10 straight for Ak Bars, Magnitka wins in Omsk. October 27 round-up

Ak Bars recorded a 10th successive victory, but left it late before claiming an overtime verdict against Admiral. Table-topping Metallurg eased to a 4-1 win at Avangard, with Vladimir Tkachyov making a goalscoring return to Omsk with his new club. Monday’s other game saw Neftekhimik beat Barys 3-2. 

Magnitka on top in Omsk

Avangard Omsk 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 (0-1, 1-3, 0-0)

Vladimir Tkachyov scored on his former team-mates to help Metallurg claim victory in Omsk. This leadership battle in the East saw the KHL’s current front-runner extend its lead at the top of the standings, bouncing back from a weekend loss at Neftekhimik.

The game got off to a lively start. Metallurg looked better at the start, but the first scoring chance went to Avangard when Ansel Galimov found a dangerous shooting lane. Mike McLeod had a similar chance for the home team, but Alexander Smolin remained unbeaten in the Magnitka net. Then, at the other end, Roman Kantserov went on a tour of Nikita Serebryakov’s zone before placing a wrister through traffic to separate the teams at the intermission.

Avangard seemed out of sorts and fell further behind in the second period. Nikita Korotkov grabbed a short-handed goal to make it 2-0 before the Hawks finally got one back. Damir Sharipzyanov’s burst down the left and impressive finish halved the deficit on his team’s second power play of the night.

The home captain’s effort was hardly a conventional PP goal, and Metallurg immediately took the opportunity to score a more traditional one. Robin Press, back in the team today, fired in a shot that Alexander Petunin redirected from close range.

That finally sparked the home team back into life. For the first time since the opening shifts, Avangard injected some pace into its play. However, Metallurg’s defense was prepared, and steadily moved the game back down the ice. A five-on-three power play late in the middle frame brought a fourth goal for the visitor: Tkachyov took full advantage on his first return to Omsk since leaving in the summer.

Down by three with 20 to play, the Hawks showed little sign of charging forward in a bid to save the game. Instead, the home team played much as it had in the first two sessions. It wasn’t until the seventh minute of the frame that Avangard had a genuine scoring chance: Nikolai Prokhorkin did everything to set up Galimov, but Smolin made a fine save to deny him from the slot.

An unsuccessful home power play midway through the third felt like the last serious chance to save the game. With five to play, Boucher swapped Serebryakov for a sixth skater but the late surge foundered a series of penalties. In the final moments, Avangard had a chance of a consolation goal when Smolin threw his stick and the Hawks got a penalty shot. However, Prokhorkin could not beat the goalie and it finished 4-1.

Safonov seals 10th win for Ak Bars

Ak Bars Kazan 3 Admiral Vladivostok 2 OT (1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 1-0)

It’s 10 out of 10 for Ak Bars – but only just. An overtime verdict for Anvar Gatiyatulin’s in-form team means it is still undefeated in October, but Admiral got within 90 seconds of halting that red-hot run. The visitor improved on its showing in 3-5 loss on Saturday and was up 2-1 going into the closing moments. But Alexander Chmelevski saved Ak Bars before Ilya Safonov grabbed the game winner.

With such a buoyant mood around the club, the home coaching staff went with an unchanged roster save for the decision to start Mikhail Berdin in goal ahead of Timur Bilyalov. The visitor scratched defenseman Ruslan Pedan, replacing him with Dmitry Deryabin. There was also a first KHL start for young goalie Arseny Tsyba.

In the first period Ak Bars saw more of the puck, but Admiral’s shoot-on-sight policy ensured that the visitor had more attempts on Berdin’s net. However, the only goal went to the home team midway through the session. Dmitry Katelevsky showed he’s not afraid to go where it hurts, claiming the opener after Nikita Dynyak’s effort bounced off Tsyba’s pads and into the home forward’s face before bouncing into the net.

However, Admiral continued to press and got its reward in the second period. Kyle Olson’s seventh goal of the season tied the game in the 34th minute when he converted a counterattack to tie the scores.

And at the start of the third, Pavel Shen put the visitor ahead. He banged the puck in from the boards and benefitted from a helpful deflection of Berdin’s back to find the net.

For a time, that looked like it might be enough to snap the Ak Bars streak. The home team struggled to get good looks at Tsyba all night. Admiral blocked 24 shots in the regulation and outshot it host 37-23 through 60 minutes, despite Ak Bars enjoying 12:40 on the attack against 6:59.

But the last hurrah wa enough to save a point for Gatiyatulin’s team. Playing six-on-five, Ak Bars tied it up on 58:35 thanks to Chmelevski. Mitch Miller kept the puck in the Admiral zone and got it to Chmelevski in the right-hand circle. His shot beat Tsyba to the short side and sent the game into overtime.

Then, in the extras, Safonov got the puck on his own blue line and started turning the wheels. He reached the Admiral zone, got round Daniil Gutik and beat Tsyba to secure a 10th win in a row for Ak Bars.

Kapustin’s shorty sinks Barys

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 Barys Astana 2 (2-0, 1-1, 1-0)

A short-handed goal made the difference as Neftekhimik rounded off its latest home stand with a win.

The home team made a strong start to the game, opening a 2-0 lead inside nine minutes. Vladislav Barulin opened the scoring after 66 seconds, then Matvei Nadvorny doubled the lead.

That was a fair reflection of a dominant first-period performance from Neftekhimik. Midway through the session, the Wolves led the shot count 12-4 and although Barys improved as the game went on, there was little for Filipp Dolganov to worry about in the home net.

After the intermission, though, Barys posed more of a challenge. Initially, the Kazakhs focused on slowing the game down, limiting Neftekhimik to a solitary shot at Andrei Shutov in the first six minutes of the session. Then Ansar Shaikhmeddenov pulled a goal back on 28:56 and, within a minute, the visitor got on the power play. However, that did not work out well for Barys; Kirill Kapustin claimed possession and skated away for a short-handed goal to make it 3-1 at the second break.

At the start of the third, Reilly Walsh got a second goal for Barys. The home bench challenged the play, believing Dolganov was impeded when Mason Morelli and Michael Vecchione bore down on the net before Walsh fired home from the right-hand circle. The video review confirmed the goal and put Barys back on the power play.

After that, the momentum was with the visitor. However, Neftekhimik withstood the pressure in the closing stages to secure a hard-fought win and move ahead of Traktor into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.