Ivanov hat-trick, Spartak climbs the table. February 28 round-up

Georgy Ivanov hit a hat-trick as Lokomotiv moved five points clear in the West with a 5-2 win at SKA. That loss saw the home team drop to eight as Spartak moved ahead with a 5-3 win over Barys in Moscow. 

Red-and-Whites up to sixth

Spartak Moscow 5 Barys Astana 3 (1-2, 3-0, 1-1)

After their playoff spot was confirmed last night, the Red-and-Whites rubber-stamped their progress to post season with victory at home to Barys. The result, coupled with SKA’s loss, puts Spartak sixth in the Western Conference. Barys remains 10th in the East, 11 points off the playoff spots.

But the visit of one of the Eastern Conference’s strugglers was not entirely straightforward for Alexei Zhamnov’s men. The Kazakhs jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period before Spartak reeled them back in the second.

In a difficult season for Barys, the scoring form of defenseman Reilly Walsh has been a rare highlight. With 37 (12+25) points from the blue line, he is among the team’s leading scorers.

Today he was on target twice, opening the scoring after 67 seconds then potting a late consolation after the Spartak fightback. The American struck early, evading two opponents in the right-hand circle before shooting past Alexander Georgiyev.

And the home team had more problems midway through the opening frame when Mike Vecchione doubled the lead. Walsh was involved again, faking a point shot before picking out Vecchione at the back door to convert the first power play of the game.

But Spartak battled back. A bench challenge cancelled out an instant response due to interference on goaltender Adam Scheel. However, just before the intermission the Muscovites closed the gap through Daniil Gutik. He banged home Pavel Poryadin’s feed to the slot.

That set up an impressive second period for the home team. Three unanswered goals took the game away from Barys and secured the points. Poryadin tied it up on a power play, then Nikita Korostelyov put the host up for the first time at the midway stage. Yegor Filin collected his second assist of the frame on that play. Late on, Demid Mansurov made it 4-2.

And Mansurov was on target once more midway through the third to put the game well beyond Barys. The visitor had a penalty shot shortly after – Joey Keane fouled Max Willman – but Vecchione’s early shot found Georgiyev’s glove. There was still time for Walsh to pot his last-minute consolation goal but nothing would deny Spartak its third straight win.

Ivanov hat-trick sinks SKA

SKA St. Petersburg 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5 (1-2, 0-1, 1-2)

Western Conference leader Lokomotiv reeled off a fifth successive victory, downing SKA in St. Petersburg. The visitor had the better of a rapid exchange of first-period fire and went on to close out a convincing win. Georgy Ivanov’s hat-trick paced the performance for Bob Hartley’s team while Alexander Radulov assisted two of them.

There was little preamble to Saturdays’ game. The teams traded early chances before Richard Panik put Loko in front in the fifth minute. The Slovak international collected a Byron Froese pass and advanced to score on Artemy Pleshkov.

The home goalie was busy again moments later, robbing Radulov of a goal from close range. Then came the first power play of the game, and a tying goal for SKA from Matvei Korotky. With the penalty over, Loko quickly restored its lead: Daniil Misyul’s point shot bounced around the slot with Radulov heavily involved. The puck dropped for Ivanov, who tucked home his first of the game.

Loko was decent value for a first period lead, although Korotky’s breakaway almost created a tying goal for Marat Khairullin just before the intermission.
In the middle frame, the visitor increased its lead on a power play goal from Rushan Rafikov. The defenseman finished off a fine combination involving

Andrei Sergeyev and Yegor Surin. Another power play saw Surin test Pleshkov again, before SKA responded with chances for Khairullin and Sergei Plotnikov only for Daniil Isayev to deny both.

The teams traded quickfire goals in the third: Ivanov got his second of the night to make it 4-1 before Nikita Dishkovsky continued his good recent run with an instant response for SKA. But Loko was always on top. Ivanov was close to his hat-trick in the 54th minute when his angled shot clipped the post and went to safety. But in the last minute, with Radulov in the box and Loko on the PK, he found the empty net to complete his hat-trick and seal a 5-2 win.