Record for Sharipzyanov. March 17 round-up

Damir Sharipzyanov rewrote the KHL record books. His assist in Avangard’s overtime victory at Dinamo Minsk gives him the most productive season for a defenseman in the KHL. His 66 points this term beat Chris Lee’s 65 for Metallurg in 2016/2017. Earlier in the day, Lada came from 0-2 to beat Amur.

Fightback win for Lada

Lada Togliatti 5 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (0-1, 2-1, 3-0)

A fightback from 0-2 saw Lada wrap up its season with victory over Amur. Andrei Chivilyov and Dmitry Kugryshev had three points each as the Motormen ensured they won’t finish last in the Western Conference this season.

Amur, whose playoff hopes were ended by Sibir’s victory yesterday, had little to play for but still made a strong start to the game. The Tigers dominated the first period, outshooting Lada 13-4, and got the only goal of the session thanks to Oleg Li.

After the intermission, Lada improved but could not find a quick goal. Instead, it fell further behind when a defensive error enabled Kirill Urakov to double Amur’s lead in the 25th minute. But that served as an inspiration for the home team, which drew level before the intermission. The first goal went to Kugryshev in the 33rd minute off a Chivilyov assist; the roles were reversed just before the hooter as the same duo made it 2-2.

At the start of the third period, those two combined once more for Maxim Belousov to put Lada in front for the first time. Within a minute, Andrei Obidin’s 100th KHL point made it 4-2 and chased starting goalie Viktor Kobozev from his net. And there was time for one more goal and one more landmark: Ivan Savchik made it 5-2, with Tomas Jurco’s assist giving him 100 points in the league.

Two goals for Poturalski, record-breaking assist for Sharipzyanov

Dinamo Minsk 3 Avangard Omsk 4 OT (0-0, 1-3, 2-0, 0-1)

Damir Sharipzyanov collected his 66th point of the season, breaking the record set by Chris Lee for the most productive defenseman in a regular season. Lee had 65 points for Metallurg in 2017.

The Avangard captain’s big moment came at the start of the second period, when he assisted on Max Lajoie’s opening goal. With his team on the power play, Sharipzyanov played a quick pass to the right-hand circle for Lajoie to shoot home and was engulfed by his team-mates as the Hawks cleared the bench to celebrate their colleague’s success.

That goal, on 20:34, triggered a rush. Xavier Ouellet brought Dinamo level a couple of of minutes later, but Avangard needed just 17 seconds to regain its lead. Lajoie assisted on the second goal as Giovanni Fiore made it 2-1.

In the 27th minute, Andrew Poturalski added a third for the visitor. Avangard’s success was somewhat against the run of play. Dinamo dominated the goalless first period, outshooting the visitor 15-4. The second frame was slightly more even, but the home team still had a hefty advantage in shots, while Avangard scored three times off nine efforts in the middle session.

Dinamo has its own record-chasing player: American forward Sam Anas is on 86 points, three behind Nikita Gusev’s record of 89 in a season. However, he was unable to add to his tally until the third period.

The Bison got a goal back at the start of the final frame when Stanislav Galiyev scored on the power play. Then another PP saw Anas bring the puck out of the corner before Ty Smith tied the game in the 45th minute.

But that was the end of the scoring in regulation. There were late chances to win it with Poturalski and Alexander Volkov going close on an Avangard power play before Anas forced a last-minute save from Nikita Serebryakov. However, the game went to overtime. And in those extras, Poturalski’s second of the game was enough to give the visitor the verdict.