Amur takes honors in Ufa, Moscow teams enjoy home wins

The Republic of Bashkortostan Cup ended with Amur lifting the trophy. Three assists from Yaroslav Likhachyov set up a 3-2 victory over Salavat Yulaev in Thursday’s decisive game. Earlier, Barys took a 2-1 verdict over Lada. There were two warm-up games, with Dynamo Moscow beating Ak Bars and Spartak getting the better of Torpedo.

Republic of Bashkortostan Cup

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Amur Khabarovsk 3 (1-1, 1-1, 0-1)

Amur denied Salavat Yulaev victory in its home tournament, completing a third victory in as many games to win the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup.

The final game of the competition would be the decider: a home victory in regulation would put Salavat Yulaev level on points with Amur and give Viktor Kozlov’s team the hardware thanks to the head-to-head record. Anything better than defeat inside 60 minutes would see Amur take the crown.

With a trophy on the line, Kozlov named a stronger line-up. The likes of captain Grigory Panin and forwards Sheldon Rempal and Vadim Shipachyov were back in action for the men in green. All three contributed assists, but despite getting up twice in the game, Ufa could not close out the win.

Panin helped to create an opening goal for Danil Alalykin inside five minutes, but Yegor Voronkov tied it up midway through the first period.

The middle stanza followed a similar pattern: a Salavat power play saw Rempal and Shipachyov combine for Devin Brosseau to restore the lead, but late in the session Kirill Pilipenko’s PP maker tied the game.

The teams remained deadlocked until the 56th minute, when Alexander Dergachyov put Amur in front for the first time. Yaroslav Likhachyov collected his third helper of the game on that goal, which proved decisive. Likhachyov enjoyed a productive campaign. He had 5 (1+4) points from his three games, leading his team in scoring after making his loan move to Khabarovsk permanent.

Lada Togliatti 1 Barys Astana 2 (0-0, 1-1, 0-1)

Barys secured its first victory of the summer after edging past Lada in its final game at the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup.

In the end, a late goal from a newly-forged offensive trio made the difference for the Kazakhs after they came from behind to sneak a hard-fought win.

The first period saw Barys take the initiative without finding a way past Lada goalie Andrei Mishurov. After the intermission, the Motormen got in front when Rasim Shakirov – back in his native Ufa – opened the scoring with a wrister from the right-hand channel. In reply, Ansar Shaykmeddenov tied the game soon after. Mikhail Belyayev might have put Lada back in front, but failed to convert a fine feed from Dmitry Kugryshev at the back door.

Throughout the final frame the momentum swung back and forth. It wasn’t until 58:17 that Barys forced the opening – and it proved decisive. Semyon Simonov took the chance, assisted by his new line mates Tyce Thompson and Garrett Pilon. Lada called a time-out and played without a goalie for the remainder of the game but could not force a tying goal. Despite the loss, Lada still claimed second place in a three-way tie with Salavat Yulaev and Barys. 

Warm-up games

Spartak Moscow 5 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 (2-1, 2-1, 1-0)

Thursday’s game brought a second win of the summer for Spartak, while Torpedo fell to a third loss.

The Red-and-Whites enjoyed the better of the first period, pushing the visitor back for much of the game. Reward came in goals from Sergei Lukyantsev and Alex Galchenyuk, who found the net either side of Daniil Seroukh’s one timer for Torpedo.

Late in the first, Spartak lost two players to the bench and the Muscovites were down to three men at the start of the second. Vladimir Tkachyov converted the power play to tie the game, but German Rubtsov’s short-handed effort restored the home lead. Later, Rubtsov added a power play tally before Ivan Ryabov completed the scoring in the third.

Dynamo Moscow 5 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (1-1, 1-0, 3-2)

This was Dynamo’s second game of the summer and Ak Bars’s third. Both teams were closer to full strength, with the visitor handing a debut to Andrei Stas just a day after his signing was confirmed. Goalie Timur Bilyalov got his first action of the summer. The Muscovites gave Igor Martynov a debut, but the forward did not get much chance to shine after he was ejected from the game in the first period.

That incident was in keeping with a fractious opening frame. Ak Bars had a good chance to open the scoring with a four-on-three power play but could not find a way past Maxim Motorygin in the home net. Instead, Dynamo took the lead three minutes before the intermission when Nikita Tertyshny redirected Nikita Novikov’s effort past Bilyalov. But there was a swift response in similar fashion when Artyom Galimov got the vital touch on Kirill Semyonov’s shot.

After those late goals, the second period looked like being scoreless. For 17 minutes, the two goalies were on top. But a home power play saw Yegor Rimashevsky bang home Jordan Weal’s feed to separate the teams at the intermission.

Ak Bars hit back early in the third through Grigory Denisenko, but five minutes later Dylan Sikura restored the home lead. Nikita Korostelyov increased the advantage and Mikhail Melikov added an empty-net goal. There was still time for a consolation effort after Weal’s foul saw Galimov score his second of the night on the power play.