Day of contrasts. February 25 round-up

There were three contrasting games on Wednesday’s KHL card. The most exciting clash came in Kazan, where Lada rallied from 0-3 to beat Ak Bars in a shoot-out. The highest-scoring was in Sochi, as Dinamo Minsk won 7-2 over the Leopards. And the most complete defensive performance saw CSKA take a 2-0 verdict at home to Neftekhimik.

Gamzin blanks Neftekhimik

CSKA Moscow 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)

A defensive masterclass from CSKA saw Igor Nikitin’s team recover from back-to-back losses with a 2-0 verdict over Neftekhimik.

A solid team display limited the visitor to just 15 shots at Dmitry Gamzin, who stopped everything that came his way, including a penalty shot. For a long time, Filipp Dolganov was equally impenetrable in the Neftekhimik net and the game remained goalless through two periods.

In truth, the first period offered little by way of memorable hockey. CSKA had slightly more shots, but neither goalie was greatly extended.

The second stanza continued in similar fashion until the 39th minute, when Neftekhimik was gifted a gilt-edged scoring chance. CSKA’s Prokhor Poltapov took a moment to realize his stick was broken. Then he threw it aside, directly into the path of the puck. A penalty shot was the only possible outcome, but Maxim Fedotov’s attempt was too ponderous and Gamzin read the play and got his pad behind a low shot.

Neftekhimik had another opportunity when Ivan Drozdov was assessed a major penalty for a painful hook on Joey Duszak. But the visitor could not take advantage and instead fell behind midway through the third period. Pavel Buchelnikov broke the deadlock on 48:56, banging home Nikolai Kovalenko’s feed to the back door.

Four minutes later, with the teams playing four-on-four, the Muscovites doubled the lead. Poltapov advanced down the right, spun off the boards and fired the puck into the path of Maxim Sorkin, whose excellent shot did the rest. Poltapov’s assist ended a three-game blank run for CSKA’s leading scorer as the home team made the game safe.

Big fightback stuns Ak Bars

Ak Bars Kazan 4 Lada Togliatti 5 SO (3-0, 0-3, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

A crazy game in Kazan saw Ak Bars blow a 3-0 lead. Then Lada was denied a 5-3 advantage by a video review before the home team revived to force overtime.

And the drama continued in the extras, with Ak Bars killing a penalty only to fall in a shoot-out. It’s the second time this season Lada has won in Kazan, and both games went beyond regulation.

All of that seemed a remote prospect early on. Ak Bars jumped to a three-goal lead inside 12 minutes and the game seemed destined to match the form guide as the third-placed team in the East faced an opponent eliminated from playoff contention in the West.

Nikita Lyamkin fired home the opener after 34 seconds, Dmitry Katelevsky doubled the lead on 5:07. Then a five-on-three power play saw Mitch Miller add a third with Lada seemingly in disarray. A first-period shot count of 14-4 underlined the extent of Ak Bars’ domination.

But things changed after the intermission. Lada got its first power play, albeit unsuccessful, and began to pose some questions. Nikita Mikhailov pulled a goal back in the 26th minute, then a stunning finish to the frame turned the game upside down.

Nineteen seconds before the hooter, Tyler Graovac made it 2-3. And there was time for Alexei Marchenko to pick up a hooking minor, which Artur Tyanulin instantly converted with a buzzer beater. Suddenly it was 3-3, and the home team’s stroll had wandered off course.

Riley Sawchuk assisted on that power play goal and, in doing so, broke Nikita Filatov’s club record for points in one season. He followed up with a goal right at the start of the third period to put Lada in front for the first time. Then the visitor thought it had a fifth, only for a bench challenge to call the play back for offside. Nonetheless, home goalie Timur Bilyalov made way after the puck got past him for a fifth time, and a fourth in 4:27.

Ak Bars recovered and took advantage of that reprieve when Grigory Denisenko tied the game midway through the third. By now, though, the game had changed. Defenses tightened up and there were few scoring chances on the way to overtime.

In the extras, Kirill Semyonov’s interference penalty handed Lada a golden chance to win it on the power play. The visitor could not find a winner in the extras, but Dmitry Kugryshev secured the verdict in the shoot-out. 

Minsk thrashes Sochi once again

HC Sochi 2 Dinamo Minsk 7 (0-4, 1-1, 1-2)

Dinamo demolished Sochi once again, posting a third victory over the Leopards this season. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team holds an aggregate score of 20-6 over its Black Sea rival and there’s still one meeting to come.

Two goals from Yegor Borikov and a three-point game for Vadim Shipachyov led the way for the visitor. Sam Anas, who leads this season’s scoring race and has a chance of an all-time record picked up an assist. That takes the American to 77 points and a share of ninth in the all-time chart. He’s still 12 behind Nikita Gusev’s haul from 2023/2024 and has eight games left to make up the shortfall.

The Belarusians wasted little time in taking control here, and raced to a 4-0 first-period lead. Vadim Moroz opened the scoring in the fourth minute, Darren Dietz doubled the lead then Borikov got his first of the game after 14 minutes. Shipachyov added a fourth before the intermisssion.

The fusillade continued after the break with Ty Smith making it 5-0 on 21:08, assisted by Moroz and Shipachyov.

After that, Sochi managed to at least halt the flow of goals. And the home team even found the net late in the middle frame when defenseman Anton Malyshev potted his second of the season.

But this was always going to be Dinamo’s day and the visitor finished off with more goals in the final frame. In the 42nd minute Anas assisted on an Alex Limoges power play goal – surprisingly the first official PP marker in the game, although the opener came right at the end of Ilya Sushko’s time in the box.

When Borikov made it 7-1 in the 48th minute, home goalie Pavel Khomchenko left the game to be replaced by Ilya Samsonov.

There was some consolation in the closing stages. Samsonov managed to deny any further goals during his 12-minute cameo, and Sochi even managed to have the final word when Rafael Bikmullin scored a last-minute power play goal.