Dinamo wins Western summit clash, Spartak suffers another derby loss. February 12 round-up
Dinamo Minsk closed the gap on Western Conference leader Lokomotiv to four points thanks to a 4-2 win over the Railwaymen. Third-placed Severstal also won, keeping Shanghai at a distance from the top eight as SKA won comfortably at Barys. Spartak lost a second derby in three days, blanked by CSKA. In the East, Ak Bars edged an OT verdict over Torpedo, Sibir marked head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov’s birthday was a win over Lada and Neftekhimik fell at home to Sochi.
Birthday present for Lyuzenkov
Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Lada Togliatti 2 OT (1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 1-0)
After a record 10-1 thrashing of Sochi, Sibir faced a tougher test at home to Lada. The home team could not finish the job in regulation but took an OT verdict thanks to Anton Kosolapov’s goal.
Taylor Beck set a KHL record with 7 (2+5) points against Sochi and he had a great chance to open the scoring on his first shift here. However he fired his shot straight at Ivan Bocharov. At the other end, Mikhail Berdin wasn’t so fortunate, allowing Dmitry Kugryshev to open the scoring with Lada’s first shot of the game.
That threatened to put a damper on head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov’s 48th birthday, but his team quicky drew level. Beck picked up an assist as Arkhip Nekolenko tied the scores in the fifth minute. But Lada continued to threaten. A power play saw Berdin overworked and during the first period the home team blocked its 1,000th shot of the season: only Avtomobilist and Neftekhimik have got more bodies in the puck’s path.
Sibir looked better in the second period, enjoying more possession but struggling to turn that into big chances. Power plays came and went in the second and early in the third, while Lada almost regained the lead on a counterattack after Beck stumbled in center ice and Nikita Setdikov raced clear but hit the piping.
Setdikov’s misfortune continued. He was assessed a tripping minor late on, and that brought a go-ahead power play goal from Vyacheslav Leshchenko on 57:41. With little time remaining, that looked like the winner until Riley Sawchuk, Lada’s leading goalscorer, cut short the home celebration with a last-minute equalizer.
The coach’s birthday party hung in the balance, but the extras saw Kosolapov get clean through on Bocharov to score his 14th goal in 26 games for Sibir.
SKA too hot for Barys
Barys Astana 0 SKA St. Petersburg 5 (0-0, 0-2, 0-3)
An emphatic win in Kazakhstan moves SKA up to seventh in the Western Conference, with Igor Larionov’s men now 15 points clear of ninth-placed Shanghai.
The home team had a long rest before this game, having previously played on Feb. 4. That brought a rare victory for Mikhail Kravets and his players, with a 4-1 verdict at Admiral. But once SKA got in front here there was little likelihood of anything other than a fourth straight win for the visitor.
In a goalless first period, SKA ran into penalty trouble. Three penalties in a row led to more than five minutes on the PK, but Barys could not take advantage.
The second period was a more cautious contest and the first goal arrived thanks to a defensive error. The Barys D was cut open and Michael Vecchione could only slow Matvei Korotky by foul means. The game continued on a delayed penalty until Alikhan Omirbekov’s slash drew a penalty shot. Korotky confidently converted that chance, Vecchione sat for a minor, and 25 seconds later Sergei Plotnikov converted that power play to make it 2-0 in the 34th minute.
Barys made a bright start to the third period, looking to get back into the game. However, in the 45th minute Nikita Dishkovsky was first to the rebound from Marat Khairullin’s shot to make it 3-0. That effectively settled the outcome. Not long after, Scott Wilson set up Nikolai Goldobin for the fourth, and Khairullin finished the job with a wrister that beat Adam Scheel off his post. At the other end, Artemy Pleshkov celebrated his first shut-out since Oct. 3, 2024, rounding off a good day for the visitor.
Sochi bounces back after heavy loss
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 HC Sochi 5 (0-1, 1-2, 2-2)
Humbled in Novosibirsk on Tuesday, Sochi produced a great response to win at Neftekhimik on Thursday. The Wolves, meanwhile, have hit a sticky patch: after seven successive victories, Igor Grishin’s team now his just one result in five.
Anton Malyshev sent the Leopards into the intermission with a 1-0 lead. They had been in a similar position at Sibir, only to lose 10-1 after allowing six goals in a disastrous second stanza. Today, the lessons were learned. Daniil Seroukh extended the lead with a short-handed effort at the start of the middle frame, then assisted at Matvei Guskov made it 3-0.
Neftekhimik hit back. Visiting goalie Pavel Khomchenko had another busy game as the home team fired a total of 58 shots. However, Khomchenko stopped 55 of them and remained unbeaten until midway through the game. Timur Khairullin finally got one past him, reducing the deficit. Then a power play goal from Alexander Dergachyov had the host right back in contention after 45 minutes.
But Sochi’s nerve held despite the pressure. Yegor Petukhov got an important goal a couple of minutes later, making it 4-2. Andrei Belozyorov kept Neftekhimik interested, but the result was settled in the last minute when Vasily Machulin potted an empty netter. Sochi ends a four-game losing run and draws level on points with Lada at the foot of the Western Conference. Neftekhimik remains fifth in the East, but only one point ahead of Salavat Yulaev.
Torpedo blows two-goal lead, loses in OT
Ak Bars Kazan 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 OT (0-2, 1-0, 2-1, 1-0)
After yesterday’s result confirmed Ak Bars’ playoff spot, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team celebrated with a hard-fought win at home to Torpedo. The visitor led 2-0 and 3-1, but blew that lead in the last 10 minutes and fell to Mitch Miller’s overtime goal.
Torpedo lost 1-3 at Lada last time out and has struggled for form recently. Alexei Isakov responded by giving Dmitry Dagestansky the start in goal and shuffling his lines for today’s game.
For a time, it looked like he had found a winning formula. Despite some early Ak Bars pressure, Torpedo coped well and moved play away from its net. Late in the frame, goals from Bogdan Konyushkov and Maxim Letunov opened a 2-0 lead for the visitor.
The visitor continued to look the part at the start of the second period, with Ak Bars struggling to create the chances that could get it back into the game. It took a moment of individual brilliance to change the script: in the 35th minute, Alexei Pustozyorov supplied it when he skated round a defenseman before making it 1-2.
But Torpedo got on the power play early in the third and Yegor Sokolov extended the lead. As the game went into the last 10 minutes, the visitor sat on a two-goal cushion, but Ak Bars managed to salvage it. Grigory Denisenko pulled one back in the 52nd minute, then assisted as Alexander Chmelevski tied it up with just 12 seconds left to play. Now the momentum was with the home team, and the extras brought a winner from Mitchell.
Loko’s losing streak in Minsk continues
Dinamo Minsk 4 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (0-1, 1-0, 3-1)
Lokomotiv’s seven-game hot streak cooled in Minsk, where second-placed Dinamo closed the gap to the Western Conference leader to four points.
The result means the Railwaymen’s wait for victory in Belarus continues: Loko’s last win here came back in 2023.
The game was cautious early on with both teams emphasizing defense and getting dragged into frequent puck battles. It was a game played in front of the net, and it was no surprise that Pavel Kraskovsky’s opening goal – his first since November – came from the slot after another fight for possession.
Dinamo responded with ample energy, but insufficient precision: just four of 16 shots reached Daniil Isayev and none troubled the visiting goalie.
But in the middle frame, that active play forced Lokomotiv into penalty trouble. Neither power play brought a goal, albeit due to a bench challenge showed that Isayev was fouled as Alex Limoges scored. However, the momentum continued and at equal strength Vadim Moroz made it 1-1 before firing in yet more shots at the visiting goalie.
Early in the third, Lokomotiv got in front again. Yegor Surin’s productive partnership with Alexander Radulov continues and they combined to set up a power play goal for Maxim Shalunov. But Dinamo kept up the pressure and railroaded the visitor into more penalties. Just as Ilya Nikolayev returned from the box, Sam Anas set up a tying goal for Limoges. Then Georgy Ivanov sat for holding the stick and Darren Dietz got a power play goal in the 53rd minute.
Lokomotiv sought to increase the pressure in the closing stages, but Dinamo defended well. As the game entered the last two minutes, Bob Hartley could not find a way to get Isayev to the bench and Anas scored at five-on-five to put the game beyond reach. Loko finished with six skaters, but could not claw a way back into the game.
Severstal ends losing run
Shanghai Dragons 2 Severstal Cherepovets 3 (1-2, 1-1, 0-0)
These two teams met with very different needs. The Dragons are at risk of dropping out of the playoff race, trailing eighth place by 13 points ahead of today’s game. Severstal, meanwhile, is almost certain to go back to post season and maintains ambitions of chasing down Lokomotiv at the top of the standings.
Thursday’s meeting favored the Lynx, who are now five points behind Lokomotiv. Shanghai faces a 15-point gap to SKA, Spartak and Dynamo Moscow, and has just 13 games left to bridge that chasm.
The early stages here went Severstal’s way. The visitor got a power play in the first minute, then opened the scoring on a second PP after Austin Wagner’s trip. Danil Aimurzin made the breakthrough in the seventh minute, and within a minute Ivan Podshivalov doubled the lead.
The Dragons responded. Defenseman Alexander Bryntsev potted his second goal of the season to put the home team back in contention, but Severstal held onto its lead in a first period that did not produce a huge number of scoring chances at either end.
Ilya Chefanov gave Severstal a perfect start to the second period, scoring after 13 seconds to make it 3-1. A home power play midway through the session saw Nate Sucese reduce the arrears once again and the Dragons were beginning to dictate the play. The second period saw the host outshoot 15-6, but the Steelmen held onto their lead.
And that was largely the story of the third period. Shanghai again had more attacking possession and more shots, but not enough of either. A couple of penalties undermined the push and Severstal closed out a goalless finale to secure a 3-2 verdict. The visitor halted a three-game losing run, the home team has now lost four in a row.
Another derby loss for Spartak
Spartak Moscow 0 CSKA Moscow 2 (0-2, 0-0, 0-0)
There’s not much neighborly spirit among Spartak fans at the moment after losing two Moscow derbies in three days. Following a 2-3 loss to Dynamo on Tuesday, the Red-and-Whites were on the wrong end of a 0-2 scoreline at home to CSKA.
The result increases the gap between the teams to six points, with CSKA looking to break into the top four while Spartak remains tied with Dynamo and SKA on 62 points each.
CSKA won this one in the first six minutes. The visitor got two unanswered goals in that time. After two minutes’ play, Prokhor Poltapov circled the net and set up Dmitry Buchelnikov to fire past Alexander Georgiyev into the top corner.
Then came the first power play of the night and Poltapov got involved again. CSKA’s scoring leader spun on the boards and again played a feed to the center. This time Maxim Sorkin collected the puck and dispatched a wrister into the net.
After that, not surprisingly, Spartak began to show more on offense. The first-period stats were fairly even, but as the game progressed the scoring chances were almost entirely Red-and-White. Alexander Samonov finished with 43 saves, Nikita Nesterov cleared off the goalline in the 28th minute. Midway through the game, Igor Nikitin called a time-out to try and ease the pressure on his team.
That had some success, but there were still hurdles for CSKA to navigate. Notably, in the closing stages, Nikita Okhotyuk was assessed a major penalty for slashing at Mikhail Maltsev. That meant the visitor would finish the game with four men, and soon it was playing four-on-six as Georgiyev went to the bench. But not even a two-man advantage could get Spartak on the scoreboard.
