Avangard books playoff spot on day of road wins. February 5 round-up
Despite losing in overtime to Avtomobilist, Avangard secured its playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks join Metallurg in booking a post season berth. Avto’s win formed part of a clean sweep for road teams on the last gameday before the All-Star break. Dinamo Minsk went goal crazy in Togliatti, beating Lada 8-3. SKA won 3-1 at Severstal to build on Tuesday’s win at Spartak, and CSKA edged a tight game at Shanghai Dragons.
Hawks fly into playoffs despite OT loss
Avangard Omsk 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 OT (0-1, 2-0, 0-1, 0-1)
The Motormen halted Avangard’s eight-game winning streak, claiming an OT win in Omsk. Despite the loss, the Hawks’ point was enough to book its playoff spot, joining Metallurg in securing a post-season berth. Roman Gorbunov scored twice, including the overtime decider, as Avtomobilist ended a run of alternating wins and losses.
Gorbunov stepped up on a day when Avto’s offense was depleted. Stephane da Costa is away at the Olympics, Daniel Sprong was suspended and Reid Boucher was also unavailable. Avangard had absentees of their own, with head coach Guy Boucher called back to Canada for family reasons. Dave Barr stepped in behind the bench and replaced Ivan Igumnov with Mikhail Kotlyarevsky.
Avangard made a lively start, but visiting goalie Vladimir Galkin and his defense cooled that initial fire. At the other end, Avto produced a few dangerous counter-attacks before Gorbunov opened the scoring in the 12th minute on one of those raids. After falling behind, the Hawks continued to press. Kotlyarevsky hit the bar, Konstantin Okulov and Nikolai Prokhorkin both had chances to tie it up, but the visitor defended well to carry its lead to the intermission.
But that lead did not last long into the second period. Within two minutes, Prokhorkin redirected Dmitry Rashevsky’s point shot past Galkin to tie the scores. The home team attacked with even greater intensity: Mike McLeod created a great chance for himself but could not extend his productive streak, Okulov went close again. An O-zone penalty offered some relief for the visitor, but Avtomobilist was unable to do much with its power play and back at full strength the Hawks resumed their control of the play. It was little surprise that the home team finished the period in front: Andrew Poturalski timed his play to perfection on the counter, getting past Nikita Tryamkin, drawing Galkin from his net and finishing with a backhander.
It was a goal worthy of winning the game, but the third period saw Avtomobilist fight back. Avangard defended well and for a long time the visitor struggled to test Nikita Serebryakov in the home net. It wasn’t until the final stages, with Galkin making way for a sixth skater, that the Motormen tied it up on a goal from Alexander Sharov.
That sent the game to overtime and Avtomobilist found the winner. Gorbunov’s attempt on the wraparound did not come off, but when the puck came back to the visiting forward he found an accurate shot to pot his second of the game and claim the win.
Dinamo runs riot in final frame
Lada Togliatti 3 Dinamo Minsk 8 (1-1, 2-2, 0-5)
Dinamo signed off for the All-Star break in fine style, rattling up five unanswered goals in the third period to enjoy a big win at Lada. The Belarusians snapped a four-game skid on the day that Ryan Spooner returned to the team. He began his KHL career in Minsk and today’s game was his 150th for the club.
Spooner was also the first to appear on the gamesheet when he was assessed a minor penalty in the fifth minute. Lada had started well, and the power play helped add to the pressure on Dinamo. Eventually, Arsen Taymazov opened the scoring in the 13th minute, potting his first career goal in the KHL.
However, Dinamo’s defensemen changed the course of the game. Rob Hamilton tied it up in the first, with an assist from Spooner, then Nicolas Meloche found himself in a center’s position to put the visitor in front after the intermission.
Meloche soon found himself in the box, though, and Lada converted that power play: Andrei Chivilyov won the faceoff and Dmitry Kugryshev fired home. Kugryshev came close to a second but Hamilton made a goal-saving intervention. And the next attack saw Vadim Shipachyov put Dinamo up 3-2, shaping to pass and deceiving goalie Alexander Trushkov with a backhand shot.
That lead lasted just 30 seconds before Nikita Setdikov tied it up once more. Dinamo challenged the play, claiming a high stick, but the goal was given.
After 40 minutes of competitive hockey, the third period turned into a procession for Dinamo. The visitor was lifted by two quick goals as Alex Limoges and Vitaly Pinchuk opened a more comfortable lead. Sam Anas assisted on both. Daniil Lipsky was close to making it 6-3 but his shot hit the post. Trushkov left the game to be replaced by Ivan Bocharov.
Lada’s crisis intensified when Colby Williams took a double minor and Alex Cotton followed him into the box. Darren Dietz scored, cancelling Williams’ second penalty. Still playing five-on-three, Stanislav Galiyev added a seventh 22 seconds later and the power play continued, now at five-on-four. Galiyev helped himself to a second goal before Cotton’s time was served and that made the final score 8-3.
Back-to-back wins for SKA
Severstal Cherepovets 1 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (0-1, 1-0, 0-2)
After a seven-game losing streak, SKA celebrated back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 14 with a good road win in Cherepovets. The visitor now has an 11-point cushion over ninth-placed Shanghai in the Western playoff race, while Severstal failed to cut into Lokomotiv’s five-point lead at the top of the table.
However, SKA needed patience to secure the win: the deciding goal came on the power play after 54 minutes, Matvei Polyakov snapping a 1-1 tie.
The visitor got ahead midway through an entertaining first period when Sergei Sapego skated onto a Nikolai Goldobin pass to score. Severstal also posed an offensive threat and came close to tying the scores just before the intermission. Ivan Podshivalov collected a pass from behind the net and almost beat
Artemy Pleshkov from close range. Then SKA’s goalie had to respond as David Dumbadze threatened on the follow-up, but kept his goal intact until the hooter.
Early in the second, 19-year-old forward Ivan Okunev attempted an audacious Michigan, but couldn’t quite pull it off. The youngster also forced a good save from Pleshkov after a more conventional effort from the circle. Severstal dominated the session, outshooting SKA 10-3, and got its reward just before the intermission when Danil Aimurzin tied the game on the power play.
Severstal had further power play chances at the start of the third, but could not convert. Instead, when Nikita Kamalov sat for tripping, SKA’s PP showed what it could do. Valentin Zykov’s fierce shot deflected off goalie Konstantin Shostak onto the crossbar and away, before the next attack saw Polyakov score on the rebound after Matvei Korotky’s shot was blocked.
Two minutes later, SKA extended its lead. Sergei Plotnikov forced a turnover as Severstal struggled to clear its line. He sent the puck to Goldobin on the right wing, and his feed set up Zykov for a fine wrister past Shostak.
Up by two, SKA was able to close out the game. Shostak left the game immediately, but even with six skaters Severstal struggled to make inroads. Zykov annoyed the home team by firing into an empty net after the whistle and earned himself a minor penalty, but that came too late to affect the outcome.
Karnaukhov settles it for CSKA
Shanghai Dragons 0 CSKA Moscow 1 (0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Pavel Karaukhov’s goal on 45 minutes was enough to separate the two teams as CSKA posted a sixth successive victory. Igor Nikitin’s team has not been entirely convincing this term, but seems to be hitting an ominous vein of form as the regular season comes to an end.
For Shanghai, this defeat was a big blow in its playoff push. The Dragons have 11 points to make up on eighth-placed SKA and remain in wildly inconsistent form. While CSKA plays with a clear system, today’s host often relies on more improvisation than structure – a risky strategy that can bring one-off wins but rarely produces sustained results.
That’s something that incoming head coach Mitch Love has worked to address in his first two weeks in charge. Against CSKA, the center ice trap worked more effectively than before and frustrated the visitor for much of the game.
Yes, there were chances. Andrei Tikhomirov was saved by his post during a first period in which CSKA created some good opportunities. But by the second period, the home defense had largely clamped down on the game and neither goalie was over-extended.
The key moment came when Shanghai got its first power play of the game. The home team was tempted forward but could not score. Dmitry Samorukov emerged from the box and jumped straight into the play. His shot from the blue line wasn’t the most powerful, but Karnaukhov got to the slot and made the most of it.
Once in front, CSKA was never likely to let its advantage slip. The final 15 minutes saw the Dragons try to get the puck close to Dmitry Gamzin’s net, only to run into the opposition in center ice or, at best, be forced into hopeful efforts from long range. Apart from a late chance for Nikita Popugayev, which flashed wide of the target, there was little to ruffle the visitor’s feathers in the closing stages.
