Metallurg out in front after win at Spartak. October 2 round-up

Friday’s action saw Metallurg return to the top of the overall standings with a 2-0 win at Spartak. Avangard handed Lada a seventh straight loss, while a goaltending howler cost Salavat Yulaev at home to Sibir. Elsewhere, Traktor won in Kazan, Avtomobilist blanked Amur and Barys edged Neftekhimik 5-4 in overtime.

Hawks ease past struggling Lada

Avangard Omsk 4 Lada Togliatti 1 (1-1, 3-0, 0-0)

Lada fell to a seventh successive loss at Avangard as the home team eased to a comfortable victory.

The Motormen made a good start, and surprised the Hawks with the opening goal after just two minutes. After winning possession on the blue line, Lada got the puck deep into the zone and Rasim Shakirov fired past Nikita Serebryakov. After falling behind, Avangard responded strongly, pegging Lada back for several successive shifts. The visitor stood up to the pressure until a power play brought a tying goal from Josh Leivo.

Avangard was dominating the play and it seemed a question of when, rather than if, the home team would get in front. The answer came in the second period. Four minutes in, Kirill Dolzhenkov brought the puck through center ice and placed his shot beyond Andrei Mishurov. Four minutes later, it was 3-1: Mike McLeod screened the goalie, Andrew Poturalski wired a wrister into the net.

In the 34th minute, Avangard added a fourth. Yegor Afanasyev jumped out of the penalty box to start a counterattack that ended with Konstantin Okulov padding the lead.

Lada had a few promising shifts at the start of the final fame, but Avangard soon snuffed out that hint of a revival. The result secures a second win in three games for Guy Boucher’s men.

Goalie blunder helps Sibir to victory

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 (0-1, 1-1, 1-2)

Sibir’s first game since the confirmation of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s departure brought a victory – helped by an opening goal that will make the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons.

Sibir was gifted a first-period lead after an awful goaltending blunder from Semyon Vyazovoi. He came out of his net to field Alexander Pershakov’s pass from center ice, but inexplicably tried to pass the puck across the face of his net. The netminder got his angles all wrong and sliced it into the goal, to the surprise and delight of the visitor.

After falling behind in bizarre circumstances, the home team looked to get back in control of the game. Salavat Yulaev dominated play throughout the contest, with 16 minutes of attacking possession against seven, and a 36-25 shot count.

But chasing the game is never easy. Twice, Ufa managed to tie the scores, but it could never get in front. Alexander Zharovsky made it 1-1 midway through the second period, but Sibir regained the lead before the intermission as Alexander Yaremchuk continued his impressive run: the former Torpedo man now has 4 (3+1) points in four games since moving to Novosibirsk.

In the final stanza, Ufa again drew level, this time on Yaroslav Tsulygin’s power play tally. Sibir responded through Semyon Koshelev, and preserved that lead thanks to a successful bench challenge in the 53rd minute. Sheldon Rempal stuffed the puck home from close range, but the review confirmed that Mikhail Berdin was impeded as Jack Rodewald contested an earlier rebound. That proved something of a turning point; Salavat Yulaev could not find a way back, and Darren Dietz sealed the win with an empty net goal as Sibir snapped a three-game skid.

Alikin’s first shut-out lifts Avtomobilist over Amur

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 Amur Khabarovsk 0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0)

Both these teams arrived after winning their previous two games. Avtomobilist beat Spartak before returning home to see off Lada. Amur enjoyed home wins against Lokomotiv and Neftekhimik before hitting the road to the Urals.

Alexander Sharov, Avto’s leading scorer this season, played a key role in this game. He scored the opener after seven minutes, reacting first after Maxim Dorozhko stopped Jordan Gross’s point shot. That was the only goal of an even first period that saw Evgeny Alikin slightly the busier of the two goalies. He went on to finish with 25 saves and his first shut-out of the season.

The middle frame was also even, but Sharov played a key role in doubling the home lead. He led a two-on-one rush, setting up Daniel Sprong to make it 2-0 on 38:50.

Amur had a great chance to get back into it in the final frame when Nikita Tryamkin and Roman Gorbunov went to the box. A five-on-three power play prompted Alexander Andriyevsky to call a time-out, but the host protected its lead. And in the 54th minute, Avtomobilist made the game safe: Anton Slepyshev prevented Amur from clearing its lines and dished off the puck to Jesse Blacker. The forward headed to the net, blocking Dorozhko’s view as the defenseman fired in a backhand shot to make it 3-0.

Legare goal takes Traktor past Ak Bars

Ak Bars Kazan 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 (1-1, 0-2, 1-0)

Traktor’s revival is picking up pace. Scott Gordon’s team won its fourth game out of five, avenging last month’s loss in Kazan thanks to Nathan Legare’s game-winning goal.

It wasn’t a good day to be late to the Tatneft Arena. This game got off to an action-packed start. First, Kirill Semyonov put the home team in front after just 23 seconds after visiting goalie Dmitry Nikolayev fluffed his clearance from behind the net.

Almost immediately, youngster Maxim Bykov went to the box and Traktor converted its power play to tie the game in the third minute. Artemy Nizameyev was the scoring, cutting in off the right and beating Timur Bilyalov with a wrister to the top corner. Ak Bars challenged the play, citing interference on the goalie, but merely added another penalty to its problems.

There was no further scoring the in the first, although Andrei Svetlakov hit the post for the visitor in an entertaining session.

At the start of the second, Traktor was reduced to three skaters. Not only did the visitor survive, it managed a shorthanded goal after Alexander Rykov returned to the game. Mikhail Grigorenko’s pass sent Mikhail Rolgizer racing down the wing and he stormed into the zone to shoot low though Bilyalov’s pads.

Late in the middle frame, Legare extended that lead. Rykov’s huge hit on Mitch Miller forced a turnover and the Canadian forward took full advantage, leading a counterattack and finishing it himself to make it 3-1 at the second intermission.

Ak Bars still posed an attacking threat and early in the third, the home team got back into the game. Alexei Marchenko found the net with a point shot that deflected off Rolgizer and beat Nikolayev. But that was as close as Kazan would get. Although it dominated the game to the extent that Traktor could not manage a shot on target in the final stanza, the visitor held on to edge a verdict.

Simonov settles battle of the top scorers

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Barys Astana 5 OT (1-1, 1-1, 2-2, 0-1)

It was no surprise that this turned into a high-scoring game. Ahead of Friday’s clash, Barys led the league with 38 goals, and Neftekhimik had 37. But the Kazakhs were on a three-game skid, while Neftekhimik was held to a 0-1 loss at Amur in its previous game.

In the end, Barys snapped its skid, and Justin Bailey got back on the scoresheet. The Canadian made a flying start to the season with 12 points in his first seven games, but then fell quiet for the last three.

Today he opened the scoring in the third minute, and later added an assist on Alikhan Omirbekov’s power play goal midway through the third.

Omirbekov’s effort was a vital one. By the 50th minute, Neftekhimik built a 4-2 lead and seemed to be heading to victory. Matvei Nadvorny tied it up in the first period, then Andrei Belozyorov’s fifth goal of the season put the Wolves up at the start of the second. Tyce Thompson tied it up for Barys, but the third period saw the home team open a two-goal advantage.

Maxim Fedotov’s power play goal made it 3-2 in the 45th minute, and Artur Tyanulin soon made it four. But throughout the game, Barys had been outshooting its host and as Neftekhimik tried to close out the win, the visitor found a way back. Omirbekov paved the way, then Garett Pilon grabbed a sensational tying goal just 12 seconds before the hooter.

Neftekhimik never recovered. Barys dominated the extras and Semyon Simonov got the winner after 1:32, scoring with his team’s fourth shot on goal in the additional period.

Revenge win puts Magnitka on top

Spartak Moscow 0 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (0-1, 0-1, 0-0)

Metallurg goes into the weekend a point clear of Lokomotiv in the overall KHL standings. Today Andrei Razin’s team avenged its early-season loss at home to Spartak, riding 23 saves from Alexander Smolin to hand the Red-and-Whites a fifth straight loss.

Smolin was busiest at the start of the game. In the first 10 minutes, Spartak settled to its task well and led the shot count 7-2. But the best of those early chances was wasted by Max Comtois, and as Metallurg began to get its offense moving, the home team was hurt.

Nikita Mikhailis was awarded the opening goal in the 13th minute, albeit without adding to his team’s tally of shots on goal. The Kazakh forward won possession in the corner but had to track back almost to the point before attempting a shot. His effort cannoned into the boards, but rebounded to the slot and bounced into the net off a home defenseman.

After that, the game grew scrappy – five penalties in the remaining seven minutes of the period shattered the flow and Metallurg took its lead to the break despite playing much of the closing stages on the PK.

Magnitka began the middle session with just three skaters, but survived that crisis and killed another penalty when Artyom Minulin went to the box in the 24th minute. Spartak failed to take those chances, and ultimately paid the price in the 35th minute when Metallurg doubled its lead. Nikita Korotkov was the scorer, finishing off a two-on-one counter to claim his second goal in two games.

Moments later Ivan Fedotov pulled off a huge save to deny Mikhail Fyodorov at the back door, keeping Spartak’s hopes alive going into the third. But Metallurg defended its lead well in the final stanza, holding the host to just five shots and closing out a 2-0 verdict.