Loko goes five clear, CSKA gets second successive win. October 20 round-up

A 3-2 win at Dynamo, thanks to a three-point game from Alexander Volkov, saw Lokomotiv five points clear at the top of the Western Conference. Monday’s other game was also in Moscow, where CSKA beat Dinamo Minsk 5-3 thanks to three power play goals. 

Volkov leads Lokomotiv to victory

Dynamo Moscow 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (0-1, 1-0, 1-2)

Alexander Volkov was involved in all three goals as Lokomotiv bagged a third successive win. The defending champion opened a five-point gap at the top of the Western Conference after downing Dynamo in the capital.



The home team was looking to build on a run of five wins in six and brought back starting goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky. And there were enforced changes on offense: Devin Brosseau was traded to Salavat Yulaev this morning, Maxim Mamin remains long-term injured, while Max Comtois and Cedric Paquette were both unavailable. Alexei Kudashov drew on his club’s youngsters to fill the gaps.

No such problems for Bob Hartley, whose sole change from the 3-1 win at SKA was to put Volkov into the fourth line ahead of Stepan Nikulin. That decision was richly rewarded. Volkov opened the scoring in the 15th minute to give the visitor a merited lead at the intermission. Both sides had spells on top in the opening frame, but generally Lokomotiv looked more in control and its attacks were more threatening.

Dynamo was close to tying the game on its first power play of the night after Alexander Radulov’s 28th-minute foul. Daniil Isayev was in great form in the Loko net to preserve his team’s lead. At the other end, Podyapolsky pulled of a pair of his own big stops. Helped by the near bench in the middle frame, Lokomotiv looked the better of the teams and the Blue-and-Whites were limited to counterattacks. However, one of those saw Anton Slepyshev get away from Nikita Cherepanov before firing home via the post.

The teams traded quick goals early in the third. Volkov created the Railwaymen’s second goal for Pavel Kraskovsky, but just 18 seconds later Slepyshev turned provider when his shot ricocheted off Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi and into the net to make it 2-2.

But Volkov would not be denied. With two-and-a-half minutes to play in the third, he put Loko back in front. After Alexei Bereglazov’s shot was deflected, the puck bounced loose in front of the net and Volkov reacted first to put it away. Dynamo played with six skaters at the end, but Lokomotiv came closer to scoring another as the club recorded its 700th victory in the KHL.
 

PP helps CSKA past Minsk

CSKA Moscow 5 Dinamo Minsk 3 (2-1, 1-0, 2-2)

Three power play goals, one of them a freakish affair in the third period, helped CSKA to an entertaining win over Dinamo Minsk. Daniel Sprong led the way with two goals, Dmitry Buchelnikov and Jeremy Roy both had 1+1, and there were two assists apiece for Denis Zernov and Vitaly Abramov.



A second successive victory brings signs that CSKA might be starting to understand the expectations of head coach Igor Niktin. Since his return to Moscow following his championship season in Yaroslavl, Nikitin has seen his new charges struggle. Far from challenging at the top, the team is currently embroiled in a battle to stay in the top eight.

But a 1-0 win at Torpedo was a promising result and today’s home success against the Belarusians built on that. Admittedly, it wasn’t entirely plain sailing. After his shut-out in Nizhny Novgorod, Spencer Martin was beaten inside two minutes here.

Nikita Pyshkailo grabbed a loose puck in center ice and skated away to give Minsk the early lead.

CSKA needed a swift response, and got it. Within a minute, Zernov dragged play into the Dinamo zone, setting up a two-on-one raid that Buchelnikov converted. Midway through the first, a home power play saw Roy fire CSKA ahead through traffic with Zach Fucale unsighted.

Early in the second, another power play saw Denis Guryanov again screening Fucale. This time, Prokhor Poltapov was the beneficiary with Roy among the assists. Yet Dinamo had the better of the frame, outshooting CSKA 13-4 and having almost three times the attacking possession. Martin stood between the visitor and way back into the game.

Then came another power play early in the third – too many men the call this time – and CSKA added a fourth. This was a strange play: a flurry of deflections sent the puck squirting out of everyone’s view … until Daniel Sprong spotted it in the left-hand circle and skated through a statuesque group of baffled players to beat Fucale and make it 4-1. Dinamo challenged the play, unsuccessfully, assuming that a high stick batted the puck into no-man’s-land.

If that left the visitor feeling aggrieved, it responded by launching a fightback. Sam Anas reduced the deficit in the 52nd minute, then Dinamo got a five-on-three power play. Make that six-on-three as Fucale went to the bench, and make that 3-4 as Stanislav Galiyev pulled it back to a one-goal game.

The Belarusians played another minute of six-on-four but could not find a tying goal before Vladislav Provolnev returned in the 57th minute. Later, Fucale returned to the sidelines once more, but this time Sprong found an empty-net goal to seal the home win.