Big win for Metallurg, Dinamo downs CSKA. November 3 round-up
Metallurg returned to the top of the KHL standings with an emphatic 6-1 win at home to Shanghai Dragons. Despite allowing a first-minute goal, the Steelmen proved too hot for Gerard Gallant’s men. In Minsk, Dinamo reeled off a fifth straight win as Vasily Demchenko blanked CSKA in a 2-0 win. Andrei Belozyorov’s hat-trick was too much for Barys as Neftekhimik won 5-2 in Kazakhstan.
No Kuznetsov, no problem for Magnitka
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Shanghai Dragons 1 (4-1, 0-0, 2-0)
Despite the absence of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who did not feature in the third period of Metallurg’s previous game against Ak Bars, Magnitka proved too strong for Shanghai. The famed forward was one of three changes on Andrei Razin’s team, with Mikhail Fyodorov and Danila Palivko also sitting this on out as Igor Nechayev, Matvei Galenyuk and Valery Orekhov returned to the team.
The home team suffered an early shock. Shanghai’s in-form Nikita Popugayev pounced on a wayward pass from Alexander Siryatsky and fired home after 48 seconds. But Metallurg wasted little time in turning the game around. Daniil Vovchenko and Ruslan Iskhakov converted two power plays to make it 2-1 inside 10 minutes.
Magnitka maintained that momentum at equal strength and it wasn’t long before Iskhakov set up Nikita Mikhailis for a one-timer. Then Dmitry Silantyev added a fourth to complete an action-packed first period.
The second period saw Shanghai replace starting goalie Patrik Rybar with Andrei Tikhomirov. He was immediately tested by the home team, but came up with the answers. It wasn’t until a penalty on Yegor Yakovlev slowed Metallurg’s charge that the home team got the play away from the Dragons’ net. Tikhomirov made 12 saves in the goalless middle frame.
But Metallurg was in no mood to let its dominance slip. The third period brought two more goals – Roman Kantserov and Yegor Korobkin on target – to complete an emphatic win.
Belozyorov treble sinks Barys
Barys Astana 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5 (0-0, 2-3, 0-2)
Andrei Belozyorov’s hat-trick secured victory for Neftekhimik in Kazakhstan. The Wolves continue to alternate wins and losses, while Barys fell to a fourth successive defeat.
The home team made several changes after its 3-6 loss to Traktor. Most notably, new signing Max Willman made his KHL debut, playing on the right of the second line.
Barys had the better of the early exchanges and managed five shots on goal without reply. However, Neftekhimik got into contention after Ian McCoshen’s penalty.
The deadlock was broken in the second period. Mason Morelli thought he had opened the scoring for Barys, but a review found that his stick was too high as he redirected McCoshen’s point shot. Neftekhimik made the most of that reprieve: German Tochilkin forced a turnover and set up a counterattack that Nikita Khoruzhev finished. A minute later, on the power play, Belozyorov converted Danil Yurtaikin’s feed to double the lead.
The goals kept coming. Alikhan Asetov went behind the net to create a response for Barys, scored by Kirill Panyukov. But almost immediately, Yurtaikin and Belozyorov combined for the second time to make it 3-1. The teams had traded four goals in 3:38, and there was more to come after 33 minutes when Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan made it 2-3.
Home hopes of saving the game in the third were boosted when Barys started the frame on the power play. However, Neftekhimik’s defense held firm. Then the visiting PP flexed its muscles. Ivan Nikolishin, playing only his second game for the Wolves, scored on the club where he began the season before Belozyorov completed his treble on 51:57. Yurtaikin contributed his third assist of the game.
Demchenko blanks CSKA, Dinamo up to third
Dinamo Minsk 2 CSKA Moscow 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)
A 2-0 win over CSKA moves Dinamo to third in the West, while the Muscovites remain precariously placed in eighth. CSKA is just two points clear of ninth-placed SKA as two of the most famous names in Russian hockey risk getting embroiled in a battle to even make the playoffs.
In Belarus, though, the emphasis is more on how high up the table Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team can get. This was a fifth successive victory and the Bison are just three points behind conference leader Lokomotiv with a game in hand.
For much of the evening, this game was something of an arm wrestle. From the start, the teams played competitive hockey with center ice congested and scoring chances at a premium. The opening stanza saw CSKA with more of the puck, while Dinamo managed shots on target – 8-5 in the home team’s favor.
After the intermission, things didn’t change all that much. Once again, Dmitry Gamzin was the busier netminder; once again ‘busier’ was a relative term. Although the second period produced the first power plays of the night – one for each team – there was still little sign of a breakthrough.
At the start of the third, CSKA began to threaten. The visitor was helped by an early power play, then Nikolai Kovalenko started to make things happen. His diagonal feed almost saw Daniel Sprong open the scoring from the left wing, then on a delayed penalty he fired against the post. However, after that near miss, Kovalenko’s temper let him down. A swipe at Nicolas Meloche brought him a double minor, not only wiping out his team’s upcoming power play, but putting CSKA on the PK.
That would be the first of two unsuccessful home power plays, and when CSKA returned to full strength in the 54th minute overtime seemed the likely outcome. But what Dinamo could not manage on the power play, it achieved at equal strength. Daniil Sotishvili went behind the net and fired the puck out in front for Ilya Usov to score.
CSKA responded with pressure on Vasily Demchenko’s net, but he proved unbeatable on the night and finished with a 26-save shut-out. At the other end, Usov turned provider as Stanislav Galiyev’s empty net goal sealed the verdict for the host.
