Dragons pull off late comeback, Sochi beats Salavat. November 19 round-up

Shanghai Dragons were outplayed for long stretches of their game at Lokomotiv, but turned a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 OT victory thanks to Kevin Labanc’s winner. In the south, Sochi defeated Salavat Yulaev at home for the first time in six years.

Loko blows lead, Labanc snatches winner

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Shanghai Dragons 4 OT (1-0, 1-0, 1-3, 0-1)

Kevin Labanc’s OT goal completed a staggering Shanghai fightback to secure the Dragons’ second win of the season against the defending champion.
Lokomotiv dominated much of the game, leading 3-1 with five minutes to play and, outshooting the Dragons 45-13 even after the visitor tied the game in the 58th minute.

The dramatic finale seemed a remote prospect when Maxim Shalunov gave Loko the lead with the first shot of the game. That set the tone for a flying start for Bob Hartley’s team, but his players could not press home their advantage in this clash of two Canadian head coaches.

Gerard Gallant encouraged his team to attack more after the intermission, and there were presentable chances for Borna Rendulic, Nikita Popugayev and Spencer Foo in the second period. However, there was no reward for the visitor’s efforts and Lokomotiv soon regained control of the game and added a second goal through Byron Froese. Ilya Nikolayev’s assist brought his first point of the season.

At the start of the third, Shanghai got off the mark through Nick Merkley, but almost immediately Lokomotiv restored the two-goal advantage through Yegor Surin.

At that point, the game seemed destined for a straightforward home victory. But, on exactly 55 minutes, Merkley’s second of the night reduced the deficit. Then Gage Quinney tied the game with a fine goal, skating clear of Froese, sitting Daniil Isayev on the ice and lifting the puck over him into the net.

That took the action into overtime and once again Lokomotiv put pressure on Patrik Rybar’s net. The visiting goalie denied Martin Gernat, Shalunov and Alexander Yelesin. But the sucker punch came in the 63rd minute when Troy Josephs broke down the left wing and fired the puck into the center for Labanc to steer it past Isayev and complete a remarkable comeback.

Leopards end long wait for win over Ufa

HC Sochi 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 (1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Sochi got a home win over Salavat Yulaev for the first time in six years thanks to a Max Ellis goal in the third period. That represented just a second win in seven games for the Leopards, although optimists on the Black Sea shores will point out that it is also two victories in three.

Timur Khafizov got the home team off to a great start, opening the scoring on 1:44. That wasn’t the start goalie Ilya Konovalov was looking for as he made his Ufa debut and returned to action after a long lay-off. His rebound offered Khafizov a second look, and he stuffed the puck home.

In response, Salavat shifted play to the other end. The pressure paid off midway through the frame when Sheldon Rempal found Devin Brosseau at the back door to make it 1-1.

The game was disrupted by frequent penalties for both teams, and Salavat Yulaev’s imports combined well on the power play to test Pavel Khomchenko in the home net. At the other end, a Sochi penalty saw Ellis ding the piping, but there was no scoring in the second period.

Both teams went in search of a winner in the third period, and a power play proved decisive. Salavat suffered its second ‘too many men’ call of the night and it turned out to be too many. Ellis lasered home a shot to make it 2-1 with six minutes to play.

In the closing stages, Viktor Kozlov called a time-out and Konovalov made way for a sixth skater. But even with his most powerful offensive weapons on the ice, Kozlov could not conjure a saving goal for his team.