Leivo back on target, Merkley sets club record. February 20 round-up

Josh Leivo scored his first goal in 11 games to help Traktor to a 5-2 win over Severstal. Fellow Canadian Nick Merkley also had a big day, picking up two assists as Shanghai Dragons won in OT at Barys. That sees Merkley overtake Brandon Yip’s club record 42 points in a KHL season. Avtomobilist failed to secure its playoff spot on Friday, crashing at home to Admiral. Sibir could not close out a win at Avangard, but a shoot-out loss still saw Yaroslav Lyuznekov move a point further away from Amur, beaten 1-3 at Metallurg. Neftekhimik wrapped up the day’s play with a 2-0 win at home to Spartak. 

Lajoie’s late show saves Avangard

Avangard Omsk 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 SO (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

The home team left it late, but Max Lajoie’s goal in the 58th minute tied this game before Avangard took a shoot-out verdict. Another defeat for Sochi prevented them from taking full advantage of Amur’s loss at Metallurg, but the gap from eighth to ninth is now up to eight points.

Avangard was on top at the start, and the first 10 minutes or so were played in Sibir’s zone. Andrew Poturalski and Damir Sharipzyanov both looked menacing on the power play, but the visitor held on. Sibir continued to defend well, even though it rarely managed to trouble Andrei Mishurov at the other end until late in the frame. Before the intermission, Sibir got a power play of its own, but could not find a way through.

After the break, the visitor looked much better. Taylor Beck was close from a one-on-one, firing his shot against the crossbar. That was followed by another Avangard power play, and again the Hawks fired blanks. The game became scrappy, with few scoring chances at either end until late in the frame. Andy Andreoff jumped out of the penalty box and failed to convert a one-on-one. However, 30 seconds later he was on target when he redirected Nikita Balashyov’s shot into Mishurov’s net.

Avangard looked to push forward at the start of the third period, but it didn’t take Sibir long to steer the play away from Anton Krasotkin’s net. Beck was a constant threat, with several dangerous shots including another one that rang the iron as the visiting power play looked to increase the lead.

It remained 1-0 until the closing stages. However, after Guy Boucher called a time-out and replaced Mishurov with a sixth skater, his players responded. Krasotkin beat away Sharipzyanov’s shot, but Max Lajoie was on hand to convert the rebound with a shot that looped over the goalie and into the net.

The Hawks had the better of the extras but could not score in overtime. Nail Yakupov missed a great chance during the extras, but the shoot-out brought successful attempts from Poturalski and Konstantin Okulov to take the verdict.

Leivo ends long wait for goal

Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (2-0, 2-0, 1-2)

After a 0-6 loss at home to Salavat Yulaev, Traktor bounced back in style. A 5-2 win over Western Conference high flyer Severstal was the perfect tonic for the home team.

That heavy loss did not spark widespread changes in the line-up, but it did prompt a change of attitude. Traktor came into this game with maximum energy and scored two unanswered goals in the first period. First, Josh Leivo ended his 11-game wait for a marker, finishing off a counterattack to make it 1-0.

Barely a minute later, Alexander Kadeikin won possession and set up Alexander Rykov to make it 2-0. There could have been more, but Yegor Korshkov failed on a solo breakaway just before the intermission.

The middle frame brought two more tallies without reply. Logan Day’s stretch pass released Vasily Glotov to beat Alexander Samoilov and claim his 200th KHL point. The 201st came soon afterwards when he redirected a Grigory Dronov shot for a power play goal.

The visitor got on the board in the third period. Alexander Skorenov kept up his recent form when he found space in front of the home net. But there was never much sign of a fightback and Michal Cajkovsky set up Maxim Dzhioshvili to stuff home a fifth goal. That was the forward’s 100th point in the KHL.

Late on, Traktor ran into penalty trouble and Yanni Kaldis potted a consolation goal for the visitor. But there was no way back for Severstal as Traktor claimed a comfortable win. 

Sailors slow down Avto’s playoff push

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Admiral Vladivostok 5 (0-2, 1-1, 1-2)

The Motormen missed their chance to confirm a playoff spot before the weekend, going down to a surprise loss at home to struggling Admiral.

The Sailors came into the game on a miserable run of six straight losses at home, but showed few ill-effects in the first period. Admiral outshot the home team 14-10 and built a significant advantage in terms of offensive possession. And that advantage was parleyed into a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. Nikita Yefremov’s short-handed goal set things moving, then leading goalscorer Kyle Olson potted his 11th of the season.

Avtomobilist knew that any kind of result would ensure it could not be caught in the race for the top eight. When Stepan Khripunov found the net just 12 seconds after the restart, the game looked set to return to life. But Avto could not maintain that momentum and in the 34th minute Admiral restored its two-goal advantage. This time Dmitry Zavgorodny was the scorer, finishing a breakover in emphatic fashion.

The host ran into penalty trouble at the start of the third. Sergei Zborovsky and Brooks Macek both sat for separate offense on the same shift, and Zborovsky was back in trouble shortly after returning to the game. But Admiral could not take advantage and midway through the frame Semyon Kizimov scored at the other end when Ivan Kulbakov was unable to freeze the puck when the home power play pressed.

With 12 minutes left, Avto had time to save the game. However, the Motormen got no closer to Admiral’s score. The closing stages brought a second goal for Olson before Arkady Shestakov’s empty netter finished it off.

Magnitka eases past Amur

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Amur Khabarovsk 1 (2-1, 1-0, 0-0)

Sibir’s loss at Avangard gave Amur the chance to close the gap to eighth place. However, to do so, the Tigers faced a daunting task away to table-topping Metallurg. Andrei Razin’s team was not at its best in the last couple of games, hammered at Avtomobilist before struggling past lowly Barys, but remains the most prolific offense in this year’s KHL.

Amur boosted its own offense following an OT success at Sibir. Ivan Chekhovich, Evgeny Svechnikov, Kirill Urakov and Ivan Vorobyov all returned to the team. But it was Metallurg that grabbed the early opener: Vorobyov was assessed a roughing minor on 1:32, and in the third minute Yegor Yakovlev scored following a ricochet off the boards.

The visitor responded a couple of minutes later when Yakovlev gifted possession to Oleg Li, who beat Ilya Nabokov with an effort that goalie might have dealt with more effectively. However, the fast start continued and it was 2-1 on 6:38 as Robin Press found a defense-splitting pass for Sergei Tolchinsky to score.

Although Nabokov allowed a goal on the first shot he faced, the home goalie had a fairly quiet time of it. Amur offered greater danger on the power play, but only really began to threaten towards the end of the first period.

Overall, after that lively start, the goalmouth action faded away as the game went along. In the middle frame Amur barely got the puck near Magnitka’s net, although Li was only denied a second goal by the post. Razin began to shuffle his lines, looking for greater incision, and the pairing of Tolchinsky with

Vladimir Tkachyov showed some promise. However, the next goal had to wait until late in the second period and it went to Artyom Minulin, who showed sharp reactions to redirect Roman Kantserov’s effort.

In truth, Metallurg was rarely troubled in the game. Midway through the third, a home power play should have put the outcome beyond doubt but Amur killed off that danger. However, the Tigers had little bite and failed to muster a final surge as the league leader calmly closed out the win.

Merkley sets club record, Dragons snap skid

Barys Astana 3 Shanghai Dragons 4 OT (3-1, 0-0, 0-2, 0-1)

The Dragons rallied from 1-3 to win in Kazakhstan. In doing so, Mitch Love’s team prevented CSKA from confirming its playoff spot tonight, and cut the gap to eighth-placed Spartak to 13 points (eighth-placed SKA to 14 points).

After a six-game skid – albeit with the last two games going to overtime – Shanghai needed something here. Time is running out if the new-look franchise is going to make the playoffs for only the second time in its history. That prompted a bright start here with Borna Rendulic opening the scoring in the fourth minute. He converted Nick Merkley’s feed from the right, enabling the Canadian to tie Brandon Yip’s club record of 42 points in a season.

But things went awry for the visitor towards the end of the first period as Barys scored three goals in four minutes. Alikhan Asetov tied the scores on 13:51. Then came back-to-back power play goals. Reilly Walsh made it 2-1, adding to his assist on Asetov’s goal, before Mason Morelli beat Andrei Tikhomirov a minute later after the visiting netminder found himself marooned after making a save and coming far from his crease.

Love’s men faced more penalty trouble in the second period, but the PK held up on three separate occasions. However, hard work on defense came at a price and the visitor managed just four shots on goal even as it chased the game.

Yet another Barys power play at the start of the third brought the next goal – but it went to the Dragons. Alikhan Omirbekov got into trouble in center ice, Riley Sutter got a shot off and Spencer Foo followed up to pot a shorthanded goal and bring the game unexpectedly back to life.

In the 56th minute, Shanghai tied the game. Merkley’s pass found Pavel Akolzin on the slot for a one-timer through Nikita Boyarkin’s pads. That saw Merkley set a new club record with 43 (21+22) points, while sending the game to overtime. The momentum was now behind the visitor, which rode it to a first win since Jan. 30. Rendulic set up Troy Josephs for the decisive goal.

Shafigulin, Dolganov lead Neftekhimik to victory

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Spartak Moscow 0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Two goals from Bulat Shafigullin and a shut-out for Filipp Dolganov secured victory for Neftekhimik over Spartak. The outcome was also good news for Sochi, which would have been eliminated from playoff contention if the Red-and-Whites had taken anything from Friday’s evening game.

Spartak edged the play in the first period, having a couple of minutes additional attacking possession and outshooting Neftekhimik 13-9. However, there was no way past Dolganov and, at the other end, Shafigullin opened the scoring just before the intermission. Timur Khairullin collected a pass on the perimeter and darted into the left-hand circle. He fired the puck to the back door, where Shafigullin outmuscled the defense to shoot home.

The pattern of play evened up in the second period, with Nefetkhimik enjoying a slight advantage in that middle frame. Both teams were happy to attack, with little play in center ice. For a time, Spartak managed to keep the home team pressed into its zone, but the Wolves survived and got back on top towards the end of the frame.

At the start of the third, the Muscovites were unable to keep the Wolves from the door any longer and Shafigullin got his second of the game. Once again, he did a good job on the doorstep, this time redirecting Nikita Khlystov’s point shot to double his team’s lead.

There might have been more: a home power play saw Joey Duszak hit the crossbar, while the closing stages saw Ivan Morozov and Pavel Poryadin bearing down on a lone defenseman only for Morozov to fire into Dolganov’s glove. And Morozov’s frustrations continued: he was ejected from the game late on for a blatant cross check on Shafigullin. Neftekhimik took the win, Dolagnov finished with 37 saves.