Amur stuns Loko, Dinamo thrashes Spartak. November 22 round-up

Yaroslavl saw the highest-scoring game of the day, but the defending champion struggled in a 4-6 loss at home to Amur. Forward Yaroslav Likhachyov, on loan from Loko to the Tigers, was among the scorers. Dinamo Minsk powered to a 6-0 demolition of Spartak in Belarus, with two goals apiece from Alex Limoges and Daniil Sotishvili. Metallurg beat Admiral in a shoot-out and Sibir won in regulation for the first time in two months, taking a 2-1 verdict at Sochi.

Magnitka takes shoot-out verdict

Metallurg Magnitgorsk 4 Admiral Vladivostok 3 SO (1-2, 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

A late goal from Daniil Gutik saved Admiral from defeat in regulation, but Metallurg overcame that disappointment to take the shoot-out.

The home team was able to restore its usual top trio, with Dmitry Silantyev fit to line up alongside Roman Kantserov and Vladimir Tkachyov. Alexander Smolin replaced Ilya Nabokov in goal, while Evgeny Kuznetsov was not selected for today’s game.

It didn’t take long for the league leader to get in front. Nikita Mikhailis beat Adam Huska in the third minute. In the early exchanges, Admiral struggled to generate much offense and did not manage a shot on goal until the seventh minute. However, Dmitry Zavgorodny’s attempt was good enough to tie the game. Then came a second goal for the visiting forward, this one a short-handed effort. Former Metallurg man Igor Geraskin set up that counterattack after the home team lost possession.

In the second period, Admiral suffered from frequent penalties – and often for trivial infringements. The visitor was twice cited for moving the net, and again for delay of game. The third time proved the charm for Magnitka’s power play and Mikhail Fyodorov tied the scores. The 18-year-old found the net for the second game in a row.

The third saw Metallurg get a five-on-three power play, which Admiral bravely killed. However, the momentum remained with the home team and Vladimir Tkachyov made it 3-2 in the 52nd minute when he potted the rebound from a Robin Press shot. Both players extended their productive streaks to five games.

Admiral escaped defeat. In the 56th minute the visitor got its first power play of the game and immediately replaced Huska with a sixth skater. Metallurg killed the penalty, but 73 seconds before the hooter Gutik found a tying goal.

That took us to overtime, where both teams had a spell on the power play but neither could score. Instead, the result was settled in a shoot-out with Roman Kantserov getting the winner.

Debut defeat for Kagarlitsky, Sibir wins again

HC Sochi 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 (1-0, 0-2, 0-0)

A rearguard action in the third period earned Sibir a second successive win and its first in regulation since Sep. 19. Anton Krasotkin made 15 saves in the final frame to preserve a 2-1 lead as acting head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov added to Thursday’s shoot-out success at Dynamo.

Sochi named new signing Dmitry Kagarlitsky among its forwards. The 36-year-old was without a club after leaving Torpedo in the summer, but brings undeniable KHL pedigree after 533 points in 816 games for eight previous clubs. He joined captain Pavel Dedunov and Igor Shvyryov on the fourth line and played more than 16 minutes, recording one shot at goal.

His line-mates combined for Sochi’s opener in the seventh minute, with Dedunov scoring only his second of the season. That gave the Leopards the lead at the end of an even first period.

But Sibir hit back in the second, turning the game around on goals from Timur Akhiyarov and Ivan Chekhovich. The latter is on a hot streak at the moment after scoring twice in the win at Dynamo.

Through two periods the teams had a more or less equal share of shots and attacking possession. But the third frame was very difference. Sibir more or less disappeared as an offensive threat, managing just one more effort at Pavel Khomchenko. At the other end, Anton Krasotkin made 15 saves to preserve his team’s slender lead and secure back-to-back wins.

Tigers claim another notable scalp

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 Amur Khabarovsk 6 (1-3, 1-2, 2-1)

For the second game in a row, Amur enjoyed a high-scoring victory over one of last year’s Gagarin Cup finalists. Following a 6-4 win at Traktor, the Tigers went to Yaroslavl and defeated the defending champion by the same scoreline. The result moves Amur back into seventh in the East ahead of Barys.

Loko threw away a winning position in the last five minutes of its previous game, and today found itself in deep trouble with five minutes played. Amur grabbed an early lead after winning possession on the end boards. Ignat Korotkikh played the puck to the slot, where Evgeny Svechnikov fired into the top corner. Then, on 5:03, Yaroslav Dyblenko doubled the lead when he converted a feed from the behind the net.

The Railwaymen replied at once and Maxim Beryozkin pulled one back. At that stage, the teams had shared three goals from just five shots on target. Indeed, home goalie Daniil Isayev did not manage to make a save until the 14th minute, when he stopped a goalbound effort from Yaroslav Likhachyov, on loan to Amur from Lokomotiv. A couple of minutes later, Likhachyov made his point to the home crowd when he bundled the puck home in the scrimmage after a Voronkov effort was saved.

The only blot on a great first period for Amur was a penalty for Ilya Talaluyev right on the hooter. That saw Alexander Radulov pull a goal back for Loko at the start of the middle frame. But there would be no fightback. Alex Broadhurst quickly made it 4-2 for the visitor, then late in the session Kirill Petkov added to the lead.

Isayev left the game at the second intermission, with Alexei Melnichuk taking over in the home net. And Lokomotiv responded well at start of the final frame. Alexei Bereglazov arrived at the back door to fire home a Radulov feed, then another power play brought an impressive goal from Yegor Surin to make it 4-5 with 14 minutes to play.

Amur responded with a time-out, and head coach Alexander Andriyevsky found the magic formula. Just 15 seconds after the restart, Korotkikh set up Svechnikov once again and the Tigers had some breathing space.

Lokomotiv had one more power play in the closing stages, but could not find a way to reduce the deficit. And the home team’s late surge came up short as Amur held on to take the verdict.

Spartak thrashed in Minsk

Dinamo Minsk 6 Spartak Moscow 0 (0-0, 2-0, 4-0)

For the second time this season, Dinamo blanked Spartak. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team now has two wins from two games against the Red-and-Whites, with an aggregate score of 9-0.

Today’s game saw the Bison dominant from the start. A strong first period saw Artyom Zagidulin make 15 saves to keep Spartak level. In addition, Vitaly Pinchuk hit the crossbar. The visitor struggled to create chances, despite having two power plays in the session.

Home dominance turned into goals in the second period. Dinamo got its first power play of the afternoon at the start of the session and Sergei Kuznetsov took advantage, firing home an Alex Limoges feed. Later, Spartak’s PP was thwarted once again and just after the teams returned to equal strength Vadim Shipachyov doubled the lead. Shipachyov moves to 993 career points and is ever closer to reaching the 1,000-point mark in the KHL.

The final stanza saw Dinamo press home its advantage. Limoges quickly added a third on a counterattack. The goals kept coming. Daniil Sotishvili scored twice in the closing stages, with Limoges getting another on the power play in between.

The home forwards will take the credit after a 6-0 victory, but the defense also deserves praise. There was relatively little to choose between the teams for attacking possession – 13:19 vs 11:13 in Dinamo’s favor. But the shot count was an emphatic 40-14 for the home team, highlighting how effective Spartak’s forwards were kept away from danger throughout the game.