Fright night for goalies, Loko moves in front. October 31 round-up

Hallowe’en turned into a nightmare for three teams: Sibir suffered a 1-7 drubbing at Avtomobilist, Admiral lost 0-5 at Salavat Yulaev and Barys allowed six goals in defeat at Traktor. The closest battle of the night was also the highest profile clash: Lokomotiv moved two points clear at the top of the Western Conference after edging a 3-2 verdict over SKA, which remains outside the playoff spots.

Boucher’s hat-trick of helpers spooks Sibir

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 7 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (1-0, 4-1, 2-0)

Despite missing Stephane da Costa, Avtomobilist’s forwards put the frighteners on Sibir in a 7-1 victory. The home side elevated Alexei Byvaltsev to center the first line, while Anatoly Golyshev was also promoted after picking up his first points of the season in the previous game.

Sibir welcomed back defenseman David Farrance after injury, while head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev reshuffled every line in hope of ending a five-game skid. Scott Wilson was a scratch, young Alexander Pershakov went into the third line.

But a new-look Sibir faced the same old story: the visitor was forced to play on the counter as Avtomobilist dominated possession. Louis Domingue made a good save to deny Reid Boucher, then the post came to Sibir’s rescue before Jesse Blacker opened the scoring midway through the first period.

At the start of the middle frame, Sibir tied the scores with a power play goal. Sergei Shirokov screened home goalie Vladimir Galkin as Yegor Alanov fired home from the point. But Avtomobilist responded quickly to take control of the game: Brooks Macek produced a perfect set-up for Maxim Denezhkin to restore the lead. That was the first of three goals in little over two minutes. A statueseque visiting defense watched Danil Romantsev get away from Chase Priskie to set up Artyom Kashtanov for 3-1, then the next attack saw Curtis Valk redirect Nikita Ishimnikov’s shot into the net.

A session characterized by Sibir’s defensive lapses concluded with another one: Priskie skated into a team-mate as he tried to take the puck into center ice. Boucher claimed possession and picked up his third assist of the night as Macek made it 5-1.

There was no way back for the visitor. Despite going in search of at least a consolation effort in the finale frame, Sibir’s attacks often led to Avto’s counterpunches. Yaroslav Busygin’s stretch pass released Roman Gorbunov to add a sixth midway through the frame, and he added his second of the night in the final second to complete an emphatic win.

Fast start for Traktor at last

Traktor Chelyabinsk 6 Barys Astana 3 (3-0, 1-1, 2-2)

With a flying start against Barys, Traktor may have solved one of its on-going problems. Throughout the season, Benoit Groulx’s team has struggled in the first period of its games. Tonight, though, it jumped to a 3-0 lead before the intermission and preserved that advantage to the end.

It took just 17 seconds to open the scoring. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Mikhail Grigorenko produced a great combination, and Josh Leivo finished it off. Barys managed to kill a penalty, but that was the limit of the good news for the visitor. Traktor’s young guns doubled the lead: Ruslan Aglamzyanov and Alexei Rykmanov launched a pacy counter, finished by Alexander Rykov. Then Jordan Gross padded the lead to three with a power play goal in the 17th minute.

Late in the first and early in the second, Traktor found itself on the penalty kill. But that didn’t slow the scoring. Vasily Glotov potted a shorthanded goal early in the middle frame, winning possession in his own zone before surging down the ice to beat Andrei Shutov. That was the end for the visiting goalie, with Adam Scheel replacing him.

Barys showed some signs of life on its next power play and Mike Vecchione got the Kazakhs on the board at last. Then, early in the third, Jake Massie’s long-range effort got it back to 2-4 and offered at least a hint of a fightback.

Traktor responded swiftly to shut down that ambition: Vladimir Zharkov’s redirect made it 5-2, then 17-year-old defenseman Yaroslav Fedoseyev notched his first goal to bring up six for the host. Tyce Thompson scored late to give Barys the final word, but Traktor had settled the argument long before.

Big win for Ufa in Hallowe’en sequel

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 5 Admiral Vladivostok 0 (3-0, 0-0, 2-0)

For the second time in three days, Salavat Yulaev enjoyed a big win over Admiral. On Wednesday it was 6-1, tonight it was 5-0 as the Sailors slumped to a sixth successive defeat.

Leonids Tambijevs responded to that skid by switching up his roster. Georgy Solyannikov replaced Ruslan Pedan on defense, while a new-look first line brought together Alexander Daryin, Vyacheslav Osnovin and Ivan Muranov. His opposite number, Viktor Kozlov, made no changes to a winning team.
The visitor, as expected, tried to play a tight defensive game. And that shut-out proved to be Admiral’s key tactic. But it was undermined by penalties: Salavat converted its first two power plays. Jack Rodewald collected a goal and an assist against his former club and Alexander Khokhlachyov maintained his good recent run with his fourth goal in as many games.

Admiral’s problems increased when Pavel Koledov suffered an injury while bravely blocking a shot. Salavat scented blood and added a third when academy graduate Artur Faizov scored for the third game in a row.

After the intermission, Admiral injected some aggression into its game. That sparked a fight just 15 seconds into the second period: Alexander Daryin toppled home goalie Semyon Vyazovoi and Devin Brosseau picked up a major for his remonstrations. Soon after, Kyle Olson’s penalty brought the teams back to equal numbers; on his return to action he jumped out of the box onto a breakaway, but Vyazovoi had his number.

In the third period, Admiral went in search of at least a consolation goal. However, the home defense was in no mood to give away Vyazovoi’s shut-out. At the other end, Brosseau broke free to beat Adam Huska and score his first goal for Salavat Yulaev. Then Prokhor Korbit made the final score 5-0 with a last-minute goal.

Railwaymen steam clear in the West

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 SKA St. Petersburg 2 (2-2, 1-0, 0-0)

Defending champion Lokomotiv went two points clear at the top of the Western Conference after edging past SKA. Igor Larionov’s visitor remains ninth in the standings, two points adrift of a playoff spot after 20 games.

Today’s game ended the visitor’s two-game winning streak, but this was a competitive performance from the Petersburg team against Bob Hartley’s men.
Lokomotiv was the first to pose an offensive threat, but the opening goal went to the visitor. In the seventh minute, SKA produced a swift and effective counterattack. Matvei Korotky, on the boards, dished off the puck to the blue line where Danila Galenyuk launched a low shot into the bottom corner. Goalie Daniil Isayev’s vision was blocked by team-mate Daniil Misyul.

SKA then got the night’s first power play, and Sergei Plotnikov steered a Korotky shot against the crossbar. Was Lokomotiv turning into a ghost train on Hallowe’en?

Not this time. The home team responded with two goals in 27 seconds to take the lead. Misyul began his rehabilitation with an assist as Pavel Kraskovsky tied the scores, then Georgy Ivanov made it 2-1 after Martin Gernat fired the puck to the slot.

But territorial advantage wasn’t enough to preserve the home lead. SKA was always capable of creating good chances and tied the game once more when Marat Khairullin scored on a breakaway in the 18th minute. Before the intermission the visitor almost got back in front after forcing a turnover in center ice. Joseph Blandisi closed on Isayev’s net but could not finish the chance.

Exactly a minute into the second period, Misyul made his next big contribution – and it proved to be the winning goal. Artur Kayumov found the defenseman in the middle of the zone and Misyul strode forward before putting a wrister into the top corner.

Lokomotiv suffered hardship after that. Plotnikov dinged the piping again, Andrei Loktionov steered a Blandisi effort narrowly wide on the power play, then a five-on-three advantage saw SKA’s Rocco Grimaldi test Isayev again. The chances kept coming for the visitor, which outshot Loko 17-10 in the middle frame but could not get back on level terms.

In the third period, we saw something of the Lokomotiv of old. Last season, Igor Nikitin had his players used to defending leads in the final frame. Tonight, Bob Hartley channelled that defensive discipline to limit SKA to just seven shots at Isayev. The best chance of the session went to the home team, with Zaitsev making a vital block to deny Alexander Radulov a certain goal. The Railwaymen held on to take a third win of the season over SKA.