Goal rush in the Urals, Lada halts skid. December 19 round-up

The South Ural derby brought 11 goals as Metallurg won 7-4 at Traktor. Derek Barach and Sergei Tolchinsky had four-point games. And it was a good day for road teams all round. Admiral won 3-2 at Sibir as Ilnur Gizdatullin claimed his first victory as acting head coach, before Lada snapped a five-game skid with a success at Shanghai Dragons.

Gizdatullin gets off the mark

Sibir Novosibrsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 3 (1-2, 0-1, 1-0)

Ilnur Gizdatullin got his first win as interim head coach of Admiral, taking a 3-2 verdict at Sibir to snap a five-game skid.

The home team, victorious in its previous game at home to Avangard, had to replace injured Russian international Timur Akhiyarov with Mikhail Orlov. Goalie Mikhail Berdin, recently arrived from Ak Bars, dressed in Sibir colors for the first time but remained on the bench as back-up for Anton Krasotkin.

Sibir made a good start and opened the scoring early on. Anton Kosolapov put a wrister past Adam Huska, bringing up 10 points for the club in only his sixth game. Not bad for a player who was recently struggling to make an impact in the VHL.

However, Kosolapov’s team-mates could not build on it. Krasotkin made a good save to deny Dmitry Zavgorodny and former Sibir man Nikita Soshnikov tested the home goalie before Daniil Gutik tied the game in the eighth minute. Admiral kept the puck in Sibir’s territory for about a minute before finding Gutik on the slot. Five minutes later, a similar play produced a go-ahead goal for Zavgorodny.

Home hopes weren’t helped by Taylor Beck. After two assists on his return to Novosibirsk, today he picked up three penalties. None of them came in pressure situations, and the second led to Admiral going 3-1 up early in the second period through Stepan Starkov.

Sibir was close to pulling a goal back late in the middle frame, but Huska said no as Ilya Fedotov threatened. Admiral kept it disciplined to the end, managing to play the full 60 minutes without a penalty. Orlov managed to pull a goal back midway through the third, but that was as close as the home team got.

Magnikta on top in high-scoring derby

Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7 (1-1, 1-4, 2-2)

For the second time this season, the South Ural derby saw Metallurg win on the road in Chelyabinsk. A high-scoring game saw Dmitry Silantyev lead the way with two goals for the visitor. Derek Barach and Sergei Tolchinsky had productive evenings with 4 (1+3) points apiece.

Traktor, playing its first game after the international break, made several changes. Andrei Svetlakov returned from injury to join the offense. On defense, Grigory Dronov was ill and Sergei Telegin suspended. Their places went to Nikita Smirnov and Alexander Kiprichkov. Goalie Sergei Mylnikov played his first game since Oct. 25.

Traktor got an early opportunity when two Metallurg penalties set up a five-on-three power play. Magnikta held on until a fourth player emerged from the box, but then Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored only his second of the season. Metallurg responded late in the frame when Barach tied the scores from the slot.

The second period saw the visitor take control. Yegor Yakovlev gave Metallurg the lead early on, and even though Andrei Nikonov quickly tied things up, Magnikta would not be denied. Tolchinsky and Silantyev potted a couple of quick goals to open a 4-2 lead by the midway mark, and Valery Orekhov further padded the advantage in the 33rd minute. That fifth goal brought Mylnikov’s evening to an end as Savely Sherstnev came into the game.

In the third, Traktor looked able to bring the game back to life. Sherstnev collected an assist as Mikhail Grigorenko converted a good feed from Yegor Korshkov to make it 3-5. However, a 53rd-minute power play goal from Silantyev, whose shot deflected off Logan Day, restored the three-goal advantage for the visitor.

In the closing stages the teams traded further tallies. Vitaly Kravtsov raised one last flicker of hope for Traktor, but Roman Kantserov found the empty net to extinguish any doubts about the outcome.

Lada snaps losing streak

Shanghai Dragons 2 Lada Togliatti 4 (0-1, 2-1, 0-2)

Two points from in-form Andrei Altybarmakyan helped Lada end its losing run. But Friday’s result adds to Shanghai’s problems with just one win in eight games.

This was a game between two teams struggling for form. Lada had lost its last five games, while Shanghai had only a 3-2 victory over Salavat Yulaev in its previous seven outings. Gerard Gallant’s team returned to action after the break with a 1-4 loss at SKA while Lada fell 2-4 at home to CSKA.

However, it was the visitor who opened the scoring after 14 minutes. As the teams changed on the fly, Lada launched a swift counterattack and Ivan Romanov ripped home his sixth goal of the season after Dmitry Kugryshev’s feed from out of the corner.

The Dragons outshot Lada 16-9 in the first period but could not find a way to tie the scores before the intermission. However, the home team turned things around in the second. Lada suffered two penalties in 17 seconds, and the five-on-three power play brought a goal for Borna Rendulic.

That was the 15th of the season for the Croatian and it heralded a strong session for the home team. Shanghai led the shot count 17-7 despite having to kill two penalties, and got in front on 36:13 thanks to leading scorer Nick Merkley. Lada struggled to clear a spell of Dragon pressure and a tired defense failed to interfere with Merkley’s close-range effort.

The lead was short-lived. In-form Andrei Altybarmakyan circled around the zone before finding Alex Cotton in a central position and Lada’s top-scoring defenseman smashed home an unstoppable shot for his 10th point of the season.

And Altybarmakyan added to that assist with a go-ahead goal on 54 minutes. Viktor Antipin’s point shot was steered across the front of the net by Tomas Jurco – once a Dragon himself – for the forward to redirect beyond Patrik Rybar. Altybarmakyan moves to 6 (2+4) points from his last five games.

Shanghai’s response was hindered by a penalty for Will Reilly. When he returned to the game, Rybar made way for a sixth skater with 84 seconds remaining. However, instead of forcing a game-saver, the gamble merely led to Riley Sawchuk finding the empty net and sealing the deal for the Motormen.