Dragons lose ground in playoff race, Hawks win in Ufa. January 20 round-up
Shanghai suffered a 1-3 loss at home to Spartak and is now 10 points behind today’s opponent and SKA in the race for a playoff spot. Avangard closed on the top two in the East thanks to a 5-2 win at Salavat Yulaev. Tuesday’s other games ended in 2-0 home victories for Avtomobilist and Lada over Sibir and Barys respectively.
Strong start wins it for Avangard
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Avangard Omsk 5 (0-3, 1-0, 1-2)
A powerful first period gave the Hawks a comfortable win in Ufa, where Salavat Yulaev lost its second game in a row after winning five straight. The visitor avenged its loss in Omsk exactly one week earlier.
Visiting forward Konstantin Okulov celebrated his 700th KHL game today, and his team also welcomed back defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev from a long injury. The home team welcomed back goalie Semyon Vyazovoi, but missed Evgeny Kuznetsov, injured in the loss to Avtomobilist and set to miss a couple of weeks. Artyom Pimenov took his place on today;s team.
In the first period, Ufa frequently made mistakes when bringing the puck out of its zone. Avangard had the skills to punish those failures, scoring three times in the opening stanza. Defensemen Vyacheslav Voynov and Damir Sharipzyanov were followed onto the scoresheet by forward Ivan Igumnov as the Hawks took control early in the game.
The best hope for a way back seemed to be Avangard’s regular penalties. In the second period, Sheldon Rempal scored a power play goal. That gave Salavat Yulaev a lifeline and extended his hot streak to 13 games. Vasily Ponomaryov was close to making it 4-1 in the middle frame, but his effort ran out of steam on the goalline after Vyazovoi got a piece of it on the way towards goal.
Avangard effectively killed the game early in the third when Igumnov scored his second of the night. The visiting forward previously scored last September, but seems to have regained his appetite for goals. Sharipzyanov, who got a hat-trick in the previous game, added a fifth before Alexander Khokhlachyov got a late consolation for Ufa.
Stuttering Sibir gives Avto fourth straight win
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)
The Motormen claimed a fourth successive victory thanks to two late goals. The home team coped without Stephane da Costa, with Curtis Valk returning to action. Sibir made bigger changes, with Ilya Talaluyev making his debut and Pavel Tkachenko representing his hometown team for the first time since Jan. 2019. Anton Kosolapov and Daniil Valitov missed out with injuries.
There wasn’t much to demand attention in the first few shifts. Neither managed to generate scoring chances, never mind exciting. Avtomobilist got the first power play of the game and allowed an odd man rush, but Evgeny Alikin stopped Mikhail Orlov’s shot. The home team replied with a couple of good Valk efforts from the slot but couldn’t beat Anton Krasotkin.
Sibir had a power play that straddled the intermission, but could not turn that into a goal. Avto is typically more effective in the second period and looked livelier here: Valk had a breakaway chance but lacked speed. At the other end, Alexei Yakovlev tried for a Michigan but found Alikin was alert to the danger. Then Maxim Denezhkin hit the post with the Motormen on the power play. By the end of the middle frame the home fans saw their team on top – outshooting Sibir 19-4 – but unable to score.
It took time in the third to make the breakthrough, and Sibir head chances to get itself in front before Alexander Sharov punished Yakovlev’s failure to clear his lines in the 54th minute. With five to play, Sibir had to force matters in search of an equalizer. The visitor had a chance to play six on four, but Sergei Zborovsky almost immediately found the empty net to make it 2-0.
Barys silent in Togliatti
Lada Togliatti 2 Barys Astana 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)
Like in Yekaterinburg, this game was decided late by two unanswered goals for the home team. The Motormen celebrated back-to-back shut-outs, while Barys was unable to build on its win over CSKA last time out.
Lada had the better of the first period, helped by two power plays. However, Pavel Desyatkov’s team continues to struggle with a man advantage. At equal strength it threatened more, with decent chances from Pavel Gogolev and Evgeny Groshev, or a wonderful feed from Artur Tyanulin to set up Tomas Jurco a bit later. The visitor was held to just three shots in the opening frame.
In the second, a penalty on Lada at the start gave Barys the chance to work Alexander Trushkov in the home net. The visitor could not score but got a foothold in the game at last. But the midway point, the shot count was even but neither goalie had been beaten.
In the 54th minute, Lada changed that. Riley Sawchuk released Andrei Altybarmakyan into the O-zone and fired home despite the attentions of Jake Massie. That was enough to win it, although Tyanulin’s empty netter made it more convincing.
Spartak opens 10-point gap over ninth place
Shanghai Dragons 1 Spartak Moscow 3 (0-0, 0-2, 1-1)
The Dragons fell to a fourth straight loss as they wait for new head coach Mitch Love to arrive. Love, 41, left Washington Capitals under a cloud in the fall, but has been hired in place of Gerard Gallant, who left the Chinese franchise due to injury.
However, Love is not expected to arrive in Russia until Jan. 22, and is unlikely to be seen behind the bench before Saturday’s trip to Minsk. Interim coach Mike Kelly took charge today and saw his team miss some incredible chances before it fell to a damaging loss against a direct rival for a playoff spot.
Nick Merkley’s failure to score was perhaps the most dramatic. After Jake Bischoff rang the iron, the puck fell to Merkley in front of a wide open net with Artyom Zagidulin nowhere to be seen. But somehow, Pavel Poryadin managed to get back to make the save of the day, getting his stick in the way to prevent a shot.
Ilya Kablukov also spurned a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring, denied by Zagidulin. Then came a big turnaround. Demid Mansurov scored on a breakaway in the 24th minute. Within 60 seconds, Bischoff took a penalty and Adam Ruzicka converted the power play. A game that looked to be there for Shanghai to win was suddenly tilted firmly in Spartak’s favor.
Giving up quick pairs of goals is a damaging but established habit for Shanghai. The previous game brought a similar lapse and a 0-2 loss at Lokomotiv. A fight between Spencer Foo and Alexander Belyayev did not much alter the course of events. Spartak held its 2-0 lead to the end of the middle frame, then added a third thanks to Poryadin on a double power play at the start of the final session.
Kelly saw his team get a late consolation, ending a 148-minute drought when Kevin Labanc found the net. But this was Spartak’s day and the Dragons are now 10 points outside of the playoff places.
