Lada loses playoff hope, Loko wins in OT. February 14 round-up

The first team to be eliminated from playoff contention is Lada. The Motormen had to get something from today’s game at Barys to retain a mathematical possibility of making the top eight, but lost 3-5. Sochi then took a point from its OT loss at home to Lokomotiv, sending Lada back to the foot of the Western Conference standings.

Motormen crash out of playoff contention

Barys Astana 5 Lada Togliatti 3 (3-1, 0-1, 2-1)

Lada’s chances of making the playoffs came to end following Saturday’s defeat at Barys. The Motormen dropped to last place in the Western Conference and can manage no more than 61 points this season. Eighth-placed SKA already has 62.

Both teams came into today’s meeting with similar records, having won one each in their previous six games. But history favored today’s visitor, which hadn’t lost to Barys in regulation since Jan. 2018 and won 2-0 when the teams met earlier in the season.

That record was reflected in a fast start for Lada. Andrei Chivilyov opened the scoring after 97 seconds after he blocked an Ian McCoshen shot and raced away to beat home goalie Nikita Boyarkin. However, it didn’t take long for McCoshen to make amends: in the sixth minute he joined another attack and found space on the slot to convert Alikhan Asetov’s pass.

Then, just after the midway point in the first period, two quick goals for the home team opened a 3-1 lead. First, Artur Tyanulin saw his attempted clearance go straight to Kirill Panyukov, who instantly fired home. Then Semyon Simonov emerged from a scrum on the boards to score on the power play.

The middle frame began with Barys controlling the game and Lada struggling to hang in there. But the visitor managed to escape further damage and even reduced the deficit in the 35th minute on 21-year-old defenseman Alexander Lukin’s first KHL goal.

But the third period saw Barys take the game away. Reilly Walsh restored the two-goal lead in the 46th minute, then Tyce Thompson potted a shorthanded marker midway through the frame. That wasn’t quite the end: Tyler Graovac scored on the same power play and when Dmitry Breus took a double minor there was hope for the visitor. However, the Lada PP was anaemic, and the game drifted away.

Right at the end there was a nasty moment when Barys forward Michael Vecchione was felled by a shot from team-mate Adil Beketayev and suffered an injury. But his absence did not affect the home side as it closed out the win and shut the door on Lada’s playoff prospects.

Kayumov gives Loko OT win

HC Sochi 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 OT (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

The defending champion recovered from a tough loss in Minsk to edge an overtime verdict on its first visit to Sochi this season. That meant a winning milestone for head coach Bob Hartley in his 350th KHL game.

While Lokomotiv is already a lock for the playoffs, Sochi is in danger of dropping out of the picture entirely. A road win at Neftekhimik last time means the Leopards still have a theoretical chance and another point today keeps Dmitry Mikhailov’s team in mathematical contention for at least a couple more games.

The home team created some good early chances, but neither Rafael Bikmullin nor Max Ellis could take advantage. Sochi more than matched Loko early on, but it was still the visitor that opened the scoring midway through the session: Nikita Kiryanov’s shot, Byron Froese with a redirect to claim his 10th of the season. After that, the visitor gained the upper hand and pushed Sochi back onto defense. Only a good save from Pavel Khomchenko prevented Daniil Misyul from doubling the lead.

At the start of the second period, the Railwaymen got their first power play of the game. However, that led to a shorthanded goal to tie the scores. Daniil Seroukh raced away to beat Alexei Melnichuk. That was a second shorty in as many games for Seroukh, who produced a similar play against Neftekhimik.

A couple of minutes later, Lokomotiv almost allowed another shorthanded tally but this time Jean-Christophe Beaudin fired wide from a dangerous position. However, as the period continued, the defending champion began to dictate the play and it took some more big saves from Khomchenko to keep the game tied.

In the third period, the teams played more cautiously. For a long time there were almost no real chances and barely even attempts on goal. Artur Kayumov had Lokomotiv’s best chance, while Seroukh went closest for Sochi. Neither team could win it in regulation, but the extras saw Kayumov finish the job.