SKA clinches playoffs, Radulov collects medal. February 24 round-up

The latest confirmed playoff contender is SKA. The Petersburg club beat Admiral 4-2, making it seven wins from eight and securing its post season spot. Dynamo missed its chances to do likewise, falling 1-3 at Lokomotiv after Alexander Radulov received his commemorative medal for scoring 800 KHL points. Two games went to overtime: Metallurg rallied from 0-3 before losing at home to Severstal, and Sibir recovered from 0-2 only to fall in Ufa. Avtomobilist thrashed Avangard 5-1 in Tuesday’s other game.

Big win for Avto

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5 Avangard Omsk 1 (1-0, 2-1, 2-0)

Head coach Nikolai Zavarukhin broke one of hockey’s golden rules, dramatically changed a winning team – and was rewarded with an even bigger victory.
After Avtomobilist booked its playoff spot with a 4-1 win over Shanghai Dragons, the Motormen broke up the productive Sprong-Sharov-Macek line. Sprong rejoined Stephane da Costa and Anatoly Golyshev, while Semyon Kizimov replaced him on his previous line. Avangard also had a significant chance on offense, with in-form Andrew Poturalski sitting this one out after taking a puck in the face last time out.

The game quickly settled into a pattern that would last for pretty much the full 60 minutes. Avangard piled the pressure onto Vladimir Galkin’s net, while the home team was content to play on the counter. Dmitry Rashevsky had the first shot on goal after just 15 seconds and most of the numbers favored the Hawks at the end of the first period.

Crucially, though, the only goal came from one of those home counterpunches. Kirill Vorobyov made an interception and released Yegor Chernikov, who skated away to score in only his third appearance this year.

The second period was calmer, at least at the start. The pattern of play was more even as well, but it wasn’t until midway through the session that we saw the next goal. It came from Avtomobilist when Golyshev converted a da Costa feed from behind the net. Sprong almost added a third soon after, but a defenseman got back to clear after his shot squeezed through Nikita Serebryakov’s defenses.

Instead, the next goal when to Avangard, with Damir Sharipzyanov firing through heavy traffic to move even closer to matching Chris Lee’s record 65-point haul for a defenseman.

Avtomobilist was in no mood to allow any fightback, though. Barely a minute elapsed before Macek helped Nikita Tryamkin’s blast find the target.

The third period saw Avangard on the power play, and the home team was reduced to three skaters for a time. Guy Boucher called a time out, but the visitor could not take advantage. After something of a lull, Avtomobilist reshuffled its lines and the reinstated Sharov line created a fourth goal when Sprong found an open corner. The final word went to Golyshev, whose empty net goal made the final score 5-1.

Severstal survives fightback

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Severstal Cherepovets 4 OT (0-2, 1-1, 2-0, 0-1)

Severstal blew a 3-0 lead in Magnitogorsk but rallied in overtime to win this battle of two steelworking teams.

In the early stages, the visitor was white hot. Severstal forged ahead on Danil Veryayev’s fourth-minute counter-attacking goal, and doubled the advantage midway through the opening frame when Ilya Kvochko scored on his hometown team. Kvochko, 22, is enjoying his most productive KHL season to date with 17 (6+11) points so far.

Mikhail Ilyin, 21, is also going well. He assisted on Kvochko’s goal to extend his productive streak to four games. Then, midway through the second period, he underlined his good form with his 13th goal of the season to make it 3-0 for Severstal. That’s a career high in goals, and he’s already well ahead of his previous best points tally of 30.

But, after building a winning position, the visitor relinquished its grip. Andrei Razin switched goalies and sent Alexander Smolin into the game. Sergei Tolchinsky pulled one back in the second period, potting his fourth goal in three games to slow Severstal’s advance.

The pressure continued, but it remained 1-3 at the intermission. However, two quick goals had the game tied midway through the third. Nikita Mikhailis got one back in the 48th minute when a fine feed from Makar Khabarov released the Kazakh forward to beat Konstantin Shostak. Less than two minutes later, the free-scoring partnership between Vladimir Tkachyov and Roman Kantserov struck again, with the latter redirecting a shot into the net for the tying goal.
Magnitka rode that wave into a power play and might have wrapped things up in regulation. But Severstal held on and the game moved to overtime. Yanni Kaldis got the winner, racing away from Kantserov and beating Smolin through the five hole to deny Metallurg a comeback win. 

Kuznetsov wins it in OT

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (0-0, 2-1, 0-1, 1-0)

There was a similar story in Ufa, where Sibir rallied from 0-2 but fell in overtime. Here, Evgeny Kuznetsov continued his hot streak with the winning goal, catching visiting goalie Anton Krasotkin with a shot from a tight angle on 61:44.

That sent playoff chasing Sibir to a fourth successive one-goal loss, and its third in OT or beyond. The Siberians remain eighth, seven points clear of Amur, but the Tigers have two games in hand and could yet make the race for the playoffs a tight one.

Nonetheless, Sibir will feel this is a point won rather than a point dropped. After a goalless first period, Salavat Yulaev jumped to a 2-0 lead with two goals in 49 seconds at the start of the second. Denis Yan broke the deadlock, then Devin Brosseau doubled the advantage. Given the home team had enjoyed an 11-2 shot count in the first period, the lead felt deserved – and likely to lead to a straightforward victory.

But Sibir did not waver. Taylor Beck potted a psychologically important goal late in the second period, reducing the deficit to a single goal when he jumped on a deflection in the center of the zone and roasted a powerful shot past Semyon Vyazovoi. Then came a five-on-three power play for Salavat Yulaev late in the session, which produced a resolute and morale-boosting PK from the visitor.

After that, the momentum swung behind Sibir. Midway through the third period Semyon Koshelev won the puck behind the net and emerged to tie the game.

However, recent games have seen Kuznetsov returning to his best form. Today he scored for the third in a row, moving to seven points from three games and 11 (3+8) from his last seven.

Medal for Radulov, win for Loko

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Dynamo Moscow 1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0)

Alexander Radulov collected his medal for reaching 800 points in the KHL, and Lokomotiv collected a victory that keeps the defending champion out in front in the Western Conference.

Bob Hartley’s team is five points clear of Severstal, having played a game less than its nearest rival.

For Dynamo, defeat means Vyacheslav Kozlov’s inconsistent team must wait to confirm its playoff place. There’s little serious danger of the Blue-and-Whites falling behind Shanghai Dragons, currently 17 points adrift in ninth, but failure to win in Yaroslavl means the job is not officially done yet.

The visitor fell behind early in the game when the Railwaymen converted their second power play of the night. Dynamo had managed one penalty kill, and thought it had taken the lead in the fourth minute through Daniil Prokhorov. However, the 18-year-old saw that whistled off on two counts – handling the puck and impeding goalie Daniil Isayev. Instead of celebrating his second KHL goal, he was sent to the box and watched as Rushan Rafikov fired Lokomotiv in front.

For the rest of the first period, the teams played an even game but produced few chances. But the second period saw Nikita Gusev draw Dynamo level. Dylan Sikura won possession in center ice and, as everyone expected him to bear down on goal, he dished off a pass to the left for Gusev to shoot into the open corner.

Dynamo followed that with a strong power play and looked the better team for much of the second period. However, the visitor could not capitalize on that momentum and was punished late in the frame. Lokomotiv got back into the game and Daniil Misyul restored the lead in the 37th minute. He kept a Dynamo clearance in the zone and returned it with interest, planting a powerful point shot beyond Vladislav Podyapolsky.

Lokomotiv has long been noted for its ability to close out wins in tight games, and today was another example. The home team limited Dynamo’s opportunities in the third and finished the job itself when Maxim Shalunov found the empty net with 61 seconds left to play.

Playoffs secured for SKA

SKA St. Petersburg 4 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (1-1, 1-0, 2-1)

February began with SKA lamenting a club record losing streak of eight games. Today, on Feb. 24, Igor Larionov’s team clinched its playoff spot after winning seven from eight and climbing to sixth in the Western Conference.

The march into post-season was confirmed with a 4-2 victory over Admiral, a visitor encountering its former head coach Leonids Tambijevs in his new role on Larionov’s staff. The Latvian has been with the club for six of those last eight games.

In form and full of confidence, SKA quickly got in front here. Inside the first minute Brennan Menell opened the scoring when Scott Wilson’s pass found him on the right-hand point and he surprised Ivan Kulbakov with a wrist shot.

But Admiral hit back. SKA gave up the puck in its own zone and the Sailors leading goalscorer Kyle Olson was the beneficiary. He redirected a Libor Sulak shot for his 19th of the season.

There was a quick goal in the second period as well. Wilson was involved once more, this time setting up Sergei Plotnikov to make it 2-1. This time, SKA held onto its lead throughout the frame, although Artemy Pleshkov had to make a big save to deny Pavel Shen’s one-on-one chance.

Pleshkov and Shen came face-to-face once again in the third period, and once again the netminder won the duel. Moments later, Wilson added a goal to his two assists when he outwitted Kulbakov after Nikolai Goldobin sent him through on the net. Then a late goal from Matvei Korotky put the game out of reach for Admiral, despite Nikita Tertyshny’s late consolation strike.