Traktor, Neftekhimik secure playoff spots. March 10 round-up

Fifteen out of 16 playoff spaces are now full. Amur’s loss at home to Barys in Tuesday’s opening game was enough to confirm Traktor’s post-season spot despite the Chelyabinsk team’s loss to Neftekhimik later in the day. Meanwhile, Neftekhimik’s victory means that Igor Grishin has steered the Wolves to the playoffs in his first full season as a KHL head coach. Elsewhere, Ak Bars eased to victory at home to Spartak, while CSKA moved to fourth in the West with a win over Sochi.

Vecchione deals a blow to Amur’s playoff hopes

Amur Khabarovsk 0 Barys Astana 3 (0-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Two goals from Michael Vecchione led Barys to victory in Khabarovsk, hurting Amur’s hopes of making the playoffs. Vecchione added to his hat-trick against Shanghai Dragons with a starring performance in a 3-0 win, while goalie Nikita Boyarkin stopped 34 shots. Seven of them came from Amur’s scoring leader Yaroslav Likhachyov, who was a constant threat.

The result leaves the Tigers five points behind eighth-placed Sibir at the end of its home schedule. Amur now goes on the road for its final four games hoping to claw back that deficit.

Barys has long been out of serious playoff contention, but the visitor arrived in confident mood after scoring eight in Shanghai on Saturday. After killing an early penalty, the Kazakhs had the edge in the first period but could not find an opening goal. Even a brief spell of five-on-three play could not unlock the home defense.

But the power play continued into the second period and Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan stickhandled his way through the home defense. Maxim Dorozhko stopped the initial shot, but Alikhan Omirbekov was on hand to put away the rebound in the 22nd minute.

Amur had its chances in the second period, with two more power plays going begging. But Vecchione doubled the lead just before the intermission with home D-man Yaroslav Dyblenko in the box. Reilly Walsh found the forward in the left-hand circle, and his one-timer ripped past Dorozhko.

In the final stanza, Amur dominated the play and outshot Barys 12-4 but Boyarkin came up with the answers. And, in the closing stages, Vecchione put his second of the night into an empty net to seal the win for the visitor.

Wolves join Traktor in playoffs

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 OT (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Traktor came into this game knowing its playoff spot was secure. Neftekhimik needed one more point to join its visitor in post season, and finished the day with two thanks to Artyom Serikov’s overtime winner.

Neftekhimik returned home after a Far East tour that brought just one win in four games, but welcomed back leading scorer Andrei Belozyorov from injury. Traktor was without Grigory Dronov and Andrei Svetlakov.

And the home team, chasing the result it needed to clinch a top-eight finish, started strongly. The first period was played at Neftkhimik’s tempo and Traktor found itself shorthanded on three occasions. However, not only did those power plays not bring a goal, the visitor scored a shorty to get ahead before the intermission. Vitaly Kravtsov capitalized on his own interception to skate away and beat Yaroslav Ozolin in the 19th minute.

The second period got off to a slow start with the play bogged down in center ice. However, Traktor continued to make regular visits to the box and that finally brought a power play goal for Belozyorov to tie the game on 34:56.

A tie in regulation was a useful result for both teams and the third period was evenly contested. Matvei Nadvorny hit the post for Neftekhimik, Kravtsov responded with an effort off the bar for Traktor. In overtime, Traktor found the net but the goal was called back for offside. Then Serikov grabbed a legitimate goal as Neftekhimik celebrated a return to the playoffs.

Nikitin’s men climb to fourth

CSKA Moscow 2 HC Sochi 1 (0-0, 1-0, 1-1)

Victory over Sochi edged CSKA into the top four in the Western Conference, ahead of Torpedo by virtue of more wins in regulation. A top-four finish would mean home ice advantage at the start of the playoffs for Igor Nikitin’s team, while the Muscovites are also looking to preserve the momentum built up as the season progresses.

The home team had the better of a goalless first period. Both teams had chances, but Pavel Khomchenko was the busier goalie with 17 saves. The pressure also took a toll on Sochi’s discipline and the Leopards ended the opening stanza with just three skaters.

However, CSKA could not capitalize on that advantage before or after the intermission. Instead, the opening game arrived midway through the game.

Turning defense swiftly into offense, Nick Ebert drove the puck in from the right-hand boards. Vitaly Abramov saw his initial redirect hit the post, but was celebrating when the rebound took it into the net via a deflection off Khomchenko.

The game was still very much alive and, in Max Ellis’s case, kicking. His trip sparked a fight with Ivan Patrikhayev that brought CSKA a power play early in the third. That came to nothing, and the next time the host had a man advantage it led to a goal for the visitor. Matvei Guskov’s shot was parried by Alexander Samonov but the rebound fell to defenseman Cameron Lee to score.

As the power play came to a close, another Guskov play almost presented Dmitry Kagalitsky with a chance to blast home at the back door, but CSKA survived that scare. Then the home team grabbed the winner with three minutes to play. Nikolai Kovalenko went around the net and got the puck to the slot where Denis Guryanov held off an opponent to bang in a one-timer. Guryanov later fired wide of an empty net but the home team held on to take the verdict.

Chmelevski’s double downs Spartak

Ak Bars Kazan 4 Spartak Moscow 1 (2-0, 1-0, 1-1)

Two goals from Alexander Chmelevski set up Ak Bars for a 4-1 win over Spartak. The result keeps the home team in the race for second place in the Eastern Conference, while Spartak remains eighth in the West.

Chmelevski did his damage in the first period, opening a two-goal lead for the host. He opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a one-timer after Stepan Falkovsky’s advance down the right.

Spartak created a good chance to equalize in the 12th minute with a neat play that set up Pavel Poryadin in front of the net. However, young goalie Maxim Arefyev was equal to the shot and padded it to safety.

A couple of minutes later, Chmelevski had his second. Kirill Semyonov raced away down the left and dropped the puck off for Falkovsky to shoot; a deft touch from Chmelevski took the puck past Artyom Zagidulin.

Ak Bars was good value for its lead at the intermission and increased its advantage in the second period. After winning possession in its own zone, the home team set off on a counter and Ilya Karpukhin showed some impressive pace to get down the ice and fire a wrister to Zagidulin’s short side. The balance of play evened up somewhat in the middle frame, but Spartak struggled to turn possession into serious scoring chances.

At the start of the final frame a power play goal for Artyom Galimov put the result beyond any serious doubt. However, Arefyev was denied a shut-out in the closing stages when Nikita Kholodilin potted a consolation goal for the Red-and-Whites.