Magnitka rolls to third straight win, Dragons suffer fourth loss. December 22 round-up

Monday’s KHL card featured just two games. Table-topping Metallurg defeated Neftekhimik in a shoot-out after a 3-3 tie in Magnitogorsk, before Spartak won 3-1 at Shanghai Dragons.

League leader too strong for Neftekhimik

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 SO (0-1, 2-0, 1-2, 0-0, 1-0)

Ruslan Iskhakov’s penalty shot separated the teams after a hard-fought game in Magnitogorsk. The league leader welcomed back American center Luke Johnson from the injury he sustained on Oct. 12. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander Petunin were rested, with Yegor Korobkin, Artyom Minulin and Nikita Korotkov returning to the home roster.

Neftekhimik arrived on a run of three straight losses, and scored just three goals in those games. However, the visitor got off to a fast start. In the second minute a swift counterattack saw Damir Zhafyarov go close, then on 2:03 Grigory Seleznyov opened the scoring off Nikita Popugayev’s feed.
That start established a pattern for the opening stanza: Magnitka had more of the puck, but the Wolves looked dangerous on the counter.

The tying goal had to wait until the second period, and it came when Metallurg was shorthanded. Korobkin celebrated his return with a wonder goal, dancing around the opposing defense and goalie to score in memorable style.

Korobkin was involved again as Metallurg got up in the 35th minute. Johnson also played a big part, producing a fine cross-ice feed for Korotkov to score. The fourth line stepped up in good time to accommodate Vladimir Tkachyov, who did not feature in the latter stages of the session before returning in the third.

That third frame saw Neftekhimik tie the game quickly: a positional error on defense left Luca Profaka free to join the attack and beat Ilya Nabokov from close range. Then the visitor killed two penalties, but when Profaka went to the box in the 48th minute, the home PP found its range. Roman Kantserov produced an unstoppable shot to the top corner.

But this game was far from over. Midway through the third, Timur Khairullin redirected Maxim Fedotov’s blast into the net to make it 3-3, then Metallurg had to kill another penalty to keep the scores level. Late on, Tkachyov hit the bar beat Neftekhimik held on for overtime.

The visitor had to kill a penalty at the start of the extras, but managed to take the game to a shoot-out. Yaroslav Ozolin replaced Filipp Dolganov in the Neftekhimik net, but he was beaten by Iskhakov and Sergei Tolchinsky as Metallurg took the verdict.

Spartak hands Dragons another defeat

Shanghai Dragons 1 Spartak Moscow 3 (1-0, 0-3, 0-0)

The Dragons’ rough form continued with a fourth successive loss, while Spartak made it two wins in three days in St. Petersburg.

The visitor made a confident start to the game, enjoying the better of the opening exchanges. A couple of early power plays helped Spartak settle, and Nathan Todd was close to an opening goal in the ninth minute.

However, Shanghai survived those penalties and responded with the opening goal on 10 minutes. In came on the counter as Borna Rendulic accelerated down the right and dished off a feed for Nikita Popugayev to score.

That separated the teams at the intermission, and the Dragons could have extended the lead early in the second. A defensive lapse opened the way for Austin Wagner to attack, but he could not beat Alexander Georgiyev at the end of his rush.

After that, Spartak turned the scoreboard around with three unanswered goals. Adam Ruzicka tied it up from the slot in the 27th minute, stuffing home the rebound from a Christian Jaros shot. Then, midway through the frame, Demid Mansurov used his strength to battle to the slot from behind the net. The puck dropped kindly for Ivan Ryabov, who made it 2-1.

And there was more to come. Nick Merkley sat for slashing and Spartak converted the power play thanks to Joey Keane. His point shot bounced off Doyle Somerby’s stick and went past Patrik Rybar. Shanghai protested that Mikhail Maltsev’s screen in front of the former Spartak goalie was illegal, but the bench challenge was overruled and Spartak got another power play to help close out the middle frame.

Only in the third period did Shanghai really have the better of the play. However, Gerard Gallant’s men were unable to make any inroads on Spartak’s lead as the visitor defended sensibly to complete the win. The home team’s chances were not helped by a misconduct penalty for influential defenseman Adam Clendenning midway through the session, and the Dragons remain five points shy of the playoff spots. Spartak, meanwhile, moves ahead of SKA into sixth in the West.