SKA goes into playoff zone, Kozlov gets first win. November 24 round-up

Monday’s big stories came from Moscow, where SKA won at CSKA to overtake its opponent and move to eighth place in the Western Conference. Across town, Dynamo left it late to shoot down Amur and give interim head coach Vyacheslav Kozlov his first victory. Lokomotiv went back to the top of the West with a 4-1 win over Sibir. 

Gernat strikes twice to lead Loko past Sibir

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (2-0, 2-0, 0-1)

After back-to-back home losses, the defending champion recovered with a comfortable victory over Sibir. The visitor, which had halted a club record skid with two successive wins, was never really in this game as the defending champion returned to the top of the Western Conference.

Loko head coach Bob Hartley made changes to his team. Alexander Volkov returned from injury and Ilya Nikolayev was restored to the line-up. Alexei Melnichuk replaced Daniil Isayeb in goal. At the other end, Anton Krasotkin was the starting tender for this trip to his hometown.

Sibir got an early power play when Byron Froese was penalized in one of the first shifts. However, the visitor could generate little more than possession. Lokomotiv killed the penalty, then went ahead when Georgy Ivanov finished off a great play. That handed the initiative firmly to the home team and a power play brought second goal when Alexander Radulov tipped Yegor Surin’s point shot past Krasotkin. In response, Sibir put together a strong shift but Semyon Koshelev could not finish the opportunity. Over 20 minutes, Sibir managed to outshoot Lokomotiv but the home team always posed a greater threat.

Not much changed in the second period. Lokomotiv continued to look the sharper, although Sibir created the first big chance of the session when Melnichuk made a big save to deny Ilya Lyuzenkov. At the other end, Daniil Misyul fired against the crossbar before Martin Gernat scored twice, one of them on another PP.

The final frame saw the Railwaymen play a tight defense, looking to close out the win and get Melnichuk a shut-out. Sibir struggled to generate chances but managed to grab a consolation goal from Ivan Klimovich with five to play.

Sikura at the double as Dynamo wins

Dynamo Moscow 4 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (1-2, 0-0, 3-0)

For the first time since sacking Alexei Kudashov, Dynamo managed to win a game. However, it took three goals in the last 10 minutes to turn this one around and deny Amur a third straight success on the road. The result gives Vyacheslav Kozlov his first victory as interim head coach at Dynamo.

In recent games, Dylan Sikura has been in fine form for the home team, even if the Blue-and-Whites have struggled to get results. Today he opened the scoring in the third minute with a power play goal after Daniil Pylenkov set him up in the right-hand circle.

That was part of a strong start for the home team, but Amur managed to escape any further damage. By the midway point, the Tigers had evened up the play and late in the frame two quick goals put the visitor in front. Ilya Talaluyev squeezed home a shot from a tight angle to beat Maxim Motorygin for the first time. Then Alex Broadhurst added a second goal nine seconds later. There were still 14 seconds left on the clock and in that time Kirill Petkov was close to adding a third.

Dynamo responded by adopting a shoot-on-sight policy in the second period. However, the home team was plagued by a lack of accuracy: through 40 minutes, the Muscovites had 41 attempts, but just 14 of them required any intervention from goalie Maxim Dorozhko.

Eventually, the pressure had an effect. Midway through the third period Amur faced another penalty and Sikura again scored on the PP. That moved him to six goals in five games. His next contribution was four PiMs after tangling with Yaroslav Likhachyov: the pair both took double minors for roughing. Play continued and Jordan Weal put Dynamo in front in the 58th minute following Fredrik Claesson’s shot. The Swedish defenseman celebrated his birthday with an assist one what proved to be the winning goal. Amur tried to save the game, replacing Dorozhko with a sixth skater, but Max Comtois found the empty net to put the outcome beyond doubt.

SKA moves into top eight

CSKA Moscow 1 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (0-0, 0-2, 1-2)

SKA leapfrogged CSKA to move into the playoff spots after winning in Moscow. Igor Larionov’s team avenged a 3-4 loss on home ice to the Muscovites thanks to goals from Marat Khairullin (2), Rocco Grimaldi and recent returnee Brendan Leipsic.

Leipsic was playing only his second game since rejoining SKA earlier this month. The Canadian, who became a Russian citizen during his previous spell in Petersburg, featured a week ago in a 4-3 win over Metallurg. Today he joined Grimaldi and Joseph Blandisi on the second line for a visit to the club where he started his KHL career back in 2020.

The game began with SKA on the power play; Pavel Karnaukhov was assessed a tripping minor in the first minute. CSKA killed that penalty and the first period continued without a goal, although the visitor probably shaded the balance of play.

The second period saw SKA on the PP again after Nikolai Kovalenko took a cross-checking call after the hooter. Again, CSKA withstood the visitor’s efforts with the extra man, but this time Khairullin opened the scoring when the teams were back at full strength. A strong forecheck behind the net had the home team in trouble, and Khairullin rifled home a one-timer off a pass from behind the net.

Late in the middle frame, Grimaldi doubled the lead. The American found the net for the third game running, firing in a shot that Alexander Samonov could only push into the net with his blocker.

CSKA got its first power play right at the end of the second period, and midway through the third the host had an extended spell with an extra man. SKA survived its penalties, but right after Mikhail Vorobyov left the box, CSKA’s pressure told. Denis Guryanov did it all himself with a great solo rush before beating Sergei Ivanov to make it 2-1 with five to play.

But hopes of a fiery finale turned into something of a damp squib for the Moscow crowd. Khairullin got his second of the game to restore SKA’s two-goal advantage, then Guryanov fired the puck over the glass to incur a delay of game penalty.

CSKA managed to kill the penalty, but had little time left to save the game. And when Samonov went to the bench, Leipsic grabbed an empty-netter to seal the win. SKA moves to 30 points, one ahead of today’s opponent.