Anas ties record, Sibir sets one. March 20 round-up
The last day of the regular season saw Sam Anas tie Nikita Gusev’s record 89-point haul in a regular season campaign. He scored twice in Dinamo Minsk’s 8-2 win over Avtomobilist, but could not find a third point to set a new mark. Sibir did set a new record, beating a mark established in the KHL’s inaugural season. Today’s shoot-out win over Sochi was its 12th of the season, beating Metallurg’s 11 from 2008/2009.
Elsewhere, the big issue was resolving the Western playoff pairings. With the season complete, Lokomotiv faces Spartak in round one, Dinamo Minsk will take on Dynamo Moscow, Severstal is up against Torpedo and CSKA faces SKA.
Ufa finishes with win
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 HC Sochi 1 (1-0, 0-0, 1-1)
A sell-out crowd saw Salavat Yulaev wrap up its regular season with victory over Sochi. Although there was little riding on Friday’s game, an upswing in interest ahead of the playoffs, coupled with the local holiday for Eid, had fans flocking to the arena.
They got a chance to reacquaint themselves with Danil Bashkirov, a Salavat Yulaev graduate who played five seasons in Ufa but is now with Sochi. They also saw Viktor Kozlov run the rule over his reserves: key players such as goalie Semyon Vyazovoi, defenseman Evgeny Kulik and forwards Sheldon
Rempal, Jack Rodewald and Devin Brosseau were all rested. Alexander Khokhlachyov was among the beneficiaries, playing his first game for some time, while 23-year-old D-man Vitaly Budnitsky made his KHL debut and Nikolai Khvorov was called up from the VHL.
The home team immediately whipped up a storm in front of Pavel Khomchenko’s net. Nikita Zorkin had an early chance, then came a power play. Salavat Yulaev could not convert that, but got in front at equal strength. Danil Alalykin made great assist for Alexander Zharovsky to fire home a one-timer.
Salavat continued to dominate the first period and not even Sochi’s power play could get the Leopards into the contest. After the intermission, though, the game was more even. Both teams had decent chances, but both Khomchenko and Ilya Konovalov did well in goal. The latter made the best save of the half, denying Will Bitten’s one-on-one rush.
Early in the third, Sochi drew level on a power play goal. There was an element of fortune about the deflection that set him up, but Rafael Bikmullin did well to take maximum advantage and make it 1-1. However, the visitor could not escape a seventh successive loss to finish it season: Khokhlachyov’s wrister converted a late power play to win it with barely a minute to play.
Shoot-out kings
Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Barys Astana 1 SO (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
A shoot-out win on the last day of the regular season earned Sibir a KHL record. It’s the 12th time the Novosibirsk club has won in this fashion this year, beating Metallurg tally in the inaugural KHL season.
For the final game of the season, Sibir brought back several leading players after resting them in the 4-1 win over SKA. Taylor Beck, Andy Andreoff, Yegor Alanov, Valentin Pyanov and Sergei Shirokov all featured today, while Mikhail Berdin replaced Anton Krasotkin in goal. Barys, whose season ends today, promoted Kirill Lyapunov and Dmitry Breus to the starting five.
And that quintet opened the scoring for the visitor at the start of the game, albeit without contributions from Lyapunov or Breus. Their colleagues played simple but effective: Mason Morelli screened Berdin and Reilly Walsh fired home from the blue line. Not for the first time this season, the goalie was beaten by the first shot he faced.
Even before that goal, Semyon Koshelev might have put Sibir in front with a one-on-one chance. And much of the first period was dictated by the home team, with Andrei Shutov making 20 saves.
After the intermission, Sibir maintained its advantage and eventually found a way through. Andreoff and Koshelev both tested Shutov, and the latter eventually made it 1-1, putting the puck home after Anton Kosolapov’s shot missed the target.
In the third period, Barys came into the game more and Berdin was rather busier. Sibir had to block 10 shots but still took the game to a shoot-out, where Mikhail Abramov sealed a record-breaking win.
End-of-season win for Traktor
Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Admiral Vladivostok 0 (0-0, 1-0, 0-0)
There was an end-of-term feel to this game. Traktor rested several key players. Josh Leivo, Vitaly Kravtsov and Maxim Dzhioshvili sat it out, joining Grigory Dronov and Arseny Koromyslov on the sidelines. Sergei Telegin and Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer returned, while Alexander Tertyshny made his KHL debut.
He’s the son of Dmitry Tertyshny, a Traktor star who died in a boating accident in July 1999 at the end of his first NHL season.
Alexander was also up against his cousin Nikita Tertyshny, another Traktor product now playing for Admiral. The pair took the opening face-off of the game.
But the action was slow to build. The teams each had a first-period power play, but neither could find the net.
Traktor got ahead in the middle frame. Mikhail Grigorenko slalomed through the defense and set up Andrei Svetlakov in the 34th minute. Svetlakov moved to 39 points for the season, matching his personal best.
Admiral, hoping to move out of last place in the East with a regulation-time win, tried to fight back in the third period. However, Savely Sherstnev stopped everything that came his way to secure his second KHL shut-out. Traktor finished the regular season with a fourth straight victory.
Kuznetsov hits hat-trick, Anas ties record
Dinamo Minsk 8 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (3-0, 3-1, 2-1)
Sam Anas tied Nikita Gusev’s record of 89 points in a regular season as Dinamo Minsk ended with a home win over Avtomobilist.
The American forward scored two goals … as the Bison thrashed a depleted Avtomobilist team in its final game of the regular season.
The visitor had Nikita Novosyolov, 21, as starting goalie for only the second time in his KHL career. On defense, Daniil Karpovich played his first game since November, Nikita Ishimnikov and Artyom Shchuchilov returned to the KHL after six-week absences, and Daniil Malorosiyanov continued his increased contribution through March.
On offense, there was no game for Stephane da Costa, Brooks Macek or Anatoly Golyshev, although Daniel Sprong continued to lead the attack.
But this game was always about Anas and his record bid. Initially the American forward, who began the day on 87 points, two behind Gusev’s milestone, was outshone by Sergei Kuznetsov, who scored the first two goals.
But at the end of the first period, Anas rifled home from the right-hand circle off a Darren Dietz feed, making it 3-0 and closing to within a point of Gusev. Then, after Daniil Lipsky scored early in the second, Anas tied the record on 24:44. An Avto defenseman played the puck back into his zone, Dietz held it on the blue line before finding Vitaly Pinchuk, who set up Anas for his second of the game.
However, although Dinamo scored three more goals in the game, Anas was unable to get the extra point he needed to set a new record. Instead, Kuznetsov completed his hat-trick and finished with a four-point game after assisting a Dietz goal. And Daniil Sotishvili added an eight in the 53rd minute, but there was no further contribution from Anas.
At the other end, Avtomobilist got a couple of consolation efforts. Sprong scored them both and finishes the season with 64 points, including 13 goals in the last 13 games.
Zykov hat-trick paces SKA to victory
SKA St. Petersburg 5 Shanghai Dragons 1 (3-1, 1-0, 1-0)
The final St. Petersburg derby of season went the way of four of the previous five: playoff bound SKA proved too strong for the Dragons. Valentin Zykov was the star man with three power play goals to take the game away from Shanghai.
The visitor got in front in the seventh minute thanks to Austin Wagner’s goal. However, that was as good as it got for Mitch Love’s team as it fell to a seventh straight loss.
SKA turned things around with three quick goals. Nikita Nepyonkin tied it up on 8:08, and two minutes later Rocco Grimaldi had the host in front. Valentin Zykov padded the lead on a power play and the game felt done at the first intermission.
Zykov got his second of the night, again on the power play, in the 27th minute. But Shanghai did not learn the lesson and allowed the same player to convert another PP in the 58th minute.
Ak Bars wins thriller
Dynamo Moscow 5 Ak Bars Kazan 7 (3-1, 0-2, 2-4)
An entertaining game on the final day cost Dynamo dear. Defeat in a 12-goal thriller saw the Blue-and-Whites fluff its chance of a fifth-placed finish, and a convenient cross-town playoff meeting with CSKA. Instead, it dropped to seventh and will head to Minsk to start its bid for the Gagarin Cup.
The home team seemed well placed in the first period. Pavel Kudryavtsev and Ivan Zinchenko opened a 2-0 lead, and even though Kirill Semyonov grabbed a short-handed goal in reply, Artyom Ilyenko converted the power play to make it 3-1 at the intermission.
But things went wrong after that. Mitch Miller and Alexander Chmelevski tied the game in the second period. Then Nathan Todd struck 33 seconds into the third period, converting a five-on-three power play, and Ak Bars led for the first time.
Ansel Galimov tied it up, but Todd went on to complete a hat-trick and take the game away from the Blue-and-Whites. There was more drama to come in the last minute as Artyom Chernov got it back to 5-6, but Alexander Barabanov’s empty netter saw Ak Bars over the line.
Tochilkin impresses against former club
Spartak Moscow 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 SO (0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
A shoot-out victory for Neftekhimik ensured that Spartak could not improve on eighth place in the Eastern Conference. As a result, Alexei Zhamnov’s team will start its post season against Lokomotiv.
All the scoring came in the second period, and it came in sudden bursts of action. Neftekhimik got in front when ex-Spartak man German Tochilkin scored in the 23rd minute. However, it took just 99 seconds for German Rubtsov to tie the game.
Later, Rubtsov put the Red-and-Whites up on 34:47, but this time the lead lasted just 21 seconds. Tochilkin was involved again, setting up Grigory Seleznyov for the tying goal.
The third period could not produce a winner, and nor could overtime. But the shoot-out saw Nikita Artamonov convert Neftekhimik’s first attempt, and that was enough to settle the outcome.
Loko gets past below-strength Magnitka
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 (1-0, 1-0, 2-1)
This game might be a dress rehearsal for the Gagarin Cup final. The two conference winners went head-to-head, with last year’s champion hosting the newly-crowned regular season king. And the verdict went to Lokomotiv on the night.
But the decisive 4-1 scoreline slightly flatters the home team, which scored twice in the last 90 seconds to give the result a more comfortable look.
Moreover, it would be wrong to read too much into a game that Metallurg treated as a chance to look at its roster depth. Andrei Razin changed almost his entire team, using only a handful of players who have featured in the KHL this season.
Although Loko sent out something much closer to a full-strength line-up, it took time for the Railwaymen to make a breakthrough. Rookie goalie Yegor Kramzin was beaten for the first time in the 18th minute when Byron Froese broke the deadlock. However, the most telling stat might be the shot count: 4-6 at the first intermission, suggesting a game that neither team was taking too seriously.
The second period was little more intense, although Lokomotiv did earn a penalty shot when Eduard Shetle was penalized for throwing his stick. Alexander Radulov’s attempt wasn’t good enough to beat Kramzin in a memorable moment for the 20-year-old. Maxim Beryozkin extended the home lead a couple of minutes later, and it was 2-0 at the second intermission.
When Metallurg got on the power play in the 53rd minute, Razin called a time-out and played six-on-four. That brought a goal from Igor Nechayev, a relatively experienced figure on today’s roster, and threatened to undermine Loko’s hopes for a quiet finale.
However, the home team proved too clinical at the death. Radulov scored into an empty net, and Froese assisted as Ilya Nikolayev added a fourth in the last minute.
