Ak Bars reclaims second spot. December 27 round-up

A 3-2 win at home to Traktor saw Ak Bars back into second in the Eastern Conference, moving ahead of Avangard. Saturday’s other action saw Amur hand Barys a fourth successive home loss with goalie Maxim Dorozhko in fine form in Astana.

Tigers add to Barys’s problems

Barys Astana 1 Amur Khabarovsk 4 (0-1, 1-2, 0-1)

Maxim Dorozhko made 40 saves as Barys slipped to a fourth successive loss on home ice. The Kazakhs missed their chance to return to the top eight in the Eastern Conference, while Amur tightened its grip on seventh place in the standings.

Amur has alternated wins and losses in recent games and, after defeat in Ufa last time, the Tigers were in line for another win. By the midway stage of the game, the visitor had confirmed that status with three unanswered goals. Midway through the first period, Kirill Slepets and Artyom Shvaryov set off to attack a four-man defense and found a way to goal: Slepets with the incisive pass from behind the net, Shvaryov with the finish.

Alikhan Asetov was one of the home defensemen caught out on that play and, in the second period, he made another costly error when he allowed Alexander Filatyev to find space and double the lead in the 26th minute. A couple of minutes later, Kirill Urakov added a third.

Asetov made a more positive contribution late in the middle frame, winning possession in center ice and setting up Kirill Panyukov to make it 1-3 right on the hooter.

That lifted Barys, and the home team poured forward at the start of the third. A huge offensive effort had the Tigers penned into their zone for long spells, and it wasn’t until midway through the session that the visitor managed to move the play down the ice, albeit briefly. It took fully 15 minutes of the final frame for Amur to muster a shot at Andrei Shutov, and that was a hopeful effort from center ice.

However, Dorozhko was in superb form for the visitor. He kept the home forwards at bay until the very end, while Artur Gizdatullin’s empty-netter sealed the deal for Amur.

Chmelevski lifts Ak Bars over Traktor

Ak Bars Kazan 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 (1-0, 2-1, 0-1)

Two points from Alexander Chmelevski lifted Ak Bars past Traktor and sent Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men back to second in the Eastern Conference standings.

This was the start of a six-game home stand in Kazan, and forwards Dmitrij Jaskin, Grigory Denisenko and Timofei Zhulin returned to the roster. Traktor welcomed defenseman Grigory Dronov back from suspension as Evgeny Koreshkov’s team looked to build on victories at Barys (2-0) and Lada (6-1).

The first-period play was evenly matched, but Ak Bars managed to get the vital go-ahead goal. In the seventh minute, Traktor’s defense was caught out when Kirill Semyonov sent Chemlevski clean through on Sergei Mylnikov’s net and the forward made no mistake. Semyonov extended his hot streak to four games.

In the 13th minute Alexei Pustozyorov had the puck in Traktor’s net for a second time after Nikita Dynyak’s rush down the right. However, the Traktor bench challenged the play and the goal was called back for offside.

At the start of the second period, Dronov tied the game when Vitaly Kravtsov’s cross-ice feed gave him time and space to power up a huge shot into the top corner. Not a bad way for the D-man to mark his return from a 3-game ban. However, Ak Bars soon regained the lead when Pustozyorov got a legitimate goal, putting away the rebound from Nikita Lyamkin’s shot.

As tempers frayed, Ak Bars found itself with a four-on-three power play. The extra man and extra space worked well for the home team: Chmelevski’s long cross-ice feed saw Artyom Galimov test Mylnikov with a one-timer and Ilya Safonov was first to the rebound to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.

The penalties kept coming, and in the final stanza Ak Bars found itself reduced to three skaters. That was all the invitation Josh Leivo needed to reduce the deficit. Immediately after that, Vasily Glotov hit the post but Traktor’s hopes were undermined by a penalty on Sergei Telegin with five to play. There was still time for Mikhail Grigorenko to force a big save out of Timur Bilyalov during the final surge, but Ak Bars held on to take the win.