Metallurg’s record-breaking rout. January 14 round-up

A 9-0 victory over Sochi gave Metallurg its biggest ever win in the KHL. The league leader’s previous best was 7-0, while the Leopards matched their worst margin of defeat. Elsewhere, Daniel Sprong got his first points for Avtomobilist in 4-1 victory at home to Traktor, Spartak beat Dynamo in the latest Moscow derby and SKA’s Nikolai Goldobin kept up his hot streak against Shanghai Dragons.

Da Costa double leads Avto to success

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (1-1, 3-0, 0-0)

After grinding to an OT win over Barys, Avtomobilist improved to halt Traktor’s four-game hot streak in some style. The home team went with the same offense, but had to switch things up on defense as Yury Pautov and Sergei Zborovsky replaced the injured Dmitry Yudin and Jesse Blacker.

The in-form visitor came close to opening the scoring on its first shift, but Evgeny Alikin made the save. Then the second shift brought a goal for Avtomobilist: Daniel Sprong got his first point for his new club with a deceptive pass to release Alexander Sharov on Sergei Mylnikov’s net.

Traktor continued to generate good chances in the first period, with its top line prominent. Josh Leivo had five shots on goal in the first period without scoring, but the breakthrough came on a power play 13 seconds before the intermission. Maxim Dzhioshvili showed sharp reactions on the slot to beat Alikin at last.

But that was the highlight for the visitor. Avtomobilist produced another quick goal at the start of the second when Stephane da Costa struck from out wide. At the other end, a three-on-one rush ended with Alexander Rykov failing to outwit Alikin. Alexander Kadeikin twice had good looks from the slot but could not score.

Avto, meanwhile, stuck to the counter and struck again. Sprong was the architect once more, forcing a turnover and skating away to set up Yaroslav Busygin. That was three goals from eight shots and the end of Mylnikov’s evening; Savely Sherstnev replaced him.

The youngster was beaten once, late in the middle frame, when da Costa claimed his second of the night. That was almost a carbon copy of his first goal, and the 4-1 lead proved too much to recover. Traktor never lost faith, but never managed to greatly trouble the home defense in the closing stages. 

Magnitka runs riot

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 9 HC Sochi 0 (1-0, 2-0, 6-0)

This was a record KHL victory for Metallurg, improving on the 7-0 scorelines it enjoyed against Amur in 2012 and CSKA in 2024. It also matched Sochi’s heaviest loss, with the Leopards previously dropping a nine-goal margin against Severstal in 2023 (1-10).

The home team had nine different goalscorers as it powered through the game, and Magnitka finished strong with five of its goals coming after the 50-minute mark.

Metallurg started brightly and opened the scoring in the fourth minute thanks to Robin Press, who beat Pavel Khomchenko from long range. He was in for a busy time, clattered in a collision with Sergei Tolchinsky and worked hard as Metallurg got three unsuccessful power plays in that opening frame.

The home dominance continued in the middle frame, and goals from Dmitry Silantyev and Alexander Petunin padded the lead to a comfortable 3-0. A shot count of 31-9 in Metallurg’s favor left home goalie Ilya Nabokov short of action and underlined the gap between the teams.

That game translated into goals in the final frame. It took some time for the Steelmen to add to their lead, and when Ruslan Iskhakov beat Khomchenko on a breakaway, it was a shorthanded goal.

The fourth marker halted a more promising performance from Sochi at the start of the third period, and in the closing stages Metallurg’s forwards ran riot. Derek Barach scored on the power play on 50:56, and within two minutes another PP saw Tolchinsky chase Khomchenko from his net.

Alexei Shchetilin came into the game and faced the unenviable task of stopping a rampant offense. He was beaten twice in his first two minutes, with Nikita Mikhailis and Luke Johnson finding the net, before Vladimir Tkachyov completed the rout on a delayed penalty in the 59th minute.

SKA shoots down Dragons again

Shanghai Dragons 2 SKA St. Petersburg 5 (1-1, 1-2, 0-2)

SKA reeled off a fourth win in five games to add to Shanghai’s problems in the latest Petersburg derby. The Dragons bade farewell to head coach Gerard Gallant during the week: the Canadian left the team’s Petersburg base after struggling with illness this year. Mike Kelly took charge on an interim basis, but could not start with a win. As a result, the Dragons lost more ground on the playoff pack and finished the day eight points adrift of eighth place.

SKA got off to a perfect start here, with Marat Khairullin scoring after just 17 seconds. But the Dragons fought back well. Kirill Rasskazov quickly tied the game, and the home team outshot its visitor 10-6 in the opening frame.

That pressure continued in the second and midway through the game Nick Merkley put the Dragons in front. The Canadian extended his productive streak to five games with 5 (2+3) in that time.

However, the home lead was shortlived. Barely 90 seconds later SKA tied it up on a goal from Yegor Savikov. Then the Dragons’ bete noire, Nikolai Goldobin, showed up again. In four previous games this season, he had 6 (3+3) points against the Dragons. Today he potted the go-ahead goal in the 37th minute when he fired in an effort that bounced into the net via Rasskazov.

Shanghai continued to have more of the game, but SKA was more clinical in front of the net. Midway through the third, Sergei Plotnikov’s power play goal made it 4-2 and gave a two-goal cushion for the first time in the game. Brandon Leipsic finished the job with a power play goal, assisted by the irrepressible Goldobin, to secure a fourth successive win for SKA over its new neighbor.

Teen star Pugachyov impresses against the champion

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 (2-0, 1-0, 0-0)

In recent games Torpedo showed form of putting its sticky run behind it, and today’s shut-out win over the defending champion underlined the renaissance for Alexei Isakov’s men.

Denis Kostin made 33 saves to frustrate the Lokomotiv forwards as Bob Hartley’s men missed the chance to return to the top of the Western Conference standings.

Much of the damage was done in the first period. Torpedo dominated the game from the off and limited Loko to just four shots at Kostin in that opening frame. More importantly, the home team scored two goals of its own to boss the scoreboard.

The start could hardly have gone better: 90 seconds into only his fourth KHL appearance, Gleb Pugachyov potted his first goal for the club. The 17-year-old tried to deliver the puck to the slot, only for an attempted interception by Byron Froese to put it right back on his stick with the goal at his mercy.

Next came a goal just after Torpedo’s first power play. Loko’s Slovak forward Richard Panik had barely returned to the ice when Maxim Letunov took the puck behind the net. Martin Gernat was unable to deal with the danger and Shane Prince produced a great pass for Sergei Goncharuk to rifle a one-timer past Daniil Isayev in the 16th minute.

In the second period, Lokomotiv’s offense woke up. The visitor dominated play to the tune of 20 shots to seven. However, Kostin was in no mood to relinquish the lead his team-mates had built, and in the 33rd minute Torpedo added a third. Pugachyov blocked a shot from Rushan Rafikov and started a two-on-one rush that ended with Yegor Sokolov finding the Lokomotiv net.

That left the visitor with plenty of work to do in the third period. However, Torpedo dealt effectively with the danger, closing down much of the play and limiting the visitor to just nine shots on goal. With Kostin in fine form, there was no way through and the home team closed out a memorable win.

Derby joy for Spartak

Dynamo Moscow 3 Spartak Moscow 5 (0-1, 2-2, 1-2)

An unhappy new year for Dynamo continued with another derby defeat. Spartak’s 5-3 win at its cross-town rival makes it four losses in five since Dec. 28, and this reverse comes hard on the heels of a 1-5 drubbing at CSKA.

Spartak, meanwhile, is on a run of three wins from four. That form is helping the Red-and-Whites consolidate in the playoff places in the Western Conference: although Alexei Zhamnov’s men remain eighth in the standings, the gap to ninth-placed Shanghai is now eight points.

The opening period saw Spartak on top, and the visitor deserved its lead at the intermission. For home fans, the sight of Andrei Mironov, a long-serving Dynamo man until 2024, scoring the opening goal merely added to the pain of another rough capital city rivalry. And there wasn’t much for Dynamo to cheer at the start of the second period as Mikhail Maltsev doubled the Spartak lead.

Things improved for the home team midway through the middle frame. Goals from Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi and Jordan Weal tied the game, the latter converting a five-on-three power play.

Spartak regained the lead in the 35th minute on a power play of its own when Adam Ruzicka redirected Nathan Todd’s feed past Vladislav Podyapolsky. That goal separated the teams at the second intermission but Dynamo showed signs of making this a contest.

Those signs were more visible in the 48th minute when Nikita Gusev tied the game. The wily forward has been quiet during his team’s recent struggles, with just one assist in the last five games. But today he produced a fine goal, dancing around Mironov before finding the top shelf behind Alexander Georgiyev to make it 3-3.

However, the home team could not consolidate and allowed Spartak to regain the lead almost immediately. Demid Mansurov dished off a feed for Danil Pivchulin to put Spartak in front once more. And Mansurov finished the job himself with a goal in the 57th minute to make the final score 5-3.