Barys remains on goal trail, wins for Torpedo, Dragons. September 22 round-up

Another four goals brought the KHL’s free-scoring Barys Astana victory on the road at Dynamo Moscow. Justin Bailey had 1+1, moving to 12 (7+5) points and going to the head of the scoring race. Torpedo enjoyed a 5-1 win over Avangard, with Daniil Seroukh also getting his seventh goal of the season. And a double from Brett Murray lifted Shanghai Dragons to a 3-2 verdict over Avtomobilist in its home opener.

Hawks fall short at Torpedo

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 Avangard Omsk 1 (1-0, 2-1, 2-0)

Daniil Seroukh’s scoring streak continued as Torpedo enjoyed a comfortable victory at home to Avangard. After hitting the first hat-trick of the KHL season on Sep. 11, Seroukh has scored four successive games, including all three at Torpedo’s new VOLGA Arena. He now has seven goals from seven appearances since his arrival from Sochi.

The Hawks’ first visit to the KHL’s newest venue proved to be a struggle, with Guy Boucher’s team falling to a third straight loss.

Torpedo made a strong start to the game, and was good value for its 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Indeed, the only real question was whether the host should have scored more after restricting Avangard to just three shots at Denis Kostin. The opening goal came in the 12th minute, Seroukh converting the power play after Josh Leivo’s foul. Late in the first period, a neat passing move opened up the Hawks’ defense, with Daniil Zhuravlyov forcing a smart save from Nikita Serebryakov. And the same shift saw Viktor Fyodorov’s dangerous effort charged down by Joseph Ceccone.

For all the home team’s dominance, Avangard was able to tie the game seconds into the middle frame. Leivo needed just 21 seconds to find the net after intercepting Bogdan Konyushkov’s attempted pass to Yegor Vinogradov.

Despite allowing the goal, Torpedo continued to press. Serebryakov was again the busier goalie and made big saves to deny Zhuravlyov and Vinogradov again. However, he was powerless in the 28th minute when Vinogradov was allowed to advance to the slot and shoot home a low wrister.

That broke the dam, and two minutes later Roman Goncharuk made it 3-1. He raced onto a fine stretch pass from Rob Nardella and skated away to beat the exposed Serebryakov.

Avangard rallied a little towards the end of the session, but could not find a way back into the game. And when Konyushkov scored on the power play midway through the third, the result was already clear. Pavel Kraskovsky’s empty-netter, his first goal since joining from Lokomotiv, wrapped it up.

Dragons win home opener

Shanghai Dragons 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (1-1, 1-0, 1-1)

Two goals from Brett Murray saw the Dragons get over the line against Avtomobilist. Mitch Lov’s team continues to alternate wins and losses this season, and bounced back from a 2-7 mauling against SKA with a 3-2 verdict on Tuesday.

For Avtomobilist, this was a third successive loss. The Motormen have yet to find their game under head coach Alexei Kudashov and have won just two from seven so far as a rebuilt roster takes time to gel.

Murray needed little time to make an impact on the Dragons’ home opener. He struck after just 12 seconds to open the scoring for his team. However, Avtomobilist tied it up with a shorthanded goal from Alexander Kadeikin after six minutes.

It stayed level until deep into the second period, but goals either side of the second intermission put Shanghai in charge. Dmitrij Jaskin restored the Dragons’ lead in the 37th minute, then Murray struck right at the start of the third to make it 3-1.

In the last minute, a power play goal from Daniel Sprong – his third of the season and second in as many games – gave Love’s team some cause for concern. However, the host closed out the remaining 19 seconds to take the verdict.

Pilon powers Barys to victory

Dynamo Moscow 1 Barys Astana 4 (0-0, 1-2, 0-2)

Garret Pilon stepped up to power the prolific Barys offense tonight, scoring twice in a 3-1 win at Dynamo. The Kazakhs made it five wins from seven games so far this season, while the Muscovites fell to back-to-back losses after a four-game hot streak.

The home team was back from a long journey to the Far East and began the game eager to demonstrate no travel sickness. Dynamo shaded the goalless first period, creating chances despite the absence of injured forward Yegor Rimashevsky.

But Barys always posed an attacking threat and the visitor got in front early in the second. During a passage of four-on-four play, Pilon advanced on net and beat Vladislav Podyapolsky at the second attempt.

After that the teams traded power plays. Barys could not take advantage, but Dynamo succeeded. After Samat Daniyar went to the box, the Blue-and-Whites established themselves in the Barys zone. At the point, Daniil Pylenkov sent the puck into the path of Nikita Korostelyov and he hammered a shot through traffic from the top of the circle to make it 1-1.

In the 34th minute, Pilon struck again when he slid the puck home with a backhand shot to restore the visitor’s lead. The 2-1 scoreline held through the intermission, and Dynamo made a bright start to the final frame in a bid to get back into the game. However, the next goal went to Barys as Jake Massie kept the puck in the zone and strode forward impressively, leaving opponents in his wake before beating Podyapolsky from mid range.

With three to play, Dynamo pulled Podyapolsky for a sixth skater. But that gamble did not pay off. Chase Priskie fired narrowly wide of the empty net from his own goal, then Justin Bailey potted an empty-netter to add to his earlier assist. Bailey goes to 12 (7+5) points; Pilon is on 9 (4+5) points this season.