CSKA misses chance to secure playoffs, Poturalski maintains streak. February 17 round-up
Lada’s 2-1 win at home to CSKA was the surprise of the day – and the defeat prevented the Muscovites from clinching their playoff place today. Andrew Poturalski stretched his hot streak to 13 games, but could not prevent Avangard from falling 2-5 at home to Ak Bars. Lokomotiv edged a 1-0 win over Neftekhimik to move seven clear at the top of the West, while Eastern leader Metallurg responded to Sunday’s 1-8 thrashing with an overtime win at Barys. Avtomobilist, which scored eight on the league leader, followed up with a 4-1 success at home to Sochi.
Poturalski stays hot, Avangard blows cold
Avangard Omsk 2 Ak Bars Kazan 5 (0-1, 2-1, 0-3)
Andrew Poturalski extended his scoring streak to 13 games, but his goal for Avangard could not save his team from defeat at home to Ak Bars in this battle of 2nd vs 3rd in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks still hold a five-point advantage over today’s visitor, but lost ground on leader Metallurg which is now seven clear at the top.
The game was a hard-fought battle throughout. Both teams competed hard all over the ice and the momentum changed hands repeatedly. Ak Bars made the brighter start, before Avangard moved play away from Nikita Serebryakov’s net and looked to generate chances by crowding the slot and firing in long shots.
Midway through the opening frame, Ak Bars got on the power play and Dmitrij Jaskin converted Kirill Semyonov’s perfectly-weighted feed to the danger zone.
The second period began with Ak Bars again looking livelier, and Serebryakov did well to snuff out a three-on-one rush early in the session. However, when Ivan Igumnov banged in a long-range attempt, his team-mates did their job on the slot and Mikhail Kotlyarevsky banged the puck home to tie the scores in the 26th minute. Then Poturalski made it 2-1 midway through the session, capitalizing on a five-on-three power play to move to 20 (6+14) points in his last 13 games.
The power play continued, but the visitor’s four men generated a counter and Nikita Dynyak’s shorthanded tally tied the game going into the final frame.
That final session began with Avangard on the front foot but it wasn’t long before Ak Bars reeled the home team in. The Hawks were already reduced to relying on counterpunches by the time Nikita Lyamkin restored the visitor’s lead midway through the session. It took just 37 seconds to build on that breakthrough, with Mitch Miller opening a 4-2 advantage on 51:19 and taking the game away from Guy Boucher’s team.
The home team was left reeling, and it fell to Grigory Denisenko to apply the finishing touch with an empty net goal.
Motormen cruise past Sochi
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 HC Sochi 1 (2-0, 1-1, 1-0)
Despite the return of goalie Ilya Samsonov, who last played for Sochi on Jan. 26, the Leopards could not curb Avtomobilist’s impressive offense. The Motormen followed their eight-goal spree against Metallurg with four more here.
A couple of early penalties disrupted the home team at the start of the game. However, Avtomobilist looked comfortable enough at equal strength and got in front midway through the first on a shot from Artyom Shchuchinov’s first of the season. A couple of minutes later Daniel Sprong, a hat-trick man against Magnitka, got on the scoresheet again off a Brooks Macek feed from behind the net.
The 2-0 lead was a fair reflection of the first-period play, but after the intermission we saw more of the Sochi offense. Although the visitor outshot Avto 15-7 during the session, the home team still created good chances. Sprong, in particular, was close to his second of the night but found the post. A strong Sochi PP put the visitor in front for shots, but could not find a way past Evgeny Alikin, and a counterattack in the 36th minute saw Roman Gorbunov skate through to make it 3-0. Alikin got an assist on that, but was beaten before the end of the middle frame when Max Ellis beat him from the slot.
Anxious to avoid any difficulties in the closing stages, Avtomobilist extended its lead at the start of the third. Alexei Byvaltsev potted his first since Nov. 20, firing a shot from the circle through Samsonov’s pads to make it 4-1. That proved to be the final score as Yekaterinburg closed out the win.
Magnitka bounces back with OT win
Barys Astana 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 OT (0-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-1)
Metallurg responded to its worst loss of the season by restoring some of the team’s more notable forwards and scratching youngsters Mikhail Fyodorov and Igor Nechayev. On defense, Alexander Siryatsky returned after a couple of months injured, take the place of Danil Palivko. Alexander Smolin continued in goal despite the 1-8 loss at Avto last time out.
Barys was looking for back-to-back wins after seeing off Lada and the game began with Smolin facing the heavier workload. The home team skated better in the first, but Metallurg had greater quality where it counted. The only goal went to Ruslan Iskhakov, who won his battle on the slot after six minutes.
After the intermission, Magnitka stepped up a gear. The third line produced a fantastic combination, bringing Iskhakov his second of the game in the 27th minute. However, Barys refused to roll over. There were regular tests for Smolin, who was twice saved by the post. Eventually, the pressure paid off: Tyce Thompson converted a power play to put Barys back in the game.
Barys continued to have more of the game in the third. Metallurg had to rely on moments of individual skill or vision to get any kind of scoring chance, and could not extend its lead. Instead, in the 55th minute, the Barys scoring leaders combined: Michael Vecchione set up Reilly Walsh and the defenseman scored from the blue line to send the game to overtime.
However, the extras did not last long. It took 47 seconds for Metallurg to win it, with Derek Barach demonstrating why he was recalled to the team when he scored the decisive goal.
CSKA has to wait for playoff confirmation
Lada Togliatti 2 CSKA Moscow 1 (0-0, 0-0, 2-1)
CSKA saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end, with Igor Nikitin’s men missing the chance to secure its playoff spot tonight. Although the Muscovites will surely finish the job in the coming days, it was a reminder that the team’s form this season has been inconsistent – not least given that Lada had lost seven of its last eight and is, to date, the only team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
Nikitin made changes for this game. Captain Nikita Nesterov was rested, and all the defensive pairs were reshuffled. Sergei Kalinin returned to the fourth line – and scored – while Dmitry Gamzin played in goal for the first time in almost two weeks.
The hope, perhaps, was that Lada would be a comfortable opponent for players returning to full health. The home team did its best to accommodate in the first period, picking up three penalties in a row midway through the first period as CSKA enjoyed total control of the game without making a breakthrough.
For a long time, this proved to be a goalie duel between Gamzin and Alexander Trushkov. In front of them, both defenses did a solid job of blocking shots. Yet midway through the third period, Trushkov blinked first and Kalinin opened the scoring in fine style with a counterattack that he led himself.
It all pointed to a straightforward CSKA win from there, but Lada had other ideas. Pavel Karnaukhov’s penalty brought a power play goal for Colby Williams, playing against his former club. Then Jeremy Roy went to the box and Tomas Jurco potted the winner on 53:53. The whole turnover took just 80 seconds. Once in front, Lada killed a penalty and closed out a rare win to keep the visitor waiting a while longer.
Kiryanov, Isayev secure Loko victory
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0)
A solitary goal after two minutes of this game proved to be decisive. Nikita Kiryanov struck on 2:13 to claim what would be the only goal of the game. At the other end, Daniil Isayev made 29 saves to complete his seventh shut-out of the season.
Kiryanov took the puck off Timur Khairullin when he failed to control Nikita Cherepanov’s clearance on the Lokomotiv blue line. Then the 23-year-old forward skated away to rifle a wrister past Filipp Dolganov in the visitor’s net.
After that, Lokomotiv continued to dominate the play, although Neftekhimik had a couple of big chances to tie the game. The visitor hit the post on its first power play of the night, then in the 14th minute Damir Zhafyarov saw his effort ruled out following a bench challenge for interference on Isayev.
Things changed in the second period. Loko still had the edge in terms of possession, but now Neftekhimik was more inclined to shoot at Isayev. The home goalie made 11 saves in the middle frame and 12 more in the third as the Wolves stepped up their offense as best they could. However, Lokomotiv defended well, and kept much of the visitor’s offensive play to the perimeter as it closed out a ninth win in 10 games.
The defending champion is now seven points clear of Severstal at the top of the Western Conference. Neftekhimik remains sixth in the East, a point adrift of Salavat Yulaev.
