Torpedo, CSKA move up 3-1

Sunday’s Western Conference action brought drama in Nizhny Novgorod. Torpedo scored twice in the last two minutes to force overtime before Sergei Goncharuk sunk Severstal and gave his team a 3-1 lead in the series. The other game saw Denis Guryanov fire CSKA to victory at SKA, putting the Muscovites up 3-1 before the series returns to the capital.

CSKA in control

SKA St. Petersburg 2 CSKA Moscow 4 (1-1, 0-2, 1-1)
CSKA leads the series 3-1

After Friday’s 1-0 win put SKA right back in this series, CSKA responded with a crucial victory on Sunday. Denis Guryanov’s double made the difference in Petersburg.

The teams head back to Moscow next week with Igor Nikitin’s men up 3-1 and on the brink of progressing to round two. The Muscovites were seldom seriously troubled in this game. The visitor never trailed, and the stats consistently leaned in CSKA’s favor. Nonetheless, it took a 59th-minute goal from Vitaly Abramov to make it safe.

SKA edged a 1-0 victory in the previous game, but Igor Larionov was keen to make changes. That meant Ignat Lutfullin came into the team for the first time in a KHL playoff, replacing Scott Wilson. That created a fourth line of players who helped SKA-1946 reach last season’s JHL final, now playing for the Gagarin Cup.

CSKA responded to defeat by naming a new-look, heavyweight fourth line. Sergei Kalinin, Rhett Gardner and Klim Kostin average 96kg each, and stand an average of 191cm tall.

The first period was played at a lively tempo, and both teams created chances. However, the breakthrough went to CSKA when Prokhor Poltapov converted a breakaway in the seventh minute. CSKA’s scoring leader in the regular season potted his first of the playoffs.

SKA responded in the 15th minute. Sergei Plotnikov produced a great delivery to get the puck to the back door, where Marat Khairullin seemed certain to score. But Dmitry Gamzin managed to stop the initial effort, only for Andrei Pedan to pounce on the loose puck and tie the game.

After that, CSKA had a couple of chances to regain the lead before the intermission, with Pavel Buchelnikov spurning a great opportunity and Nikolai Kovalenko forcing Sergei Ivanov into a glove save just before the hooter.

The damage was really done in the middle frame. Denis Guryanov scored twice for CSKA to open a 3-1 lead that the visitor protected to the end. His first came in the 25th minute, shortly after a successful penalty kill. Pedan suffered when his stick snapped at an untimely moment and Guryanov was waiting to pounce. The CSKA man raced away and outwitted Ivanov to restore the visitor’s lead.

Then the same man struck again during a passage of four-on-four play. Once again, it was a counterattack. Kovalenko sent the puck left for Guryanov to fire home a wrister from the circle.

SKA needed a quick response and almost got one: Lutfullin looked to capitalize on a defensive lapse and skated through the center. He seemed to have the beating of Gamzin, but the visiting goalie got his shield in place at the last moment, robbing him of the goal.

At the start of the third, SKA got the goal it needed to revive its hopes. Once again, it was a defenseman on target: Sergei Sapego, who scored in the opening game of the series, found the net again when he followed up to score following Vladislav Romanov’s attempt.

But that was as close as the home team could get to saving the game. Yegor Zelenov’s major penalty ate up five minutes and SKA struggled to get control of the game in the CSKA zone. Abramov’s empty-netter had a sense of inevitability about it; SKA must now prove that CSKA’s progress is not similarly inescapable.

Late goals transform game – and series?

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Severstal Cherepovets 2 2OT (0-0, 0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 1-0)
Torpedo leads the series 3-1
 
There was high drama in Nizhny Novgorod, where Torpedo scored twice in the last two minutes of regulation to force a 2-2 tie.

That prevented Severstal from levelling this Gagarin Cup first round series, with Sergei Goncharuk settling the outcome in overtime and putting the home team up 3-1 ahead of Tuesday’s return to Cherepovets.

Goncharuk got the winner just 13 seconds into the second session of overtime. As Maxim Letunov brought play into the Severstal zone, all available players went to the puck. That enabled Letunov to slip a pass beyond the defense for Goncharuk to skate to the net and beat Alexander Samoilov from close range. The goal settled the game and could have a profound impact on the destiny of this first-round series.

Severstal, chasing the series, made a strong start to the game and outshot Torpedo 16-6 in the first period. However, the best chance of the opening frame went to the home team in the 17th minute. Nikita Shavin led a counterattack into the danger zone and dished off a feed for Vladislav Firstov, but after advancing on the net he was unable to outwit Samoilov in a close-up duel.

In the second period, the balance of play was more even. Both teams used their pace to generate offense and there were chances at each end. However, there was still no breakthrough as the game went to the second intermission.

Early in the third the action went up a notch with a flurry of big chances. First, Goncharuk took matters into his own hands, powering into the Severstal zone and flashing a shot narrowly wide. Then Yegor Sokolov went round the net to set up Amir Garayev, only for Samoilov to make the save.

There was more danger for the visitor when Letunov combined with Anton Silayev, but against Samoilov had the answer. And the next shift brought a riposte from Severstal when Denis Kostin had to get his pad behind Nikolai Chebykin’s close-range effort after Nikita Kamalov’s shot caused chaos in front of the net.

The breakthrough finally came in the 51st minute. Ilya Reyngardt put Severstal in front, shooting home after David Dumbadze won possession on the boards and set up his team-mate in front of the net.

When Thomas Gregoire doubled the lead in the 55th minute, it looked like game over for Torpedo. Ruslan Abrosimov saw his initial shot saved, but followed up to recycle the play behind the net and feed the defenseman for a mighty shot past Kostin.

Far from being the end of the story, it was merely the start of the drama as Torpedo fought back with two late goals. Kostin made way for a sixth skater and Alexei Isakov’s gamble paid off – twice!

First, a Goncharuk shot was touched home from close range by Andrei Belevich on 58:19. Then, on 59:10, there were delirious scenes in the Nagorny Arena as Shavin tied it up. Samoilov stopped Yegor Vinogradov’s shot but could not control the rebound. Letunov nipped in to take play behind the net before feeding Shavin for a game-saving goal.