Admiral reaches Minsk Cup final

The rescheduled game between Admiral and Sochi at the Minsk Cup saw the Sailors come from 0-2 and 1-3 to clinch the win. The result sets up a title decider against Metallurg tomorrow. Dinamo Minsk faces Sibir for third, with Sochi and Shanghai Dragons contesting a fifth-place playoff. In warm-up action, Spartak enjoyed a high-scoring win over Severstal and SKA made it two wins in two days against Avtomobilist.

Minsk Cup

Admiral Vladivostok 5 HC Sochi 3 (1-3, 2-0, 2-0)

Sochi raced into a 2-0 lead at the start of this rearranged game, but the Leopards could not hold that advantage. Admiral recovered to collect its second win of the tournament and advances to play Metallurg in Monday’s trophy game.

This hasn’t been an easy tournament for Sochi. Transport delays saw the team arrive late in Belarus, forcing the postponement of this game. Yesterday’s opener brought a 0-4 loss to Sibir, but Andrei Mironov’s team looked to have put that behind it early in Sunday’s action. Timur Khafizov opened the scoring after 45 seconds and Nikolai Polyakov doubled the lead on 1:50 as Sochi seized the early initiative.

Even after Mikhail Grass pulled a goal back for Admiral, Sochi remained on top. A power play goal for Matvei Guskov midway through the opening frame made it 3-1 at the first intermission.

But things went astray for the Leopards after that. The second period saw two unanswered power play goals for Admiral, with Oskar Bulavchuk and Yegor Chezganov tying the game. Then came two goals in a minute early in the third. Anthony Camara scored his first goal for his new club after returning to the KHL from Germany, then another new signing, Grass, potted his second of the game.

Grass is one of two prospects traded from Metallurg to Admiral in the summer. Now he can look forward to an early reunion with his former club in tomorrow’s championship decider. The tournament concludes a day later than planned to accommodate Sochi’s late arrival. Before the final, the Leopards will contest the fifth-place playoff against Shanghai Dragons and host club Dinamo Minsk takes on Sibir for third place.

Warm-up games

Spartak Moscow 6 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (2-2, 2-1, 2-1)

The first pre-season game of the summer for these teams ended in an entertaining win for Spartak. The Red-and-Whites sent out a familiar line-up, built mainly around players who featured for Alexei Zhamnov last season. The only new faces were defensemen Will Reilly and Alexander Bryntsev. Evgeny Svechnikov, Max Comtois, Alex Glachenyuk and Ivan Fedotov sat this one out.

Severstal, meanwhile, opted for a young team. Timofei Korolyov, 23, got the start in goal with Anton Melchakov as back-up. Head coach Andrei Kozyrev used most of his summer additions: Maxim Gusev, Alexei Kozhevnikov, Nikita Artamonov, Yegor Graf, Semyon Sizimov and Kirill Tankov. Only Denis Yan missed out.

These teams traditionally produce high-scoring games, and it took less than two minutes for Nikita Kholodilin’s breakaway goal to put Spartak in front. Severstal responded to take the lead on a power play goal from Kizimov and a go-ahead effort from Graf, but Luke Lockhart redirected a Joey Keane effort into the net to tie it up before the intermission.

There was more scoring after the intermission. Alexander Belyayev and Ilya Kotlyarov built a 4-2 lead for Spartak, the latter converting a turnover on a home penalty kill. Graf’s second of the game kept Severstal in contention at the second intermission.

The final frame followed a similar pattern. Alexander Pashin increased Spartak’s lead, then Kotlyarov got his second of the game. Late on, Alexander Skorenov added a consolation tally for Severstal. 

SKA St. Petersburg 5 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 (1-0, 0-2, 4-2)

The second meeting between SKA and Avto produced a high-scoring game before Igor Larionov’s men clinched their second victory of the summer.

There wasn’t much evidence of the scoring to come in the early stages. Matvei Korotkin’s goal in the 17th minute was the only marker of the first period. Vasily Atanasov, reunited with Larionov after breaking into his Torpedo team, had an assist on that one.

But Avtomobilist responded in the middle frame to take the lead. Goals from Nikita Shashkov and Roman Gorbunov either side of the halfway stage turned the game around.

SKA hit back with a powerful start to the third period. Valentin Zykov’s power play tally tied the game, then two goals in 16 seconds opened a 4-2 lead. Swedish forward Lucas Weissbach scored his first for the club following his summer arrival in Petersburg.

That felt like game over, but there was a lively coda to come. Scott Wilson’s empty-netter on 56:01 seemed to seal an emphatic win for the home team, but the Motormen came roaring back in the closing stages. Canadian defenseman Kale Clague quickly pulled one back, and Daniel Sprong scored on the power play in the last minute to set up a tense finale before SKA closed out a one-goal win.