Torpedo wins summit battle. November 10 round-up

The clash of the Western Conference leaders saw Torpedo edge Lokomotiv 2-1 to draw level on points with the defending champion. Dinamo Minsk is up to third thanks to a 5-2 win over Sochi; Severstal lost ground with a 0-2 reverse at CSKA. Lada sank Salavat Yulaev with 22 seconds left in Ufa and Ak Bars claimed the Tatar derby at Neftekhimik. Shanghai Dragons won on the road at Dynamo Moscow, Spartak handed Sibir a 10th successive loss and SKA edged Avangard by a single goal.

Ivanov defies Avangard

Avangard Omsk 0 SKA St. Petersburg 1 (0-1, 0-0, 0-0)

Sergei Ivanov made 43 saves to frustrate Avangard and bring SKA victory in Omsk. The netminder was one of a few changes made by head coach Igor Larionov for this game. Pierrick Dube, recently signed from Traktor, made his debut while Markus Phillips, usually a defenseman, was deployed on the fourth line offense.

Dube slotted into the second line alongside fellow imports Rocco Grimaldi and Joseph Blandisi. But the main offensive focus emerged elsewhere. Early in the game, Nikolai Prokhorkin converted Avangard’s first power play, but he used his hand and the goal was ruled out. The breakthrough came at the other end; late in the frame, Nikita Nedopyonkin fed Ignat Lutfullin from behind the net and the 20-year-old scored his first ever KHL goal in his fifth appearance for SKA.

At the start of the second period, Avangard stepped up the pressure but Ivanov and his defensemen stood firm. At the other end, Matvei Polyakov twice got clean through on Nikita Serebryakov but could not take the chances. Then Andrei Pedan fired against the post but the period finished without any further scoring.

Not surprisingly, the Hawks ramped it up at the start of the third in search of a way back into the game. Ivanov stood on his head at times, making huge saves to deny Mike McLeod and Andrew Poturalski and preserve his team’s slender lead. In the end, that made the difference as SKA secured a third successive win.

Late raid gives Lada the points

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Lada Togaliatti 5 (1-2, 1-1, 1-2)

Two goals in the final 22 seconds lifted Lada to victory in Ufa. Nikita Mikhailov’s second of the night snapped a 3-3 tie before Kirill Zhukov sealed the deal with 10 seconds left.

Lada made just one change from its win in Minsk: goaltending hero Alexander Trushkov got a well-earned rest after making 49 saves and Ivan Bocharov returned to the team.

Bocharov’s opponents included Sheldon Rempal, back in Ufa and placed straight onto the top line alongside Jack Rodewald and Devin Brosseau.

But the opening stanza favored Lada. The Motormen opened the scoring with a short-handed goal from Andrei Obidin in the ninth minute. Late in the frame, a Lada power play brought Mikhailov his first of the game before Rodewald pulled one back almost immediately. Rempal assisted on that play to get off the mark in his second spell with the club.

Early in the second, Lada did a good job of trapping Salavat in its zone. However, the home team recovered and Grigory Panin tied the game. However, it wasn’t long before Mack Hollowell restored the Lada lead.

In the final frame, Salavat tied it up once again when Yegor Suchkov redirected Alexei Vasilevsky’s shot into the net. The defenseman’s assist was the 100th of his career. After that, Ufa killed a double minor following a rare infringement from Maxim Kuznetsov but rallied to go in search of a late winner. However, the decisive play came at the other end; a turnover released Mikhailov one-on-one with Semyon Vyazovoi and he made no mistake. Kirill Zhukov completed the scoring into the empty net seconds before the end.

Firstov’s skate settles clash of conference leaders

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Victory over the defending champion moves Torpedo level with Lokomotiv at the top of the Western Conference. Monday’s big game saw Alexei Isakov’s men claim a sixth successive victory, halting Loko’s five-game streak.

Torpedo faced instant adversity in this game: just 30 seconds in, Georgy Ivanov opened the scoring for Loko off Yegor Surin’s pass from the boards. After that, the play was cautious for a time with the players battling for every inch of the ice. However, when Sergei Goncharuk got a chance to accelerate down the wing in the eighth minute, he found space to beat Daniil Isayev from an incredibly tight angle and tie the game.

The home team was close to getting in front, but Alexander Yaremchuk’s shot was blocked at the last moment. And, as the first period progressed, tensions rose and there were a couple of minor skirmishes between opposing players before the intermission.

The middle stanza was a tactical battle. Lokomotiv tried to use long passes to get into enemy territory, firing in shots from the blue line and hoping to generate traffic in front of Denis Kostin’s net. Torpedo, by contrast, sought opportunities on the counterattack. Neither team could find the go-ahead goal.

That breakthrough arrived early in the third period. Bogdan Konyushkov banged in a point shot and got the break when it bounced of Firstov’s skate and into the net. There was still 17 minutes to play and Lokomotiv went out in search of a tying goal, but Torpedo defended well. Maxim Shalunov produced a dangerous shot, and Alexander Radulov’s aggression on the slot caused problems, but the home team created chances on the counter and saw Yegor Vinogradov hit the post.

Bison overpower Sochi

Dinamo Minsk 5 HC Sochi 2 (1-0, 2-1, 2-1)

The Belarusians bounced back from Saturday’s 0-1 loss against Lada, scoring five on Sochi to move into the top three in the Western Conference. Dinamo now has 13 goals on the Leopards in two games this season.

However, the visitor could feel aggrieved to trail at the intermission. Sochi outshot Dinamo 16-10 through the opening 20 minutes, but the only goal came at the other end when Sam Anas struck in the seventh minute.

Part of Dinamo’s problem in the first period was repeated penalties: the home team spent six minutes on the PK. The second period saw Dmitry Kvartalnov’s men clean up their act, and build a 3-1 lead. Rafael Bikmulin put Sochi level, but only briefly: Nikita Pishkailo restored the lead 90 seconds later, then Josh Brook added a third in the 39th minute.

In the third, Sochi reduced the deficit through Max Ellis with 10 minutes to go. But Dinamo would not be caught. Alex Limoges made it 4-2 in the 54th minute and Ilya Usov’s empty-netter finished the job.

Quickfire double sends Sibir spinning to 10th straight loss

Spartak Moscow 6 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 (1-1, 4-2, 1-0)

Sibir slumped to a 10th successive loss in a game that hinged on two goals in 21 seconds in the middle frame.

The visitor, which last won back on Oct. 14 at Barys, got up 3-2 midway through the second period. However, Spartak turned things around in decisive fashion. Yegor Filin tied the game on 31:19, then Mikhail Maltsev’s second of the game made it 4-3 on 31:40.

It was the second team Sibir had got ahead, only to see Spartak fight back. In the 10th minute, Vyacheslav Leshchenko, in only his third game since joining the club, opened the scoring off Vladislav Kara’s feed. Spartak responded four minutes later through Nathan Todd and the game was tied at the intermission.

Spartak began the second period with an effective PK, then began to assert itself. Anton Krasotkin made a string of saves before Maltsev’s first of the night made it 2-1. In the next couple of shifts, the Red-and-Whites hit the post before Adam Ruzicka was inches away from scoring.
But Sibir survived, and then flourished. Scott Wilson tied the game before Kara produced a fine backhanded finish from the slot a minute later to make it 3-2.

After Spartak’s double salvo, Krasotkin yielded his place to young Semyon Kokaulin. The incoming goalie was beaten for the first time just before the intermission when Filin got his second.

That was the game-breaker. Sibir never really got started in the third, managing just three shots on goal. At the other end, Kokaulin faced 17, but was not beaten. The final word came when Maltsev set up Nikita Korostelyov for an empty-netter.

Ak Bars on top in local derby

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (0-3, 0-1, 1-0)

Ak Bars enjoyed a comfortable victory in this latest Tatar derby, snapping a three-game skid that followed its club record 11-game hot streak.

Neftekhimik came into the game as the form team thanks to a run of three straight wins, most recently a 1-0 verdict over Salavat Yulaev.

Ak Bars was more active from the start and began to turn that pressure into goals midway through the first period. Mikhail Fisenko opened the scoring when his rather routine shot squirmed through Filipp Dolganov’s defenses. Once in front, the visitor built on its lead: Grigory Denisenko added a second from the slot, then Kirill Semyonov got a pass off as he fell and Dmitrij Jaskin steered the puck into an open net.

If Ak Bars dominated the first period, Neftekhimik managed to even the balance of play in the second. But it could not make any inroads on the scoreboard. Timur Bilyalov did well to deny Nikita Khoruzhev on the counter, but the next goal went to Jaskin. The Czech international got his second of the night to finish a swift attack. In keeping with an authentic local derby, a fight broke out late in the frame when Ilya Pastukhov challenged Nikita Dynyak after taking exception to a hit on a team-mate. Pastukhov was assessed the initiator, but Ak Bars did little with the power play.

In the third period, the Wolves simplified their offensive play. Shots came in from distance and the focus was on getting bodies in front of Bilyalov’s net. Eventually, this brought a consolation goal when Luka Profaca converted a rebound from the slot. But that was the sole highlight of a tough game for the home team as Ak Bars eased to victory.

Gamzin celebrates back-to-back shut-outs

CSKA Moscow 2 Severstal Cherepovets 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Goaltender Dmitry Gamzin faces competition for the starting slot at CSKA following the arrival of Alexander Samonov. But he is responding in the best possible fashion, recording back-to-back shut-outs and staking his claim to the #1 role.

Gamzin blanked Severstal in Moscow on Monday, backstopped CSKA’s third win over Andrei Kozyrev’s high flyers this season.

Another key player this season, Daniel Sprong, showed why he is leading the Muscovites in scoring with a vital contribution to the opening goal. It was late in a hard-fought first period when the Dutchman dragged the puck out of the corner and got it to the slot. After a deflection, it dropped behind Alexander Samoilov and Pavel Karnuakhov got their first to stuff it into the net.
The second period was goalless and there were few big chances. Adam Liska was closest to tying the scores, getting on the counterattack during a PK but failing to beat Gamzin.

The final frame saw the home team look for a decisive second goal. Prokhor Poltapov got the puck beyond the goal line and sent it back to the danger zone, where Takhir Mingachyov took advantage to make it 2-0.

At the other end, Gamzin finished with 34 saves and has now gone 120:23 without allowing a goal.

Dragons get revenge on Dynamo

Dynamo Moscow 1 Shanghai Dragons 4 (0-2, 0-1, 1-1)

Two weeks ago, Dynamo won on the road at the Dragons. Today, Gerard Gallant’s team avenged that loss and halted a three-game skid.

The visitor got off to a great start: Nikita Popugayev beat Maxim Motorygin on his team’s first shot of the game. For Motorygin, recalled in place of Vladislav Podyapolsky, it was hard to take: the goalie saw the shot, reacted to it, but could not hold on.

Shanghai’s second goal followed in the 15th minute and this time there were questions marks over the defense. Under little pressure, Dynamo coughed up the puck. Then four players waited indecisively as Kevin Labanc skated from the end boards to the slot and scored.

The start of the second period saw Dynamo trying to find a way back. Yet Labanc was closer to scoring when another error sent him off on a two-on-one rush. Motoryin stopped that, but found himself heading to the bench soon after when a double deflection earned Shanghai a third goal. The home team suffered similar misfortune at the other end where Maxim Dzhioshvili hit the post before Artyom Ilyenko fired wide of an open net.

The third period saw Dynamo enjoy a territorial advantage, get more shots on Andrei Tikhomirov and produce some promising play. But time after time, the big battles went Shanghai’s way. Mario Patalakha finally broke the spell when his long range effort beat Tikhomirov as Maxim Mamin provided the screen. However, that was a one-off. The Dragons would not be denied and wrapped it up with an empty net goal from Nate Sucese.