Hot streaks halted, Metallurg on top in the East. September 20 round-up

Two of the hottest teams in the KHL came unstuck on Sunday. Previously undefeated Lokomotiv suffered a heavy home loss to Barys, while Spartak’s five-game winning streak ended in a 1-3 reverse at Salavat Yulaev. Metallurg goes top of the Eastern Conference thanks to a 6-2 thrashing of Neftekhimik, Traktor got its first home win of the season against Avangard. Sibir bounced back with a 5-1 thrashing of Sochi, and Dinamo Minsk’s revival gathers pace thanks to victory over Avtomobilist.

Gordon celebrates first home win with Traktor

Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Avangard Omsk 1 (0-1, 2-0, 0-0)

A hard-fought win over Avangard halted Traktor’s three-game skid. Goals from defensemen Ivan Vydrenkov and Grigory Dronov secured a second win of the season for Scott Gordon’s men.

Gordon had to do without Sergei Telegin and Stepan Gorbunov, both of whom picked up injuries in the 1-3 loss to Spartak last time out. Henrik Haukeland continued in goal and collected his first win in the KHL; Avangard’s sole change from a narrow loss in Yaroslav was to pick Ivan Prosvetov in goal ahead of Nikita Serebryakov.

Not for the first team this season, we saw Traktor make a bright start on home ice, only to fail to take its chances and fall behind. Artemy Nizameyev, Mikhail Grigorenko and Nathan Legare might each have opened the scoring; instead, Yegor Afanasyev put the Hawks ahead in the 17th minute, stripping Boris Katchouk of the puck and advancing to claim his first goal since returning to the KHL this season.

But the home team tuned it around after the intermission. Soon after the restart, Vydrenkov unleashed a powerful point shot past Prosvetov to claim his first goal for Traktor in the KHL. SKA ran into penalty trouble and was penalized at the third attempt when Dronov stepped forward to find the top corner.

In the third, Traktor worked diligently to preserve its lead, limiting Avangard to just five shots. The most memorable incident was a tussle between Legare and Kirill Adamchuk late in the game as the home team closed out its first win over the Hawks in six attempts.

Spartak hot streak cools in Ufa

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Spartak Moscow 1 (1-1, 1-0, 1-0)

Spartak’s five-game winning streak came to a halt in Ufa, where Salavat Yulaev built on Friday’s 2-0 verdict over Neftekhimik.

The Muscovites made changes despite their hot streak, bringing back defenseman Will Reilly after injury and naming Ivan Fedotov as starting goalie; Salavat was unchanged.

In the early stages, Spartak caused its own problems and twice found itself shorthanded. But the home team was unable to capitalize; Ufa’s power play has not been impressive this season. The opening goal went to the host, but the teams were already at equal strength when 18-year-old defenseman Nikita Shcherbakov’s wrister found the net. For much of the play, Viktor Kozlov’s team looked more controlled. However, special teams again made a positive contribution for Spartak: after successful PK early in the game, the visitor converted its first power play thanks to Mikhail Maltsev.

In the middle frame, the Red-and-Whites took the initiative. It took some strong wok from Semyon Vyazovoi in the home net to keep Salavat Yulaev level as Spartak threatened repeatedly. Yet late in the session, Ufa regained the lead: the third line created four good chances, and Matthew Maggio converted the last of them to record his first in the KHL.

In the 48th minute, Salavat Yulaev wrapped up the verdict. Yegor Suchkov picked out Danil Alalykin with a great pass from the circle; Alalykin had space to wire a wrister past Fedotov and put the game out of reach.

Magnitka powers to Eastern summit

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 (1-2, 3-0, 2-0)

The final game of Metallurg’s home stand brought a biggest win of the season so fa for Andrei Razin’s men. Meanwhile, Neftekhimik fell to a second successive loss after a surge that had lifted it to the Eastern Conference summit. That lofty perch is now occupied by today’s victor.

Igor Gishin switched up his team from the 0-2 loss in Ufa, bringing in debutant defenseman Timu Kol, fellow blue liner Maxim Fedotov plus forwards Matvei Zaseda, Viktor Andeychenko and Grigory Seleznyov.

Zaseda made an instant impact, opening the scoring after 55 seconds. Metallug tied it up midway through the session when Vladislav Provolnev’s powerful hit presented youngster Andrei Kozlov with a turnover on the blue line. The forward advanced to finish the chance himself.

However, the visitor would take the lead to the intermission. In the 17th minute Sergei Tolchinsky’s error allowed German Tochilkin to advance on goal and outwit Alexander Smolin.

Whatever Razin said at the intermission had the desired effect. By the 24th minute, the home team was in front. First, Nathan Todd tied it up, converted Valery Orekhov’s pass from behind the net. Then Nikita Korotkov was alert in front of Filipp Dolganov’s net, scoring from the slot. And the lead increased before the second break when Igor Nechayev added a fourth.

Neftekhimik never regained the heights of its first-period performance and rarely looked capable of retrieving the game. In the 48th minute, a power play goal saw Vladimir Tkachyov take charge to set up Dmitry Silantyev with a chance that he couldn’t miss. Ruslan Iskhakov added a sixth, and the only scant celebration for the visitor was a successful bench challenge that kept the score down.

Kazakhs wreck last undefeated start

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 Barys Astana 5 (0-2, 0-2, 0-1)

The KHL’s last unbeaten team faced the league’s leading scorer – and firepower won the day. Defending champion Lokomotiv won its first six games, and allowed just seven goals in the process. But Barys has the offensive props to hurt any opponent this season, and continued its impressive recent form in Yaroslavl with an emphatic victory, making it four from five on its recent visits to the Volga.

Mikhail Kravets’ visitor had 22 goals from its first five games, despite failing to score in Friday’s 0-3 loss at Metallurg. When the offense sparks, it fires: six goals at Lada, seven against Sibir and eight vs Salavat Yulaev. Today it added five more to derail Loko’s powerful start.

The Railwaymen took the early initiative and created early chances, but could not find a way past Andrei Shutov in the visitor’s net. Gradually, Barys came into contention and got in front in the 16th minute when Garret Pilon released Jake Massie into the danger zone to beat Alexei Melnichuk. Logan Day doubled the lead just before the hooter, converted Semyon Simonov’s set-up.

With a lead to protect, Barys played more cautiously in the second period. The visitor worked hard to keep Lokomotiv to the perimeter, then reaped its reward late in the frame with two quick goals. Justin Bailey maintained his fine start to life in the KHL when he redirected a Pilon shot to make it 3-0. That was the Canadian’s sixth goal of the season and Barys has won each of the four games when he has found the net. There was still time for Ansar Shaykhmeddenov to chase Melnichuk from his net before the intermission, bringing Daniil Isayev into the game after a goal on the wraparound.

Isayev was beaten early in the third by Simonov. At the other end, Loko had trouble creating chances and not even a power play midway through the session provided Shutov with serious worries.

Kosolapov on target in Sibir success

HC Sochi 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 5 (0-2, 1-2, 0-1)

Anton Kosolapov’s first goals of the season paced a convincing win for Sibir at struggling Sochi. Last season Kosolapov emerged as a scoring leader for the Siberians, compiling 38 (17+21) points in 37 regular season games after arriving from Torpedo. But this term he had no points from his first six games – until today.

Before Kosolapov’s contribution, 23-year-old forward Alexander Mirzabalayev potted his first career KHL goal to break the deadlock in the 13th minute. Two minutes later, the first power play of the night saw Kosolapov double the lead.

The second period brought a trio of quick goals. Semyon Koshelev padded Sibir’s lead on 21:12, but Sochi’s leading scorer Denis Vengryzhanovsky soon pulled one back. But another power play brought another Sibir marker when Darren Dietz struck on 25:59, chasing Pyotr Andreyanov from his net in favor of Ivan Bocharov.

The change did not really invite the Leopards back into the game, although the home team did at least enjoy more of the play in the second period. Bocharov kept his net intact until the 44-minute mark, when Kosolapov’s second of the day made the final score 5-1.

Back-to-back wins in Belarus

Dinamo Minsk 5 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (1-0, 3-1, 1-2)

The Belarusians are showing signs of progress after an awkward start to the season under Sergei Brylin. Dinamo recorded a second successive victory, banishing some of the worries triggered by a four-game losing streak to begin the campaign.

True, only one of those four losses came in regulation, suggesting that the Bison were never too far away from being competitive. But after an assured 4-1 win over Sibir, Minsk backed it up with victory over Avtomobilist on Sunday.

The Motormen, meanwhile, are struggling to find top gear. An opening-day verdict over Dynamo Moscow and a 5-2 road win at Sibir show what Alexei Kudashov’s men can do, but like Dinamo, Avtomobilist has a habit of dropping tight verdicts such as OT losses to Traktor and Avangard.

Sunday’s game saw Dinamo shade the first-period play and, crucially, get the opening goal in the ninth minute. Daniil Sotishvili’s first of the season separated the teams at the intermission.

At the start of the second, Sotishvili turned provide as Xavier Ouellet doubled the lead. Maxim Denezhkin pulled one back on 26 minutes, but the home team took control thereafter. Chis Tierney’s second assist of the night helped Daniil Lipsky make it 3-1, then Ty Smith continued his productive streak – now worth eight assists in six games since the start of this season – as Nicolas Aube-Kubel added to his two goals against Sibir with a power play effort. Lipsky, too, was on target in the previous game; despite the absence of injured Sam Anas, the Belarusian offense still packs a punch.

One player surprisingly unrepresented on Avtomobilist’s scoring so far this season is Daniel Sprong. The Dutchman had a productive first season in the KHL, despite moving from CKSA to Avto partway through. This term, though, he had just one goal in four games prior to today, when he potted his second to make it 2-4 in the 46th minute.

That offered the visitor a way back, and in the 57th minute visiting goalie Vladimir Galkin made way for a sixth skater. With the extra man, Alexander Barabanov made it a one-goal game on 57:19. But instead of completing an impressive fightback, Avto allowed an empty net goal from Sergei Kuznetsov and fell to another loss.