Defending champ halts skid, SKA wins on road. December 4 round-up

Two games in the Far East brought road wins. Lokomotiv halted a three-game wobble with a 3-0 verdict at Amur, and a rare Nikolai Goldobin goal earned SKA the points at Admiral. Later in the day Avangard won 5-2 against Sochi, completing a seventh successive home victory over the Leopards.

Loko back on track with shut-out at Amur

Amur Khabarovsk 0 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (0-0, 0-0, 0-3)

Daniil Isayev’s second shut-out of the season helped Lokomotiv stop the rot at Amur. The defending champion halted a three-game losing streak, its worst run since the 2023/2024 season. The Tigers, meanwhile, fell to a fifth successive loss having last tasted victory with a 6-4 verdict in Yaroslavl.

The visitor had the better of the early stages, creating a few decent chances. Yegor Surin was the biggest threat, twice testing Maxim Dorozhko from threatening positions. Maxim Beryozkin, Artur Kayumov and Ilya Nikolayev also posed a regular threat, while Nikita Cherepanov hit the piping. At the other end, Lokomotiv graduate Yaroslav Likhachyov was the most dangerous player for Amur.

The second period was similar. Lokomotiv had the better chances, with Alexander Radulov close to breaking the deadlock. But neither team could find a way through and as the session progressed Amur evened out the balance of play and, once again, Likhachyov threatened to upset his hometown team.

Early in the third, Amur got its first power play of the day but could not take advantage. Then, after 48 minutes, Lokomotiv got in front at last. Byron Froese converted Kayumov’s feed to end Dorozhko’s resistance. Soon after, Kayumov himself added a power play goal before Alexander Polunin’s sixth goal of the season completed the scoring late on. The win puts Lokomotiv within a point of Severstal and Dinamo Minsk, currently tied at the top of the Western Conference.

Goldobin gets winner for SKA

Admiral Vladivostok 1 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (0-1, 1-0, 0-2)

SKA moved up to seventh in the Western Conference thanks to today’s victory at Admiral. The home team, which suffered a fifth loss in six games, missed the chance to return to the top eight in the East.

However, the visitor did not have things easy in the Pacific port. In the first period, although SKA emerged with a 1-0 lead, Admiral caused plenty of problems. Penalties for Nikolai Goldobin and Joseph Blandisi twice put the home team on the power play, then productive defenseman Trevor Murphy left the game after just seven shifts, forcing a reshuffle on the blue line. He was hurt in an incident involving former SKA forward Stepan Starkov. Amid all those problems, the visitor managed to get ahead late in the frame when Brendan Leipsic went clean through and found the left-hand corner of Dmitry Shugayev’s net. Leipsic’s hot streak moves to five games, Blandisi’s assist took his to six.

In the second period, Admiral got on the power play for a third time and managed to take advantage. Leading goalscorer Kyle Olson’s powerful shot from mid-range flashed over Artemy Pleshkov’s shoulder to tie the game in the 30th minute. Leipsic had a chance to restore the lead with a penalty shot after Alexander Shepelev fouled Marat Khairullin, but Shugayev won that duel.

In the third period, Nikolai Goldobin stepped up to lead SKA to victory. The forward was playing only his second game after missing almost a month, and scored his first goal since Oct. 22. He beat Shugayev with a wrist shot to restore SKA’s lead in the 47th minute. The visitor then ran into penalty trouble, with Leipsic, Sergei Plotnikov and then Blandisi all going to the box. However, not even a spell on five-on-three play could secure a goal for Admiral. Instead, SKA burnished the lead in the closing moments with an empty-net goal from Andrei Pedan.

Strong finish sinks Sochi

Avangard Omsk 5 HC Sochi 2 (0-1, 1-1, 4-0)

Two goals from Matvei Guskov were not enough for Sochi, which fell to a third-period fightback in Omsk. The Hawks hit four unanswered goals in the final stanza to ease to a seventh win in eight games.

Guskov got the only goal of the first period, opening the scoring in the 12th minute. Max Ellis played the puck out of the corner, Dmitry Kagarlitsky moved it on to the back door and Guskov banged it home to convert only his team’s second shot of the game. And it proved to be Sochi’s last shot in the first period as Avangard dominated the play but could not find a way past Ilya Samsonov in the visitor’s net.

Avangard continued to dominate the play in the second period and finally got a reward in the 32nd minute when Nail Yakupov’s powerful shot from a tight angle bounced off Samsonov and dropped kindly for Alexander Volkov to score. But Sochi then got its first power play of the game and Guskov took advantage to restore the visitor’s lead.

That lead endured until midway through the third period. However, Avangard has the most prolific power play in the KHL this season and when Artyom Volkov went to the box, Konstantin Okulov took advantage to the game. That triggered a rush of goals at two-minute intervals as Andrew Poturalski and Artyom Blazhievsky built a 4-2 lead. Sochi wasn’t quite finished, but when Samsonov left the ice to make way for a sixth skater, Avangard completed the job thanks to Max Lajoie’ empty-netter.