Road wins in Far East. December 6 round-up

Lokomotiv and SKA both completed successful visits to the Far East, securing back-to-back road wins. Maxim Shalunov, who became a dad during the week, celebrated with two goals in a 3-1 win for Loko at Admiral, while SKA left it late to snatch an OT verdict at Amur.

Shalunov’s the Daddy for Lokomotiv

Admiral Vladivostok 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (1-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Lokomotiv returned to the top of the Western Conference with victory in Vladivostok. Forward Maxim Shalunov celebrated the birth of his daughter with two goals.

The visitor had an early power play, and Alexander Polunin forced a good save out of Dmitry Shugayev. But after that, Admiral got on top. Kyle Olson hit the crossbar before Artyom Kuzin’s high hit on Libor Sulak sparked a fight. Kuzin was ejected from the game, and the home team ended up with a three-minute power play. Sulak recovered well enough to convert that chance, beating Daniil Isayev from long range.

Loko killed another penalty at the start of the second period and then began to attack. Shalunov tied it up, with Maxim Beryozkin’s assist bringing up 150 career points. Then a great feed from Artur Kayumov saw Shalunov make it 2-1 to the visitor as Loko dominated the play.

Beryozkin reached another landmark in the third period, claiming his 50th career goal on a power play. The Railwaymen controlled the closing stages of the game to get a second win of their Far East tour, while Admiral fell to a fourth straight loss.

Late turnaround gives SKA the edge

Amur Khabarovsk 1 SKA St. Petersburg 2 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 0-1)

An overtime goal from Brennan Menell sent Amur spinning to a sixth straight loss while SKA improved to six wins from seven. But it took a late turnaround to give the visitor the verdict, with Marat Khairullin tying the scores in the 58th minute.

The Tigers’ losing streak prompted a change in personnel. Damir Shaimardanov got the start in goal ahead of Maxim Dorozhko, while Artyom Shvaryov and Alexander Filatyev replaced import forwards Alex Broadhurst and Alexander Galchenyuk. SKA also swapped goalies, with Sergei Ivanov replacing Artemy Pleshkov. Menell’s return in place of Trevor Murphy proved more significant.

The first period was studded with penalties and the teams had unequal forces for almost half of it. However, neither team could take advantage of its power plays until early in the second when Sergei Plotnikov sat for the visitor and Amur scored at the third attempt. A well-worked play around the net finished with a one-timer from Yaroslav Likhachyov.

The penalties kept coming. The teams played four-on-four for a spell, SKA failed to convert another power play but there was no more scoring. Gradually, the teams sorted out their discipline and in the latter half of regulation the officials had less to do. Amur enjoyed life at full strength more, deploying an effective forecheck and playing almost eight minutes in SKA territory.

The third period began in similar fashion. However, Amur was unable to use that control to get a second goal and earn some breathing space on the scoreboard. The high-energy approach began to drain the home team and SKA began to get back in the game. And that got its reward in the closing stages when Khairullin tied the scores on 58:18.

In the closing seconds of regulation, Amur tried to raise the tempo and find a winner. There were two great chances for the home team in those last moments, but neither found the net. Instead, the game went to overtime and SKA got on top. Khairullin was close to a double before Menell secured the win.