Dinamo Minsk on top, SKA climbs the table. December 2 round-up
A shoot-out win in Khabarovsk saw Dinamo Minsk back on top of the Western Conference. One of the closest rivals for that crown, Lokomotiv, suffered an OT loss at home to SKA despite leading three times in regulation. Tuesday’s other game saw Sochi win 4-2 at Admiral.
Minsk marches back to summit
Amur Khabarovsk 2 Dinamo Minsk 3 SO (0-0, 1-0, 1-2, 0-0, 0-1)
A shoot-out loss sent Amur spinning to a fourth successive defeat, while Dinamo Minsk overcame the absence of injured Vadim Shipachyov to return to the top of the Western Conference.
Neither team could find a breakthrough in the first period, although the visitor looked the likelier candidate and had two power play opportunities. After that, the second period brought two power plays for Amur and, in between, an opening goal for the home team. Defenseman Yegor Voronkov channelled his inner forward to come down the wing, get to the slot and beat Vasily Demchenko at the second attempt.
Demchenko let the puck behind him again after some neat play from Yaroslav Likhachyov and Ignat Korotkikh, but an offside called ruled that one out.
The fightback came in the third. Minsk enjoyed more control of the puck and displayed some impressive passing. Rob Hamilton’s assist on the tying goal was a case in point, firing the puck out of the corner to give any one of three forwards a realistic scoring chance. Nikolai Salygo was the beneficiary, scoring his first ever KHL goal.
Once ahead, the Bison upped the pressure. Vadim Moroz won possession behind the net, set up Darren Dietz for a slapshot and saw Daniil Lipsky score on the rebound. Immediately after, Vitaly Pinchuk’s foul put Amur on the power play. It took time to settle into its attacking rhythm, but just as Pinchuk readied himself to return, Korotkikh managed to grab a vital goal.
Dinamo was closer to winning the game before the hooter, and again in overtime, but Maxim Dorozhko did well to deny Pinchuk and drag the game to a shoot-out. There, Amur’s fortune came to an end: Pinchuk, Dietz and Sam Anas all found the target to give Dinamo the verdict.
Seroukh double paces Sochi success
Admiral Vladivostok 2 HC Sochi 4 (1-1, 1-1, 0-2)
Sochi wrapped up its Far East tour with a second win, beating Admiral 4-2 days after a 1-0 verdict in Khabarovsk.
The Sailors got a penalty shot in the second minute after Ilya Sushko’s foul. However, Ilya Samsonov halted Stepan Starkov’s effort. After that, Sochi took the initiative and opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Will Bitten’s feed from the left set up Daniil Seroukh in front of Adam Huska’s net.
Looking to keep up that pressure, the Leopards overreached and Seroukh found himself in the box. That was a timely boost for Admiral, which tied the game as the intermission approached. Nikita Tertyshny got the goal, the first Samsonov had allowed in 79:23.
After the intermission, the home team began to press. That saw Admiral get in front for the first time in the 27th minute. Yegor Petukhov was out on the left-hand boards and fired in a long pass to the back door, where Arkady Shestakov was waiting to shoot home. But the middle frame continued to mirror the first and this time Sochi got a late equalizer: Timur Khafizov led a swift counterattack and set up Seroukh for his second of the night.
In the third period the teams found themselves playing four-on-four, and that suited the visitor better. Matvei Guskov won an attacking face-off, Max Ellis followed up and deked one opponent out of the play before setting up Vasily Machulin for a powerful one-timer from the opposite circle.
Then came a power play that effectively settled the outcome. Guskov scored from close range, an unsuccessful bench challenge failed to demonstrate any interference on Huska and Admiral had to kill another penalty while trailing 2-4. And the visitor preserved that lead to the close.
Khairullin gives SKA an OT win
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 SKA St. Petersburg 4 OT (1-0, 1-2, 1-1, 0-1)
SKA trailed three times in Yaroslavl but finished with victory over the defending champion thanks to Marat Khairullin’s overtime goal.
This game seemed to be going Lokomotiv’s way as it took a 3-2 lead into the final two minutes. Not only was time running out, the home defense had done a good job of neutralizing SKA’s attempts to save the game. Yet the visitor tied it up on 58:01 when Rocco Grimaldi pulled up sharply on the left boards and spun to send the puck to Andrei Pedan. His powerful shot flew through traffic and beat Daniil Isayev to force OT.
In the extras, Loko created its own problems. A botched line change handed SKA a power play, and the visitor parleyed that into a win when Khairullin found space to rifle home a great shot from the top of the circle off Sergei Plotnikov’s pass.
That was an unhappy finish for Lokomotiv, which began the game with bad news after Martin Gernat picked up an injury pre-game and was unable to play. The loss of a first choice defenseman did not prevent the home team from opening the scoring: Nikita Cherepanov got his first goal since February to separate the teams at the intermission.
The second period began well for SKA. Alexander Volkov slipped in center ice, inviting the visitor on a counterattack that Brendan Leipsic finished to extend his four-game goal streak. Then penalty trouble handed the visitor the initiative for seven minutes. Frequent pressure on Daniil Isayev’s net could not bring a go-ahead goal and after hanging on for so long, Lokomotiv got on a power play that Alexander Radulov converted. Nonetheless, the teams were tied at the second intermission when SKA’s PP showed its stuff to make it 2-2 through Plotnikov.
It remained deadlocked until midway through the third when Maxim Shalunov squeezed home a shot from a dead angle. Maxim Beryozkin’s assist takes him to 100 in the KHL. Radulov was denied a second goal as Artemy Pleshkov kept SKA in the game, and the visitor’s resilience was rewarded late on. Igor Larionov claimed his first win over Loko this season, returning his team to the top eight in the West.
