Road win for Torpedo, OT verdict for CSKA

There was a surprise on day one in the West as sixth-seed Torpedo won 4-1 at Severstal in its playoff opener. CSKA and SKA needed two periods of overtime to separate them, but Nikita Nesterov’s strike gave the Muscovites the early edge in that first round series.

Torpedo upsets formbook in game one

Severstal Cherepovets 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 (0-0, 0-2, 1-2)
Torpedo leads the series 1-0

The visitor made the most of its chances to grab the early initiative in this First Round playoff series. Torpedo scored four goals from 23 shots to sink Severstal and secure a valuable road win in Cherepovets.

Third seed Severstal came into the game with high hopes of advancing to the second round for the first time since 2013. It was the first time Cherepovets had hosted the opening game of a KHL playoff series, and sixth seed Torpedo had lost three of the four head-to-head meetings between the teams.

But Alexei Isakov’s men proved more effective in Monday’s opener, with goals from Vladislav Firstov, Nikita Shavin, Yegor Vinogradov and Andrei Belevich securing the win.

The first period was a nervy affair. Both teams took a cautious approach and scoring chances were scarce. The balance of play was even, but it was little surprise that the game was scoreless at the first intermission.

After the break, the teams were more willing to attack. That helped Torpedo make the breakthrough in the 29th minute. The play started with Sergei Goncharuk chasing down the puck in the right-hand corner. He fired it across the front of the net to Maxim Letunov, who surprised goalie Alexander Samoilov by presenting Firstov with a shot into an open net.

And five minutes later, Torpedo doubled its lead. Shavin, a constant threat, got a deserved goal when he moved onto Anton Silayev’s pass and fired home from the left-hand circle.

Severstal’s efforts to get back into the game were hampered by a couple of penalties in the closing stages, and the home team was perhaps fortunate not to fall further behind before the hooter.

But while the visitor’s power play could not break through, at equal strength Torpedo padded its lead early in the third. Vinogradov, the team’s scoring leader in regular-season play, capitalized when Nikita Kamalov lost control of the puck and saw it bounce off the boards to the forward. In a single motion,

Vinogradov gathered possession and set off for goal, beating Samoilov with a powerful shot from the center of the zone.

A three-goal deficit looked decisive, and it might have been more but for a double save from Samoilov to deny Letunov and Goncharuk on the counter. The visitor generally did a good job of keeping play away from Denis Kostin’s net, but the goalie was finally beaten in the 57th minute. Home captain Adam Liska picked up the puck, skated in a tight circle and lasered one across the face of Kostin and into the net.

That raised hopes of a fightback, but time was always against the home team and Belevich’s empty netter sealed the deal for Torpedo.

Nesterov grabs OT winner for CSKA

CSKA Moscow 3 SKA St. Petersburg 2 2OT (0-0, 1-2, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
CSKA leads the series 1-0

The home team trailed twice, but rallied to win in overtime. Two goals from Maxim Sorkin kept CSKA in the game before Nikita Nesterov got the decider at the start of the second period of the extras. Thus head coach Igor Nikitin, who won the Gagarin Cup with Lokomotiv last season, had a successful start to his campaign to repeat that success in Moscow.

The big moment came in the 87th minute. CSKA had made a bright start to the second period of overtime, and the ever-lively Dmitry Buchelnikov played the puck back to Nesterov on the blue line. The defenseman’s point shot took a deflection as it flew past Artemy Pleshkov and into the net to settle game one.

CSKA, fourth seed in the west this season, almost grabbed an early lead. Nick Ebert’s second-minute shot was redirected by Sergei Kalinin, and Artemy Pleshkov’s save gave the home forward another chance on the rebound before Pleshkov froze the puck. SKA responded with a couple of chances midway through the frame, and Yegor Savikov dinged the home crossbar but it was goalless at the first intermission.

Overall, the visitor looked comfortable in the game, and got ahead after the break. The breakthrough came in the 24th minute. Nikolai Goldobin capitalized on a moment of indecision from Ivan Patrikhayev, sneaking behind the defenseman to steal the puck and advance to score from the slot.

CSKA had a chance to respond on the first power play of the game, and Dmitry Buchelnikov created a good chance for Maxim Sorkin in the 28th minute. But it wasn’t until late in the frame that Sorkin got his first goal of the night, tying the game in the 36th. The 25-year-old chased the puck into the right-hand corner, using his pace to get clear of the defense. Then he circled behind the net before emerging to score on the wraparound.

However, parity was shortlived. SKA was back in front within two minutes. This time, Goldobin was the provider, helping to drag play out of the corner for Sergei Sapego to unleash a mighty blast from the right-hand circle that gave Dmitry Gamzin no chance.

Whenever SKA had led CSKA going into the third period in the regular season, it had gone on to win the game. But playoff hockey is a different beast, and Igor Nikitin is a master of negotiating tough post-season circumstances. His Muscovites flirted with disaster midway through the frame, Mikhail Vorobyov getting a great look on the power play. But, at the other end, Sorkin hit the crossbar in the 55th minute before taking the game into the extras.

On 57:06, Nikitin called a time-out and sent six skaters onto the ice. On 57:29, Sorkin got his second of the game, firing home as Prokhor Poltapov screened Pleshkov’s view of the shot. That made it 2-2 and sent the action into overtime.

The first period saw visiting defenseman Andrei Pedan twice visit the sin bin, but his team-mates killed both penalties. CSKA’s PK was also solid when Dmitry Samorukov’s infringement put SKA on the power play.

At the start of a second period of OT, CSKA again got on the power play and this time Buchelnikov hit the crossbar. But an improved home power play still could not find the winning goal.