Ak Bars on top in Ufa, Hawks blank Loko. December 20 round-up

For the second day in a row, every KHL game went to the visitor. Ak Bars took a 2-1 verdict over Salavat Yulaev to win its second Green Derby in five days. Avangard enjoyed a 3-0 win at Lokomotiv, with Nikita Serebryakov making 33 saves. And Spartak snapped a three-game skid to beat SKA 2-1 in St. Petersburg.

Another derby win for Ak Bars

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 Ak Bars Kazan 2 (0-1, 0-0, 1-1)

The Green Derby foes met for the third time this month, and Ak Bars took the verdict in Ufa to hold a 4-1 lead in this season’s series. On Tuesday, the teams met in Kazan with the host taking a 6-3 verdict; since then Salavat Yulaev won at Severstal while Ak Bars lost at SKA.

Salavat Yulaev was once again without Sheldon Rempal, whose blistering start to his second spell in Ufa was curtailed when urgent family circumstances forced him back to Canada. For Ak Bars, there was better news: goalie Timur Bilyalov recovered from illness to resume his place. However, Dmitrij Jaskin missed out, with Artyom Galimov taking his place on the first line.

The visitor had the better of the first period. Midway through, Ak Bars got in front with a classic play: as his team-mates screened Semyon Vyazovoi in the Ufa net, Stepan Falkovsky blasted a shot through traffic to open the scoring. Vyazovoi worked hard to keep his team in the game, robbing Galimov of a goal with a fantastic glove save, while at the other end Bilyalov was only called into serious action late in the frame.

The middle stanza was enlivened by a clash between Jack Rodewald and Mikhail Fisenko which turned out to be more of a grapple than a fight. Midway through the session, Ak Bars had a second goal whistled off when Viktor Kozlov’s bench challenge for offside erased Ilya Karpukhin’s effort. But the home team had no luck on the power play, failing to score in five-on-four play, and even in five-on-three.

With five minutes left, Ak Bars secured some breathing space when Alexander Barabanov’s excellent work on the slot brought a second goal. That was not quite the end, though. Salavat continued to press and Vladislav Yefremov pulled a goal back late on. However, with just 15 seconds left on the clock, that consolation goal merely deprived Bilyalov of his shut-out without costing Ak Bars the points.

Muscovites snap skid as SKA stumbles

SKA St. Petersburg 1 Spartak Moscow 2 (1-0, 0-1, 0-1)

After an impressive recent run, SKA hit a bump in the road at home to Spartak. Despite grabbing an early lead, the Petersburg club fell to a 1-2 loss as the visitor snapped a three-game skid.

With five wins in its previous six games, and eight out of the previous 10, SKA came into this game riding high in the form table. That run helped propel the team securely into the playoff spots after an uneven start to the campaign. Along the way, Igor Larionov’s team moved in front of Spartak as the Red-and-Whites hit a sticky patch in December.

Larionov was back behind the bench today having recovered from illness. And his team welcomed him back with a goal after just 100 seconds. A quick counterattack saw Markus Phillips bring play into Red-and-White territory before shooting for the top corner. Alexander Georgiev made the save, but merely deflected the puck straight onto Rocco Grimaldi’s stick and the American potted his eighth goal and 20th point of the season.

Spartak almost found an immediate response when Joey Keane hit the crossbar a minute later. And that wasn’t the only scare for the home team. Valentin Zykov had to clear off his own line after Adam Ruzicka beat Artemy Pleshkov, then Danil Pivchulin became the second player to ring the iron in the first period.

The visitor looked the better team in the opening frame and continued to press in the second. After killing the first penalty of the game, Spartak got ahead with a power play goal. Zykov took a slashing major and it took just 33 seconds for Mikhail Maltsev, a graduate of SKA’s academy, to tie the game.

Zykov’s foul left Ivan Vorobyov suffering, but the Spartak forward recovered in time to score the winning goal in the third period. In the 56th minute, the 23-year-old advanced down the right, got past Yegor Zelenov then elegantly outwitted Pleshkov before putting the puck beyond him. That was Vorobyov’s first goal since joining Spartak from Vityaz in the summer.

It also proved enough to win the game – deservedly, given the way Spartak outshot SKA 41-22 – and lift the Red-and-Whites back to seventh in the West, ahead of city rival CSKA.

Serebryakov blanks Loko

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 Avangard Omsk 3 (0-0, 0-1, 0-2)

Bob Hartley’s struggles against his former club continued as Avangard defeated Lokomotiv for the second time this season. In October, the Hawks won 4-1 on home ice; today it was a 3-0 verdict in Yaroslavl.

The Railwaymen were without center Byron Froese for this one, while Avangard welcomed back Klim Kostin and Marcel Ibragimov. Two of the KHL’s top goalies, Daniil Isayev and Nikita Serebryakov, went head-to-head in this one.

Avangard made the livelier start, taking control of the puck and enjoying more offensive possession. However, it could only find fairly tame shots to test Isayev. Lokomotiv rarely got into enemy territory, but looked more dangerous when it did, with Yegor Surin and Alexander Polunin both spurning good chances.

As the period went on, Loko found plenty of opportunities for one-on-one raids. However, Serebryakov stood up well to keep the game scoreless at the intermission.

After the break things continued in similar fashion: Lokomotiv attacked more often but could not score. Avangard was forced into frequent icings, but proved dominant on the draw, making it hard for the home team to capitalize. Then, late in the frame, the visitor broke the deadlock thanks to Andrew Poturalsky’s 15th goal of the season. 

The third period was frustrating for Lokomotiv. Avangard looked to hold the puck and take the pace out of the game, forcing the home team to play on the counterattack. Midway through the session, the Hawks got on the power play and Damir Sharipzyanov converted the chance to add to his assist on the opener. And any doubt about the outcome was removed in the last minute when Mike McLeod found the empty net to make the final score 3-0, with Serebryakov making 33 saves for his shut-out.