Top two win, Spartak edges in front of Dynamo. January 30 round-up

Friday’s action was all about the Western Conference. Top two Lokomotiv and Severstal both won; Loko comfortably at home to Lada, Severstal after a fightback at Dynamo. The Muscovites loss saw Vyacheslav Kozlov’s team dropped to seventh in the standings after Spartak beat SKA 4-0. Shanghai Dragons avenged yesterday’s defeat to Sochi, beating the Leopards 5-2.

Leader eases past Lada

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Lada Togliatti 1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0)

Western Conference leader Lokomotiv rolled to a fourth successive victory, maintaining its lead over Severstal at the top of the standings.

A goal in each period was enough to beat the Motormen, who suffered a third successive loss and failed to move back in front of Sochi at the opposite end of the table.

In the first period, the Railwaymen enjoyed twice as much attacking possession as the visitor. But that produced just a single goal, scored by Alexander Yelesin with a point shot on nine minutes.

The middle frame saw Lokomotiv increase the lead. In the 34th minute, Nikita Kiryanov blazed around the Lada net and found Ilya Nikolayev in the right-hand circle. He faced a tight shooting lane to find the far corner of Alexander Trushkov’s net. Lada managed to pull one back before the intermission through Pavel Gogolev.

That seemed to set up a tight third period, especially after Lada had an equal share of the play in the second. But Loko struck early, restoring a two-goal margin on the first shift. Yegor Surin produced a mini-masterpiece, racing into the Lada zone and turning Colby Williams inside out as he spun away from the corner and got to Trushkov’s doorstep to score.

After that, Lokomotiv had a straightforward task to close out the game. Lada managed just five shots at Alexei Melnichuk and rarely looked capable of clawing back the deficit.

Advantage Spartak in playoff battle

Spartak Moscow 4 SKA St. Petersburg 0 (1-0, 2-0, 1-0)

This battle of two playoff chasing teams ended with an important victory for Spartak. Two points against eighth-placed SKA gives the Red-and-Whites a seven point lead over its rival. The result also moved the home team up to sixth in the Western Conference ahead of Moscow rival Dynamo.

Daniil Gutik scored twice and assisted on Pavel Poryadin’s effort as Spartak opened a 3-0 lead after two periods. Then Alexander Georgiyev kept the visitor at bay before in-form Nikita Korostelyov completed a four-goal win.

The first period was marked by frequent penalties – six in all, three for each time. SKA found itself down to three skaters when Nikita Zaitsev followed Sergei Sapego into the box. In the absence of two defensemen, Spartak flourished: Alexei Zhamnov put five forwards on the ice and Gutik rifled home a one-timer from the left-hand circle off an excellent diagonal feed from Ivan Morozov.

SKA finished the period with a couple of power plays, but Spartak came closest to scoring when Luke Lockhart forced a turnover and charged towards Sergei Ivanov’s net. However, he could not beat the visiting goalie and it was a one-goal game at the intermission.
Early in the middle frame, Spartak hit penalty trouble of its own. The visitor had two power plays in quick succession but failed to create a big scoring chance.

However, SKA did not learn from its first-period problems. As Spartak returned to full strength, Poryadin jumped out of the box to improvise a counterattack that ended with German Rubtsov hitting the bar.

Then, midway through the session, Valentin Zykov was assessed a major penalty for slashing Mansurov between the legs after the pair tangled at a face-off. That proved costly. Poryadin doubled the lead when he converted a Gutik pass. The power play continued, Nikita Nedopyonkin joined Zykov in the box and Gutik scored his second five-on-three goal of the game after Poryadin and Adam Ruzicka combined.

The final frame saw an improved offensive effort from the visitor. But SKA was unable to find a way past Alexander Georgiyev and allowed a fourth goal late on. Brandon Biro, making his Spartak debut after a move from Ak Bars, saw his shot saved but Nikita Korostelyov put away the rebound to score for the fourth game in a row.

Blue-and-Whites blow two-goal lead

Dynamo Moscow 2 Severstal Cherepovets 3 (2-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Severstal rallied from 0-2 to win at Dynamo and stay in contact with Western Conference leader Lokomotiv. The Muscovites suffered a fourth loss in five games and fell to seventh in the standings behind Spartak.

The game got off to an uneven start with frequent penalties in the early stages. That prevented either team from establishing any rhythm into the game. Once things settled down, Dynamo grabbed two quick goals to take control.

In the 13th minute, Artyon Shvets-Rogovoi opened the scoring. Dynamo battled well behind the net and Max Comtois got the puck back to the slot where Shvets-Rogovoi raced in to flash home a one-timer. Within a minute, Vsevolod Skotnikov was beaten again when a strong press saw Yegor Rimashevsky force a turnover in center ice and advance to wire a wrister past the visiting goalie.

Dynamo finished the period with two goals off just six shots. Severstal had slightly more looks at Maxim Motorygin but failed to score.

In the second period, the home team enjoyed more offensive possession – 7:21 vs 3:38. However, Severstal made more of its forays into Dynamo territory.

A penalty on Dylan Sikura disrupted the home team’s progress and Alexander Skorenov converted the power play in the 34th minute, stumbling as he stuffed home the rebound from a Danil Aimurzin shot.

And a couple of minutes before the intermission, the visitor tied it up. A strong forecheck got the puck back to the slot, where Ilya Chefanov’s backhand shot dropped kindly for Adam Liska to score.

In the third period, Dynamo again saw plenty of the puck in Skotnikov’s zone. However, Severstal defended stoutly to limit the danger for its goalie. And midway through the session the visitor grabbed a winning goal.

A turnover in center ice saw the puck find Vladimir Grudinin on the blue line. He whipped in a wrister to get it to the slot where Motorygin was screened and Ilya Ivantsov could nip in to finish the play.

After that, Severstal rarely saw the puck. However, the last 10 minutes saw the visiting defense work hard to keep Dynamo to the perimeter. Even in the final stages, with Motorygin replaced by a sixth skater, the home team rarely forced Skotnikov into a save.

Revenge win for Dragons

Shanghai Dragons 5 HC Sochi 2 (2-1, 3-0, 0-1)

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, Sochi edged a 2-1 win over the Dragons to move off the foot of the Western Conference. Today, Shanghai hit back with an emphatic victory over the Leopards, closing to within six points of a playoff spot.

Mitch Love, who today learned he will replace Gerard Gallant at the All-Star Game just as he has for the Dragons, made just two changes to his team. Andrei Kareyev took over as starting goalie, and Vladimir Kuznetsov replaced Pavel Akolzin among the forwards. Kuznetsov contributed two goals on his return to action, moving to five for the season.

Wyatt Kalynuk opened the scoring for the home team midway through the first period. That was the Canadian defenseman’s first for the Dragons, having previously had three assists. Earlier in the season he contributed 1+4 at Salavat Yulaev. A couple of minutes after that, Kuznetsov got his first of the game. However, Sochi was competitive in the opening frame and deservedly pulled one back when Dmitry Kagarlitsky struck in the 16th minute.

Everything changed at the start of the second period as Borna Rendulic plundered two quick goals. He made it 3-1 in the 22nd minute, then converted a power play after Ilya Nikolayev sat for tripping. That double strike chased Pavel Khomchenko from his net on 23:28. In yesterday’s game the Sochi goalie starred with 40 saves; today he struggled against the same opposition.

Incoming netminder Alexei Shchetilin was beaten before the second intermission as Kuznetsov scored again.

In the third period, Timur Khafizov got one back for Sochi on the power play in the 47th minute. But the gap was too great for the visitor to claw back and the Dragons closed out a second victory in three games against the Leopards.