Spartak edges thriller against Shanghai, Severstal flies high. October 21 round-up
The game of the day was in Moscow, where Spartak scored three goals in the last five minutes to tie with Shanghai before one-time Dragons hero Luke Lockhart potted a shoot-out winner. That result meant that Severstal jumped up to second in the Western Conference thanks to a 4-1 win at Admiral. Metallurg got past Sibir in overtime thanks to Vladimir Tkachyov’s second goal in two games. Salavat Yulaev snapped a five-game skid with victory over Traktor.
Severstal shoots down Sailors
Admiral Vladivostok 1 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (0-0, 0-2, 1-2)
Severstal secured a fifth straight victory, climbing up to second in the West. Admiral remains ninth in the East, two points behind Barys and Amur, but has played fewer games than either.
The home team looked brighter at the start, lifted by two extra days’ rest compared with Severstal. That extra pace helped create a couple of decent early chances, with dangerous shots from Stepan Starkov and former Severstal man Igor Geraskin. At the other end, the visitor managed some threatening counters, with Adam Huska producing a double save to deny Danil Aimurzin and Thomas Gregoire.
In the middle stanza Admiral failed to convert two power plays. After fulfilling its defensive duties, Severstal went to the other end to open the scoring. After winning an attacking face-off, the visitor got the puck to David Dumbadze. His first shot was blocked, but the second attempt found the net. A minute later, a counterattack saw Nikolai Chebykin double the lead.
Needing to chase the game in the third, the last thing Admiral needed was penalties. But the Sailors got two of them, losing valuable time and energy at the start of the session. At full strength, the host forced defenseman Timofei Davydov to clear off the line after a shot from a dead angle got past Vladislav Skotnikov. After that, Nikita Kamalov fired through traffic to make it 3-0 and chase Huska from the net. Young Arseny Tsyba replaced him, and managed not to allow another goal – Ivan Podshivalov’s effort was into an empty net. Admiral managed to deprive Skotnikov of a shut-out in the final second when
Dmitry Zavgorodny potted a consolation goal, but the points were long gone.
Tkachyov strikes again
Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 OT (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-1)
An overtime goal from Vladimir Tkachyov gave Metallurg victory in the second meeting between the two teams this season. That makes it two-for-two for Andrei Razin’s team against Sibir and secured a third successive win.
Sibir called on goalie Anton Krasotkin from the start and it was clear from the early exchanges that he would be crucial to any hopes of a result for the home team. In the end, he held on for 24 minutes as Sibir defied Metallurg in the goalless first period.
After the intermission, though, the visitor took control. Roman Kantserov scored on the power play, getting his stick to Yegor Yakovlev’s shot, and by the intermission the shot count was 16-2 in Metallurg’s favor. Krasotkin was all that kept the home team in the game, repelling regular pacy counterattacks.
In the third period, Sibir began to work Alexander Smolin a bit harder at the other end. A stronger showing from the home offense got its reward on 55:52 when Ivan Klimovich got one past the goalie from close range. That was enough to take the game to overtime and secure a point for Vyacheslav Butsayev’s team.
However, the extras saw Metallurg claim the verdict. Krasotkin made one more save to deny Nikita Mikhailis, but could do nothing with a laser of a shot from Tkachyov as he made it two goals in two games to settle the outcome.
Salavat snaps losing streak
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 (1-0, 1-0, 1-2)
The on-going series between Salavat Yulaev and Traktor moved to Ufa. The host was hoping to snap a five-game skid, while Traktor sought its first victory here in seven seasons.
The visitor had to do without two leaders – forwards Pierrick Dube and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev were missing, so Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer and Vasily Glotov joined Mikhail Grigorenko. However, the main focus for the home crowd was Josh Leivo, a record-breaking goalscorer for Salavat Yulaev last season now playing for Traktor. He took his place on the first line alongside Yegor Korshkov and Alexander Kadeikin.
The home team handed debuts to two forwards. Devin Brosseau made his debut the day after he arrived from Dynamo Moscow, renewing his acquaintance with Jack Rodewald, who was a team-mate at Kunlun Red Star from 2022-24. Artur Faizov, 19, made his KHL debut.
At first, the game resembled the recent match-up in Chelyabinsk: there were few scoring chances and the teams battled hard to generate some momentum. Artyom Gorshkov’s goal midway through the first period, scored on a delayed penalty, made the breakthrough for the home team after some great work from defenseman Evgeny Kulik.
Traktor responded by pressuring Semyon Vyazovoi in the home net. Leivo was prominent as he looked to extend his current four-game hot streak but Ufa’s lead remained intact at the intermission.
After the break, Salavat Yulaev extended its lead on a power play. Alexander Zharovsky found the net in the 23rd minute. But Traktor should have got at least one goal back: Leivo produced a fine diagonal feed for Andrei Svetlakov, but he couldn’t get enough of a stick on it.
Early in the third, Danil Alalykin had to be helped from the ice after crashing into the boards. The home forward went straight to the locker room, but Salavat Yulaev kept attacking and got a third goal through Vladislav Yefremov. Traktor belatedly fought back, sacrificing Chris Dreidger early to play with six skaters. That brought two goals: Leivo assisting Svetlakov on 56:08, then a power play tally for Mikhail Grigorenko 65 seconds later. But the visitor could not find a tying goal before the clock ran down as Salavat Yulaev claimed a valuable win.
Action-packed game goes to Spartak in a shoot-out
Spartak Moscow 7 Shanghai Dragons 6 SO (1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 0-0, 1-0)
A spectacular game in Moscow saw the teams share 12 goals in regulation. Spartak blew a 3-1 lead, then recovered a three-goal deficit to force overtime.
The extras could not produce a winner but the shoot-out saw Luke Lockhart – the man who holds the all-time games played record for the Dragons’ franchise – grab the winning goal for Spartak. Lockhart added to a goal and two assists in the game.
The result sees Shanghai drop to third, level on points with Severstal. Spartak moves to fifth, but in a tight Western Conference just four points separate the second-placed Dragons from CSKA in eighth.
The home team made a fast start to this game, getting an early power play which Nathan Todd converted in the fourth minute. The Dragons replied four minutes later through Nikita Popugayev and the visitor had the better of the play. Popugayev almost set up a go-ahead goal late in the frame but Kevin Labanc could not find the target.
In the second period, Spartak again started well. This time, the home pressure was protracted and brought a second goal thanks to Lockhart. Midway through the game, Alexander Pashin added a third, and Spartak looked comfortable.
Ryan Spooner, meanwhile, did not. He almost deflected Kuzmin’s shot into his own net, then he sat for roughing. But once Shanghai killed that penalty, the visitor hit back to tie the game late in the middle frame. Will Reilly moved onto Labanc’s pass to score his second of the season, then Nick Merkley tied it up on the power play on 38:53.
Penalties were a factor in the third as well. Borna Rendulic put Shanghai up for the first time in the game when he converted a power play in the 43rd minute. Labanc completed a hat-trick of assists on that play. Then, 10 minutes later, Rendulic turned provider as Adam Clendening – one of the few current Dragons to have played on the same team as Lockhart – got another PP marker to make it 5-3. A minute later, Pavel Akolzin scored a sixth, collecting his first point of the season and seemingly finishing the job.
But Spartak fought back. It took just 24 seconds for Ivan Ryabov to reduce the deficit; the 20-year-old’s first KHL goal was assisted by Lockhart. Then, on 58:43, another power play, another Lockhart helper and another goal for Todd to make it a one-goal game. Finally, Todd turned provider as German Rubtsov tied it up with 12 seconds left on the clock.
In the extras, Spartak got another power play chance but could not take advantage and the game went to a shoot-out.
