Minsk on top in the West. November 30 round-up
Dinamo Minsk is the new leader in the Western Conference. Sunday’s 4-1 win at Admiral – a seventh in eight games – put the Bison one point clear of Severstal. Dmitry Kagarlitsky scored his first goal for Sochi to secure a 1-0 win at Amur, and Ak Bars proved too good for Shanghai Dragons.
Kagarlitsky, Samsonov give Sochi the edge
Amur Khabarovsk 0 HC Sochi 1 (0-1, 0-0, 0-0)
Dmitry Kagarlitsky’s first goal for Sochi earned the Leopards the win in Khabarovsk. Ilya Samsonov made 39 saves to secure his first shut-out since arriving in Sochi at the start of the month.
Both teams were in need of a win. Sochi wanted to bounce back from a 1-6 loss at Traktor in the previous game while Amur had lost its previous two. The home team made four changes following defeat at Admiral, bringing in forwards Kirill Urakov, Ignat Korotkikh and Sergei Dubakin, plus defenseman Yegor Voronkov.
The opening goal came in the eighth minute during a spell of four-on-four hockey. Danil Mokrushev’s close-range shot was saved, but nobody picked up Kagarlitsky as he potted the rebound. The veteran forward is now up to 535 career points in the KHL.
The first period remained evenly matched, but Amur steadily took control of proceedings as the game progressed. In the second period, Samsonov was much the busier goalie. He made a big save to deny Kirill Petkov, and another to snuff out Alex Broadhurst when clean through. Artur Gizdatullin managed to beat the visiting goalie but hit the post with his effort.
It was a similar story in the third: lots of hard work from the home team, more good tending from Samsonov. He was beaten in the 48th minute but Evgeny Svechnikov’s goal was ruled out after a bench challenge for interference on the goalie. After that, Sochi dug deep to kill two penalties on the way to closing out a narrow win.
Minsk marches on thanks to Borikov’s double
Admiral Vladivostok 1 Dinamo Minsk 4 (0-0, 0-1, 1-3)
Dinamo Minsk moved to the top of the Western Conference with a solid win to start its Far East tour. Two goals from Yegor Borikov at the start of the third period paved the way for a 4-1 verdict as the Bison jumped from third to first in the standings.
Admiral welcomed back Mario Grman and Nikita Soshnikov after a 4-1 derby win over Amur in the previous game. Dinamo saw Sergei Kuznetsov return as it looked to build on a three-game winning streak.
The first period was a goalless, stop-start affair. Admiral looked slightly more dangerous when play was given a chance to flow, but goalies Adam Huska and Vasily Demchenko successfully repelled 27 shots between them.
The breakthrough came after the intermission. Vitaly Pinchuk put Dinamo in front in the 23rd minute. Both he and assistant Sam Anas extended their productive runs to eight games. Once in front, the Belarusians continued to press, outshooting Admiral 13-5 in the middle frame. However, Huska did not allow another goal and the visiting offense was blunted when record-breaking forward Vadim Shipachyov left the game due to injury.
Borikov stepped up at the start of the third period to take the game away from the Sailors. First he scored on the power play, then converted a fine feed from Vadim Moroz to make it 3-0.
Admiral’s misfiring offense had to rely on a moment of individual magic from Stepan Starkov to get on the scoreboard but, impressive as his 53rd-minute goal was, it never looked like more than a consolation effort. The final word went to Xavier Ouellet, who scored his first of the season into an empty net.
3-point Dynyak helps Ak Bars to victory
Ak Bars Kazan 4 Shanghai Dragons 1 (1-0, 1-0, 2-1)
Nikita Dynyak had a goal and two helpers as Ak Bars defeated Shanghai for the second time this season. Sunday’s win puts Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team three points clear of Avangard in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Dynyak’s first big contribution came in the 12th minute when he led a quick breakaway to create the opening goal. Spinning away from two defensemen in the corner, his cross-ice feed set up Dmitry Katelevsky in the left-hand circle.
Next came a fight, with Dynyak and Adam Clendening trading blows at the end of a combative first period. The pair were assessed double minors for roughing.
In the second period, Dynyak was involved again, teeing up Nikita Lyamkin for a point shot that Vladimir Brovkin redirected into the net to make it 2-0 in the 28th minute. In a hard-fought game, Shanghai struggled to create clear chances but came close to getting a goal back late in the frame when Kevin Labanc got clear on Timur Bilyalov’s net but failed to beat the home goalie.
Midway through the third, Ilya Safonov added a third for Ak Bars and the entertainment seemed to be at an end. But Shanghai kept battling, with two full minutes of six-on-four play after Katelevsky sat a delay of game minor in the closing stages. Bilyalov survived that, only to lose his shut-out in the last minute when Troy Josephs scored for the visitor. But the final word went to Dynyak when he potted a late empty netter to wrap up a 4-1 scoreline.
