Panin’s 1,000th game ends in defeat, Severstal wins again. October 19 round-up

Salavat Yulayev defenseman Grigory Panin played his 1,000th KHL game, but finished on the wrong side of a 0-2 reverse at Admiral. Severstal maintained its hot streak, beating Torpedo 4-1 to record a seventh straight win. Yaroslav Likhachyov’s hat-trick led Amur to a 5-2 win over Barys, and Shanghai Dragons won at Sochi by the same scoreline.

Likhachyov shoots down Barys

Amur Khabarovsk 5 Barys Astana 2 (1-1, 3-0, 1-1)

A hat-trick from Yaroslav Likhachyov led the Tigers to victory in their 1,100th KHL game. Both Amur and Barys are going well this season, with the visitor arriving in Khabarovsk in second spot in the East to face a home team well placed in the top six.

This was the second meeting of these teams this season, following Amur’s 3-1 win in Kazakhstan on Sep. 12. Barys looked to avenge that loss in its usual attacking style, and got in front in the 11th minute when Chase Priskie produced a classy feed to set up Ansar Shaykhmeddenov. But the lead did not last long. Within a minute, Likhochyov tied the game, adding to the goal he scored in Astana last month. Ivan Chekhovich’s assist brought up his 150th point in the KHL.

The home team took control in the second period. Oleg Li scored early in the frame, taking advantage after Vitaly Abramov dragged play into the Barys zone. The visitor responded by hitting the frame of the goal and repeatedly tested Maxim Dorozhko without finding a goal. Amur’s counterattacking play always carried a threat, and a short-handed effort from Kirill Petkov increased the lead in the 33rd minute. Before the intermission, Likhzchyov struck again, this time on the power play, to build a 4-1 advantage going into the final frame.

Barys tried to take the game to the opposition in the third and Justin Bailey pulled one back with an effort from a dead angle that deflected into Dorozhko’s net. But hopes of a fightback were ended in the 52nd minute when Likhachyov completed his hat-trick to make the final score 5-2.

Boyarkin’s shut-out spoils Panin’s big day

Admiral Vladivostok 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)

Grigory Panin’s 1,000th KHL game ended in defeat as Admiral’s Borna Rendulic marked his debut for the club with a goal.

Panin is only the sixth player and second defenseman to reach 1,000 games in the league. He joins Vadim Shipachyov (1,152 games), Ilya Kablyukov, Sergei Plotnikov, Andrei Stas and Evgeny Biryukov on four figures.

This game remained goalless for a long time. In the first period, Ufa created the better chances, with the Rempal-Brosseau-Rodewald combination posing a regular threat.

Overall, the game was evenly-matched through two periods and there was a sense that the first goal would be crucial. It arrived in the 42nd minute and went to the home team. The Sailors got the puck deep and drew the Salavat Yulaev defense out of position behind the net. A pass out in front found Rendulic in space and the Croatian forward rifled home a one-timer to break the deadlock.

That debut goal proved decisive. Nikita Boryakin denied Rempal and Rodewald in the closing stages, preserving his second shut-out of the season. Then, on 59:08, Ivan Muranov scored into an empty net to seal the deal for Admiral.

In-form Severstal draws level with Lokomotiv

Severstal Cherepovets 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (2-0, 2-0, 0-1)

A seventh straight win saw Severstal consolidate third place in the West. Andrei Kozyrev’s team is now level on points with Lokomotiv, and opened a three-point gap over fourth-placed Torpedo with tonight’s result.

And the Lynx are very much a form team right now. Just one loss in the last 11, and that in a shoot-out at Admiral, means you have to go back exactly one calendar month to the last time Severstal left the ice without at least one point.

Monday’s action got off to a fast start with the home team opening the scoring after just 25 seconds. David Dumbadze won a face-off, collected a return pass off his colleague and advance to set up Yanni Kaldis who scored from in front of the net.

Torpedo went on to have slightly more of the play in a tight, battling first period. But Severstal scored twice on seven shots to carry a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The second went to Denis Yan in the 17th minute. He finished off a Ruslan Abrosimov’s quick break down the right.

The second period brought more Torpedo pressure, and Alexander Samoilov needed some help from his post after padding a Daniil Zhuravlyov shot to the side. But while the visitor created chances, the home team took them. Dumbadze made it 3-0 midway through the game, racing away after a turnover to beat Dmitry Shugayev. And Dumbadze was involved again when the fourth goal arrived just before the intermission. He set up Timofei Davydov’s point shot, which Ivan Podshivalov redirected home.

Shugayev, who allowed four goals on 15 shots, did not return for the final stanza. Instead, Dmitry Dagestansky got his first action of the season. The 22-year-old prevented any further goals, but despite an early power play tally from Bogdan Konyushkov, Torpedo could not find a way back into the game. It finished 4-1, Torpedo lost for the third time in four.

Fast start sets up Dragons’ win

HC Sochi 2 Shanghai Dragons 5 (0-2, 1-2, 1-1)

The Dragons took control of this game in the opening shifts, getting up 2-0 inside four minutes. Nick Sisek and Brett Murray claimed those opening goals, and Sochi head coach Andrei Mironov had to call a time-out.

He chose to persevere with teenage goalie Pyotr Andreyanov despite that rough start, and the youngster responded well to keep the Dragons at bay until the first intermission.

His team-mates also improved, and by the end of the period Sochi was competitive on most stats, but unable to retrieve any of that early deficit.

Early in the second, Denis Vengryzhanovsky managed to get the Leopards on the scoreboard. His seventh goal of the season came in the 25th minute and offered Sochi hope of getting back into the game.

But Shanghai was not going to let this game get away. Calen Addison restored a two-goal lead midway through, then Nikita Alexandrov scored twice either side of the second intermission.

Alexandrov’s second goal, the Dragons’ fifth, brought an end to Andreyanov’s evening and Damir Shaymardanov replaced him for the remaining 18 minutes. At the other end, Vengryzhanovsky scored again, with an assist from Nikita Gusev, but it was little more than a consolation effort. Mitch Love’s Dragons snapped a three-game skid, Sochi remains marooned at the foot of the standings.