutes, each goalie had made 20 saves with Denis Kostin busier in the home net at the start and Spencer Martin seeing more action as Torpedo improved later in the frame.
If the home team hoped that it could carry its momentum into the second period, it was deeply disappointed. CSKA opened in the middle frame with the first goal of the game. Dmitry Buchelnikov brought the puck into the zone down the left, moved towards the center and fired in a wrister from mid-range. A deflection off a defenseman took the first shot of the period into Kostin’s net to give the Muscovites the lead.
After falling behind, Torpedo started to have more of the game but ran into some stout CSKA defense. And the visitor came closest to another goal. Buchelnikov tested Kostin from a tight angle and the rebound dropped kindly for Maxim Sorkin, only for his blast to cannon into the post.
Late in the session, visiting defenseman Colby Williams was assessed the first penalty of the night, but Torpedo could not take advantage on either side of the second intermission.
CSKA, as befits an Igor Nikitin team, was happy to protect its lead in the third period. The visitor played pragmatic, defensive hockey, keeping Torpedo to the perimeter and challenging the host to unlock the doors around Martin’s net. The home team’s prospects were not enhanced when Maxim Letunov took a penalty with 6:46 remaining, killing any momentum and allowing CSKA to eat up two valuable minutes.
Torpedo never recovered, despite a late flurry. CSKA held on for the win and Martin claimed his second shut-out of the season with 32 saves.
Tochilkin Strikes Twice
Dinamo Minsk 3 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 OT (1-1, 2-1, 0-1 0-1)
German Tochilkin’s late goal saved Neftekhimik in regulation, and the Wolves went on to snatch an overtime victory in Minsk thanks to Vladislav Barulin’s winner.
The visitor needed just 71 seconds to win it in the extras, despite never leading at any point before. Barulin started the play by winning possession in his own zone then leading a swift odd-man rush. He teed up Artyom Serikov for a shot from between the hash marks, then jumped onto the rebound to stuff home the decisive goal.
This was a second success in the extras for the Wolves, who ended their recent skid with a shoot-out win at SKA on Wednesday. They came back three times in regulation to stay in this game, despite Dinamo dominating much of the play.
Dinamo got in front after seven minutes when Vitaly Pinchuk scored off a Sam Anas assist. Ten minutes later, Nikita Khoruzhev tied the scores, and it was 1-1 at the first intermission.
In the second period the teams again traded goal. Ilya Usov restored the home lead before Tochilkin’s first of the game made it 2-2 on 35:12. However, right before the intermission the Anas-Pinchuk connection struck again to give Dinamo the lead.
It looked like Pinchuk’s double would make the difference here. Dinamo enjoyed the better of the play throughout the game, racking up 51shots on goal in regulation, and had more of the chances in the final frame. But good goaltending from Filipp Dolganov kept Neftekhimik in contention. And when the goalie went to the bench late on, Tochilkin delivered the game-saving goal on 59:01.
Barulin’s winner makes it two wins in a row for Neftekhimik, and also gives Igor Grishin his second win over Dmitry Kvartalnov this season. Earlier, the Wolves beat Dinamo by the same 4-3 scoreline on home ice.
Twice Bitten, but Sochi still shy
HC Sochi 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 OT (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Fit-again forwards Stephane da Costa and Brooks Macek were on target as Avtomobilist ended a two-game skid with an overtime success at Sochi. For the home team, Will Bitten scored twice as the game went to overtime. But Maxim Denezhkin’s effort means the win goes to the visitor, which moves in front of Avangard into second in the Eastern Conference.
The first period built to an incident-packed finale. Avtomobilist opened the scoring in the 16th minute, slightly against the run of play. Da Costa, who returned to action in Wednesday’s 0-2 loss at Severstal, scored his first goal since Sep. 12 and his third of the season to break the deadlock.
But the lead didn’t last long. Within three minutes, Bitten tied it up – coincidentally with his first marker since Sep. 12. That one sparked a bench challenge from Avtomobilist, with head coach Nikolai Zavarukhin believing that goalie Evgeny Alikin was impeded. The video review went against the visitor, and Sochi finished the first on the power play.
It was close to grabbing a second goal before the intermission, but another review ruled that the puck hit the net after the hooter and the play was whistled off.
The second period saw Macek score a typical power play goal, assisted by da Costa, to restore Avto’s lead in the 25th minute. This time, Sochi’s response came even quicker: Bitten needed just 129 seconds to claim his second of the night, with Daniil Seroukh again among the assists.
After that, the Motormen had the better of the play but could not score again on young Alexei Shchetilin, who took over in goal when Pavel Khomchenko had to leave the game in the 23rd minute. The 24-year-old made 13 saves as Avtomobilist dominated the third period, and that was enough to take us to overtime.
But the extras did not last long. Denezhkin needed little more than a minute to find the winning goal and condemn Sochi to a fifth successive defeat.
