Minsk makes Moscow final; SKA, Magnitka close to lifting trophies

Dinamo Minsk secured its place in the Mayor of Moscow Cup final thanks to a 3-0 victory over CSKA. The Belarusians will face the winner of tomorrow’s game between Dynamo Moscow and Avtomobilist. In St. Petersburg, SKA is one win away from winning the Puchkov Tournament, while Metallurg will clinch the Romazan Memorial with a result against Salavat Yulaev tomorrow. The only game of the day at the Blinov Cup in Omsk saw Neftekhimik thrash Severstal 7-1.

Mayor Moscow Cup

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 6 Shanghai Dragons 0 (0-0, 5-0, 1-0)

Day two of the Moscow tournament saw Group B get underway – and Avtomobilist motored to a convincing win over Shanghai Dragons.

There was little sign of the scoring to come in a tedious first period, where too much of the play was confined to grappling along the boards.

Things livened up after the intermission and Avtomobilist took complete control of the game. Five unanswered goals left Mitch Love scratching his head behind the Dragons’ bench as his team was simply blown away. Anton Slepyshev opened the scoring in the 25th minute, came a long way down the flank before outwitting Amir Miftakhov at close range. Then Jordan Gross fired in a shot from the boards that bounced off Jeremy Groleaux and into the net.

Soon after, Adam Ruzicka struck on the power play and, on the same play, Turner Ottenbreit went to the box for his efforts to dislodge Alexander Kadeikin from the slot. Slepyshev potted his second of the game on that power play, and 40 seconds later Daniel Sprong made it an embarrassing 5-0 scoreline.

After that it was damage limitation for Shanghai. Ruzicka joined Slepyshev on two goals early in the third, and Slepyshev himself was close to a hat-trick. However, there was no more scoring and Avto closed out a 6-0 triumph.

Dynamo Moscow 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 OT (0-1, 2-0, 0-1, 1-0)

After an unprepossessing opener – at least for neutrals wanting to see a contest – game two was more entertaining. Dynamo and Torpedo produced faster-paced hockey and the balance of play was more even.

The first period saw both teams create chances, but the opening goal came late in the frame when Daniil Seroukh put the visitor in front on the power play.

A power play saw Dynamo tie it up early in the second. The Blue-and-Whites needed just 10 seconds to cash in through Nick Merkley, whose finish was reminiscent of Nikita Gusev. And the Muscovites got ahead just before the second intermission when Andrei Nikonov found the net after intense pressure on the Torpedo net.

In the third, Dynamo ran into penalty trouble. Although Nikita Korostelyov got back on the ice, Torpedo’s power play momentum continued and Vladimir Tkachyov tied it up in the 47th minute while goalie Maxim Motorygin was left without his stick.

That was the end of the scoring in regulation, but overtime saw Dynamo take the verdict. Yegor Rimashevsky picked out a great pass for Igor Ozhiganov, who fired home the winner. As a result, tomorrow sees Alexei Kudashov’s Avtomobilist play his former club, Dynamo, while Torpedo faces the Dragons.

Dinamo Minsk 3 CSKA Moscow 0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0)

The new eight-team format in this competition means that the winners of the opening group games go head-to-head the next day for a place in the final. As such, Dinamo Minsk took on CSKA and the Belarusians duly advanced thanks to a 3-0 win.

Sergei Brylin used an experimental roster here after yesterday’s win over Ak Bars, Igor Nikitin’s CSKA had a more familiar look after the 4-0 success against Spartak. But neither team really seized the initiative in a sluggish first period. They were happy to look after the puck, and rarely risked a shot on goal.

The opener went to Dinamo after 25 minutes when Bogdan Belkin proved strongest on the slot. Soon after, a penalty for Miroslav Mikhalyov threatened to let the Muscovites back into game. However, a penalty for Alexei Churkin soon after Mikhalyov’s return stifled CSKA’s revival and Dinamo held its lead until the intermission.

In the third period, CSKA struggled to whip up the kind of the storm that could save the game. Dinamo had two power play chances and threatened more goals. However, there were dangerous moments for Vasily Demchenko in the Belarusian net. Maxim Sorkin blazed wide of an open goal from a couple of metres, then late in the game Derek Barach failed to connect with a pass to the back door when a tying goal seemed certain.

Instead, Minsk settled it in the closing stages. Daniil Sotishvili and Stanislav Galiyev scored empty-netters in the last minute, giving the final scoreline a flattering complexion. 

Puchkov Trophy

SKA-VMF 2 Barys Astana 1 SO (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Barys suffered a shoot-out defeat for the second day in a row. This time, the Kazakhs fell to SKA-VMF of the VHL. The farm club pushed Admiral hard in a 1-2 loss on opening night and put in another big performance here.

It took a while for the opening goal to arrive. But a Barys power play brought a 28th-minute marker from Kirill Lyapunov. The game continued in hard-hitting fashion, with VMF refusing to give an inch, and the outsider tied the scores late in the second period on power play goal of its own from Nikita Surayev of a great feed from Dmitry Shevchenko.

That was the end of the scoring, with neither the third period nor overtime producing a winner. The shoot-out saw goalies on top, but Maxim Kazakov found the net to give the VHLers the verdict.

SKA St. Petersburg 3 Admiral Vladivostok 0 (0-0,3-0, 0-0)

After a shoot-out win over Barys in the opening game, SKA had an easier time against Admiral on Friday. A shut-out win puts the tournament host in control of the standings, and anything better than a regulation loss tomorrow against its VHL farm-club will secure the trophy.

Igor Larionov unveiled a much-changed team, bringing back the big names players who were rested yesterday. But in the first period, the offense failed to fire. Admiral outshot the home team 14-2 and it took a big effort from goalie Artemy Pleshkov to keep the game goalless.

But after the intermission, SKA put things right almost immediately. Within a minute of the restart, Zakhar Bardakov played the puck off the boards and Nikita Yefremov deflected it into his own net. A few seconds after the restart, the stretcher came out to carry Artyom Pimenov to the locker room after the Admiral man collided with Vladislav Syomin. That prompted a scuffle with Grigory Vashchenko, standing up for his team-mate.

Next, Libor Sulak was assessed a delay of game minor and SKA pounced. Nikolai Chebykin converted the power play, then 90 seconds later Bardakov claimed his second of the game. A 3-0 lead proved too much for Admiral to challenge and SKA secured its second win in as many days.

Romazan Memorial

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

This was the teams’ second summer tournament encounter of the year, with Amur winning at the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup last week. Salavat Yulaev led twice in today’s game, but was unable to avenge that loss. Nonetheless, Viktor Kozlov’s men can still lift the trophy with victory over host club Metallurg tomorrow.

Special teams made the difference in the first period. Salavat Yulaev killed the only penalty it took, then converted its sole power play. In the 11th minute, Vasily Filyayev picked out a pass to the left-hand circle from the goal-line, nobody on defense could block the shooting line, and Bulat Akhsayanov fired home a one-timer.

It took Amur until midway through the second to respond, with Oleg Li’s excellent no-look feed from the right wrong-footing the Ufa defense and enabling Dmitry Kostenko to tie it up. That triggered a rush of three goals in two minutes. Danil Alalykin restored Ufa’s lead on the power play, but Boris Borin tied it up again on 29:46.

That was the end of the scoring in regulation, although Amur had a great chance to win it midway through the third period. Yaroslav Likhachyov missed a penalty shot and the game went to overtime. Raul Akmaldinov fired a shot over Ilya Konovalov’s glove, putting the Tigers in front for the first time on 63:56. 

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Lada Togliatti 5 (3-1, 3-3, 0-1)

For the second time in as many days, Lada came out on the wrong end of an 11-goal thriller. After losing 5-6 in overtime to Salavat Yulaev yesterday, the Motormen lost by the same scoreline in regulation tonight.

The result means Metallurg goes one point clear at the top of the standings and can clinch victory in its home tournament with a win over Salavat Yulaev tomorrow. Lada plays Traktor looking to move off the foot of the table.

The game got off to a flying start with four goals inside eight minutes. Magnitka’s Dmitry Silantyev converted the first power play of the night, only for Lada to respond immediately when Mikhail Belyayev capitalized on a defensive lapse, feeding Konstantin Ryzhov from behind the net to tie the game. But more penalties left Lada reeling: Mikhail Fyodorov scored in five-on-four play, then Daniil Vovchenko struck when it was five-on-three. That sent Andrei Mishurov to the bench, replaced by Danil Ovcharik.

The goals kept coming in the middle frame. Nathan Todd and Sergei Tolchinsky padded the home lead to 5-1 and it seemed that the game was done. But Lada hit back. Three goals got it back to a one-goal game, with Artyom Karpov, Nikita Mikhailov and Dmitry Kugryshev on target. However, 23 seconds after Kugryshev’s goal, another power play saw Todd get his second of the night to make it 6-4 and preserve some breathing space for the host.

The Motormen kept battling in the final frame and once again made it a one-goal game. Reilly Sawchuk struck on 46:13 to ensure that the outcome remained in doubt. However, the visitor could not complete its unlikely fightback and Metallurg held on to take the verdict. 

Blinov Cup

Severstal Cherepovets 1 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 7 (0-5, 0-1, 1-1)

The only game of the day in Omsk brought a crushing victory for Neftekhimik. The Lynx followed Thursday’s win over Avangard by naming an experimental line-up – but Andrei Kozyrev’s ideas did not bear fruit. Instead, Neftekhimik took complete control in the first period, killing the contest with five unanswered goals.

It took just 23 seconds for Damir Zhafyarov to open the scoring, and Severstal never really recovered. Viktor Andreichenko added two more, Evgeny Mityakin had a goal and two assists, and Artur Tyanulin scored the fifth on the power play.

Things calmed down a little in the second period. Severstal generated slightly more offense, but could not get on the scoreboard. Instead, Matvei Zaseda increased Neftekhimik’s lead with the only goal of the session.

After 43 minutes, Alexander Skorenov’s tally offered a crumb of consolation for Severstal. But the last word went to the Wolves, with Ivan Nikolishin making the final score 7-1.