Traktor wins thriller, Ak Bars clinches playoff spot. February 11 round-up

Wednesday’s action was all in the Far East. A high-scoring game at Amur saw Traktor win 6-5 and, consequently, guarantee Ak Bars a place in the playoffs. Avangard went to Admiral and rallied from 0-2 to win a shoot-out.

Tigers blow 4-1 lead

Amur Khabarovsk 5 Traktor Chelyabinsk 6 (2-1, 2-3, 1-2)

A barn-burner of a game in Khabarovsk saw Traktor edge victory by the odd game in 11. Amur’s defeat is good news for Ak Bars, which confirms its playoff spot. The Kazan team joins Metallurg and Avangard in progressing from the East, with Lokomotiv so far the only Western Conference representative.

Both teams had debutant defensemen. For Amur, Viktor Antipin played his first game after a move from Lada, while Michal Cajkovsky made his return to the KHL with Traktor. Fellow blue-liner Grigory Dronov made his 500th appearance in the league.

Despite the pause for the All-Star Weekend, there wasn’t a long wait for the opening goal. In the fourth minute, Ivan Mishchenko converted the first power play of the game to give Amur an early lead. Alexander Galchenyuk quickly doubled that lead, converting a dish from Yaroslav Likhachyov. Both players are in good form, and Likhachyov’s assist extended his productive streak to five games. By the end of this one, he would be up to 8 (4+4) in that run.

The Tigers generally looked good in the early part of the game. Even after Yegor Korshkov pulled one back for Traktor in the 16th minute, the home team continued to press the visitor. By the midway mark the lead was 4-1, with Kirill Petkov potting the third and Likhachyov scoring a fourth on 30:21.

In adversity, Traktor battled back. Three goals in four minutes had the game tied by the end of the second period; Vitaly Kravtsov, Alexander Kadeikin and Maxim Dzhioshvili found the net, rookie forward Alexander Kisakov potted two assists on his KHL debut.

Traktor’s surge continued into the third period. Alexander Rykov put the visitor up for the first time in the 42nd minute, taking advantage of a defensive lapse to make it 5-4. That brought Viktor Kobozev into the game in place of Amur’s starting goalie Damir Shaimardanov; the back-up goalie had previously only faced penalty shots this season.

Likhachyov’s second of the game tied it up at 5-5 in the 48th minute and, for a time, looked to have set up a period of overtime. After 50 breathless minutes, things slowed a little and both teams were more cautious in the closing stages. But, with the end of regulation in sight, Mikhail Grigorenko wired a wrister past Kobozev to restore Traktor’s lead and clinch a tight but memorable win.

Sorry Sailors sunk in shoot-out

Admiral Vladivostok 2 Avangard Omsk 3 SO (1-0, 1-0, 0-2, 0-0, 0-1)

Despite leading 2-0, Admiral failed to hold on and fell to Avangard in a shoot-out. It was the Sailors fourth straight loss, leaving them marooned at the foot of the standings. The Hawks bounced back from defeat at Avtomobilist to go three points clear in second place in the East.

Avangard made the better start, testing Ivan Kulbakov more than once in the home net. The visitor looked quicker and smarter, but Admiral defended resolutely. So when the Hawks got on the power play, an opening goal seemed inevitable. However, it came at the other end, with Dmitry Zavgorodny’s counterattack finished off by Pavel Shen in the sixth minute.

After that, Admiral killed another penalty before the game evened out with the home team starting to move the action away from its zone.

Initially, the second period followed a similar pattern to the first: Avangard dominated, Admiral scored against the run of play, this time through Kyle Olson.

After that, the host seized the initiative without further building its lead. And those missed chances would prove costly.

The final frame saw Avangard solve Kulbakov at last. Andrew Poturalski pulled one back after three minutes, stretching his productive run to 10 games.

The Canadian added an assist as Damir Sharipzyanov converted a last-minute power play to tie the game and force overtime.

The extras could not produce a winner, but in the shoot-out Avangard prevailed. Konstantin Okulov converted two attempts to secure the win.