Dynamo’s derby delight, Golyshev returns for Avto. October 23 round-up

A 5-0 thrashing of Moscow rival Spartak was the perfect tonic for Dynamo after losing two of its last three. Vladislav Podyapolsky played a big role, stopping 33 shots. Anton Golyshev returned from his suspension as Avtomobilist beat Traktor 5-3, and Neftekhimik defeated table-topping Metallurg by the same scoreline. Yanni Kaldis scored twice in Omsk as Severstal recorded a sixth successive win, and Salavat Yulaev won 5-2 at Sibir. 

Ufa impresses at Sibir

Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 (1-1, 0-3, 1-1)

Salavat Yulaev made it back-to-back wins while Sibir fell to a third successive loss after the visitor dominated the second period in Novosibirsk.

Three unanswered goals in that middle frame separated the teams, with Artyom Gorshkov scoring two of them. Team-mate Alexander Khokhlachyov had a three-point game to lead Ufa in scoring.

Khokhlachyov made a successful return to Salavat’s first line, while Sibir welcomed back Kirill Rasskazov to its offense.

The visitor got ahead early: in the third minute, Jack Rodewald converted his team’s first power play when, after several attempts, he got the puck past Anton Krasotkin in the home net. Sibir responded far, and Rasskazov marked his return with a tying goal four minutes later. The game continued with chances at both ends, and Prokhor Korbit hit the post for Ufa, but the score remained tied at 1-1 through 20 minutes.

Salavat Yulaev started fast in the second period as well, with Khokhlachyov restoring the lead from close range. That knocked the home team off its game, with Sibir introducing mistakes into its play. In the 29th minute, Gorshkov got his first of the game after a lovely deke from Maxim Kuznetsov. And Gorshkov padded that lead with his second goal just before the intermission, producing a lethal shot on the turn. The visitor’s dominance was underlined by the fact that Sibir managed just two shots on goal in that second period.

Sibir’s hopes of a fightback rested on grabbing a goal early in the third period. But it was not to be. Instead, Khokhlachyov made it 5-1 in the 47th minute before Yegor Alanov added a consolation effort for the host.

Kaldis stretches Severstal’s streak

Avangard Omsk 3 Severstal Cherepovets 4 OT (1-0, 1-2, 1-0, 0-1)

A fine OT goal from Yanni Kaldis saw Severstal extend its hot streak to six games with victory in Omsk. The Canadian defenseman did brilliantly to exchange passes with Mikhail Ilyin, sneak in front of the covering defenseman and slide his shot past Nikita Serebryakov to snatch a 4-3 verdict.

The Hawks began their latest home stand with Dmitry Rashevsky back in action after illness, while the Lynx were unchanged following their win at Admiral last time out.

Avangard made the better start but it wasn’t long before Severstal began to take control of the play. Ivan Kvochko missed a good chance, then the visitor got on the power play.

However, that pressure did not bring a goal and when the visitor got a penalty, Avangard struck. It took just six seconds for Konstantin Okulov to redirect Damir Sharipzyanov’s point shot. That goal separated the teams at the intermission.

In the second, Avangard injected some energy into its play. Mikhail Kotlyarevsky dinged the piping, but the next goal went to Severstal. Ilya Reingardt, a former Hawk, scored on his old team-mates to tie the game in the 24th minute. The home response was swift, with Mike McLeod restoring Avangard’s lead two minutes later.

Both teams came close to scoring – Okulov fired wide of an open net, then Ivan Podshivalov hit the post – before Severstal tied it up again in the 33rd minute. Kaldis was the scorer, firing through traffic to beat Serebryakov on the power play.

The visitor got ahead for the first time midway through the third, this time on a delayed penalty. Alexander Skorenov did well to hold off a home defenseman on the slot and force the puck beyond the goalie to make it 3-2.

For a time, Severstal kept Avangard at a distance, keeping hold of the puck and making it hard for the home team to get close to Alexander Samoilov’s net. With 2:45 on the clock, Guy Boucher called a time-out and went to six-on-five. That gamble paid off, with Max Lajoie grabbing a tying goal on 58:41 after Samoilov struggled to corral a rebound.

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 (0-1, 2-0, 3-2)

Anatoly Golyshev returned to Avtomobilist’s team on home ice after serving his suspension. Although the long-serving forward could have returned to his hometown team on its recent road trip, the club management opted to wait until the start of this week’s home stand.

Golyshev went into the fourth line but – so far, at least – has not resumed the captaincy. Kirill Vorobyov continues to wear the C in the absence of Nikita Tryamkin.

For Traktor, Benoit Groulx reshuffled his lines after defeat in Ufa and brought Semyon Der-Arguchintsev back into the team. Chris Driedger continued as starting goalie, having enjoyed his only shut-out of the season so far right here in Yekaterinburg.

History was on the home team’s side: the last seven meetings here between these two in October went Avtomobilist’s way. But within 45 seconds, Traktor had the lead: Der-Arguchintsev broke down the wing and picked out a defense-splitting pass for the unmarked Ruslan Aglamzyanov to score from between the hash marks. It was Traktor’s first shot of the game, and 21-year-old Aglamzyanov’s first goal in the KHL.

It took a long time for Avtomobilist to recover from that setback. Little went right for the home team in the first period, and not even a power play offered a lifeline.

At the start of the second, the Motormen had the puck in the net when a terrific no-look feed from Alexander Sharov released Curtis Valk to beat Driedger. But Groulx challenged the play and a hand pass in the build-up saw the goal called back. After that, Alexei Byvatlsev hit the post, Avtomobilist had another power play, and in the 35th minute Yaroslav Busygin tied the game at last.

Traktor’s problems increased when defensive leader Grigory Dronov was ejected from the game after colliding with an assistant referee. There was no major penalty associated with the call, but even at equal strength Avto got in front shortly after when the defense opened in front of Jesse Blacker and he fired over Driedger’s blocker. The visiting goalie made a great save late in the frame to deny Roman Gorbunov, but the middle session was a major disappointment for Traktor.

The problems continued into the third, and in the 47th minute Brooks Macek’s interception led to Stephane da Costa making it 3-1. For a time, that looked like a knock-out blow, but Traktor rallied to reduce the arrears in the 54th minute. Mikhail Grigorenko did a great job on the slot, screening Vladimir Galkin while tipping a Der-Arguchintsev into the net.

With more than three minutes left, Traktor switched to an empty net. That decision led to three more goals, but could not save the game. Nikita Shashkov scored into the empty net, Andrei Svetlakov got it back to 3-4 but the final word went to Busygin with another, game-killing empty-netter.

Wolves get revenge in another high-scoring clash

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (2-1, 2-2, 1-0)

Table-topping Metallurg fell to defeat at Neftekhimik. The home team bounced back from a remarkable 6-9 loss in Magnitogorsk four days ago, claiming a third victory in four games to climb to fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Perhaps this result owed something to the way the Wolves finished the game at Metallurg: down 2-8 at the second intermission, Igor Grishin’s men gained some respectability after taking the third period 4-1.

Today, that momentum carried forward and the home team was up by two midway through the first period. Vladislav Barulin and Evgeny Mityakin did the damage in the early stages.

But Metallurg is leading the way for a reason this season, and Andrei Razin’s team battled back to tie the game. Daniil Vovchenko reduced the deficit in the 15th minute and, early in the second period, Roman Kantserov bagged his fourth goal in five games to tie the scores. The visitor was also dominating the play and would finish the second period with a 30-18 lead in shots on goal.

Neftekhimik rallied, building another two-goal lead thanks to markers from Grigory Seleznyov and Andrei Belozyorov but, seconds before the intermission, Derek Barach pulled one back on the power play.

Barach then found himself in the box for 10 minutes early in the third after reacting angrily to the officials. During his absence, Metallurg continued to press for a way back into the game. Midway through the final frame, the visitor had spent more than five minutes on the attack; the home team just 46 seconds.

With three to play, Razin summoned Ilya Nabokov to the bench and played with an extra skater. But Neftekhimik worked hard on defense, blocking shots and keeping the visiting forwards to the margins. The final word went to German Tochilkin, who found the empty net to make it three goals in two games against Metallurg and 6 (5+1) points in his last three appearances.

Clinical Dynamo thrashes Spartak

Spartak Moscow 0 Dynamo Moscow 5 (0-1, 0-2, 0-2)

This was a demolition derby as Dynamo powered to a big win over Spartak. However, the final score did not entirely reflect the balance of play. The visitor relied on a great goaltending display from Vladislav Podyapolsky (33 Saves) and clinical finishing to score five goals on its first 16 shots. That produced a decisive result in the teams’ first meeting this season.

In terms of play, Spartak had much the better of the first period. However, despite outshooting Dynamo 12-5, the Red-and-Whites could not find the opening goal. And, in accordance with hockey lore, that failure was punished when one of the visitor’s rare attacks saw Artyom Ilyenko race onto Maxim Dzhioshvili’s stretch pass and beat Artyom Zagidulin in the ninth minute.

Spartak’s best chance of an equalizer came in the 16th minute when Usmanov forced a turnover in the corner, advanced on the net and fired a low shot that brought a smart save from Vladislav Podyapolsky.

At the start of the second period, Dynamo grabbed two quick goals, taking the game away from the home team. The first came on the power play: Jordan Weal fired the puck to the back door, where Cedric Paquette managed to avoid impeding the goalie before steering it home.

Then Ilyenko got his second of the night. He won possession behind the net and looked to find Dzhiovili in a reversal of the opening goal. This time, though, a Spartak skate deflected the pass and Ilyenko was named as the scorer.

Spartak could not make any inroads in the rest of the second period and trailed by three at the second intermission. Then, at the start of the third, Dynamo again grabbed a quick goal. This time, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi was on target, coming down the right to fire a low shot past Zagidulin.

Now things were getting embarrassing for the home team. A power play goal from Max Comtois in the 52nd minute made it 5-0, and Mikhail Maltsev took exception, picking a fight with Dynamo’s Canadian forward shortly afterwards. Derby day tends to excite the emotions more than most, but it was the visiting fans who were the most excited by tonight’s action.