CSKA moves clear in the West, Dragons snatch comeback win. November 1 round-up

An OT win on a late Rob Hamilton goal lifted CSKA past Traktor and put the Muscovites two points clear of Lokomotiv in the Western Conference. Shanghai Dragons scored two in the last three minutes to rally from 0-2 and defeat Salavat Yulaev. Dynamo Moscow won 4-0 in Minsk, but there was no joy for Spartak, beaten 3-1 as Torpedo goes up to third. Amur won the Far East derby again, Sochi made it four out of five by edging Avangard in overtime and Neftekhimik’s special teams were too good for Sibir.

Another derby win for  Amur

Admiral Vladivostok 2 Amur Khabarovsk 5 (0-1, 0-2, 2-2)

One week on from winning the first Far East derby of the season 3-0, Amur travelled to Vladivostok and won by a three-goal margin once again.

Going into the game, the teams were tied on 21 points, although the Tigers were two places higher in the standings.

Just like last week, Amur opened the scoring in the first period when Kirill Urakov redirected Fyodor Khrapov’s shot home in the fifth minute. The two teams played attacking hockey and created a couple of decent chances apiece, but could not add to the scoring before the intermission.

After the break, the Sailors caught the wind in their sails, repeatedly testing Alexander Trushkov in the Amur net. But, against the run of play, the visitor increased its lead in the 25th minute: Khrapov surprised Ivan Kulbakov from a tight angle. That didn’t change the pattern of play. Admiral continued to attack, its execution continued to fall short. And Amur took advantage on the counter, making it 3-0 on Konstantin Lukin’s marker midway through the frame.

At the start of the third, Maxim Krovyakov scored his first goal in the KHL, chasing Kulbakov from his net in favor of Jelal-ad-Din Amirbekov. At the other end, Trushkov’s unbeaten run ticked past 130 minutes before Ivan Yanchenko finally solved the Tigers’ goalie. That goal was assisted by Anthony Camara, who scored Admiral’s second with three to play. But the final word went to Amur when Vasily Machulin’s empty-netter made it 5-2 at the hooter.

Sibir pays the penalty

Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 (0-1, 1-1, 0-1)

Neftekhimik’s special teams made the difference as the Wolves beat Sibir for the third time this season. The visitor scored twice on the power play and opened the scoring with a short-handed effort.

The home team’s problems started early. A penalty for Artur Tyanulin just four seconds into the game should have set up a flying start for Sibir. Instead, confusion between Anton Krasotkin and his defense enabled Rafael Bikmullin to open the scoring. Bikmullin now has four goals in his last five games. Perhaps encouraged by the shorthanded success, the visiting forward would later visit the box twice but Sibir could not take advantage on either occasion.

The second period brought a power play goal for Neftekhimik after German Tochilkin netted for the second game in a row to punish Maxim Sushko’s foul. However, Sushko returned to action and scored on his former club 90 seconds later, making it a one-goal game going into the third.

That final stanza saw Sibir in search of an equalizer. Alexander Pershakov hit the post, but otherwise the home team struggled to test Yaroslav Ozolin in the visitor’s net. In the end, an empty-net goal from Tyanulin wrapped up the win, lifting Neftekhimik two points clear of third-placed Barys.

Shchetilin stars in Sochi success

HC Sochi 2 Avangard Omsk 1 OT (1-0, 0-0, 0-1, 1-0)

Goalie Alexei Shchetilin was Sochi’s star in an overtime win over Avangard. The Leopards maintained their recent upturn in form, making it four wins from five while denying Hawks’ head coach Guy Boucher his 100th victory in the KHL.

Shchetilin made 43 saves on the night, and collected an assist on the overtime winner. One of his first tests came relatively early, when Mike McLeod sent Konstantin Okulov clean through on goal only to be denied by the 25-year-old. But the home team got the only goal of the first period after Andrew Poturalski lost possession. Ilya Fedotov forced Ivan Fedotov into a save, but nobody could deny Dmitry Kagarlitsky on the rebound.

Avangard began the second period on the power play, but could not convert and once back to equal strength the visitor struggled to generate offense. Shchetilin faced one anxious moment when Okulov found Alexander Volkov on the slot, but his shot lacked menace. At the other end, Kirill Slepets hit the post and Nikita Gusev went close to his first goal of the season.

But the home team’s prospects were hit by an unnecessary foul from Slepets. Avangard converted the power play, Josh Leivo setting up Poturalski to tie the game with a one-timer in the 45th minute. From that point on, Shchetilin was under pressure. He faced 18 shots in the third period, and there were big chances for Vasily Ponomaryov, Kirill Dolzhenkov, Leivo and Artyom Ilyenko to bring the game to overtime.

The extras began with Semyon Chistyakov going to the box and the home power play got the win. A fabulous pass from Gusev set up Denis Vengryzhanovsky for his 11th goal of the season, with Shchetilin credited with the secondary assist and the first point of his KHL career.

Nikitin maintains winning record in Chelyabinsk

Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 CSKA Moscow 3 OT (1-2, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Victory in the last seconds of overtime moved CSKA two points clear of Lokomotiv at the top of the Western Conference. Two days earlier the teams met in Moscow, with the host powering to a 5-1 victory, but Sunday’s game was much tighter.

The visitor made a good start with an early goal from Marat Khairullin. But it wasn’t long before Traktor got on the power play and tied it up just as Ivan Drozdov returned to the ice. Nathan Legare’s no-look feed dropped nicely for Nikita Soshnikov to fire home his first goal of the season.

Despite that, CSKA went to the intermission up by one. Maxim Mamin rode his luck with this one, banging a shot that cannoned off the board and into the net off Henrik Haukeland’s skate.

That misfortune got Traktor revved up, and the second period saw the host dictate much of the play. The shot count was 13-5 in the home team’s favor and a power play saw Soshnikov get his second of the game to make it 2-2.

The third period was goalless, and an injury to home forward Vladimir Zharkov slowed the pace a little. Late in the session, CSKA put the pressure on Haukeland’s net and was the thickness of the post away from winning in regulation. However, it took overtime and a shot from former Traktor defenseman Rob Hamilton to win the game. The result maintains Igor Nikitin’s perfect record in Chelyabinsk as head coach of the Muscovites: he’s won all six of his visits here from capital.

Vinogradov double lifts Torpedo to third

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

Two goals from Yegor Vinogradov in the first six minutes of Sunday’s game set Torpedo on the path to victory over Spartak.

The opening goal came just 15 seconds after the start: Spartak won the face-off but lost possession, Daniil Zhuravlyov got the puck to the net and Amir Garayev squeezed it across the face of goal to present Vinogradov with a simple finish.

Then came the first power play of the game, and Vinogradov struck again from a tight angle, converting Bobby Nardella’s pass. Those two goals saw the Torpedo forward move level with the team’s scoring leader Vladimir Tkachyov on 19 points this season. That second goal was the end for Ivan Fedotov, replaced in the Spartak net by Artyom Zagidulin on 5:22.

After those two quick goals, the rest of the first period was even but Spartak could not make inroads into the deficit. Late in the session, Vinogradov went to the box for holding. Torpedo killed the penalty and increased its lead in the 23rd minute. Vladislav Yusupov, recently arrived from Traktor, marked his Torpedo debut with a goal. The 21-year-old defenseman arrived on the slot in time to meet Alexei Yakovlev’s pass from behind the net and make it 3-0 to the home team.

The middle frame continued with few scoring chances, but the third saw Spartak pick up the pace. The Muscovites outshot their host 16-5 in the final stanza, but a power play goal from Ivan Ryabov midway through the session was the only reward. Torpedo leapfrogs its opponent into third place in the West, Spartak suffers a third loss in four games.

Dragons roar back to beat Ufa

Shanghai Dragons 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (0-0, 0-2, 3-0)

Two goals in the last three minutes completed a spectacular turnaround for the Dragons. Mitch Love’s team seemed to be on the way to a second successive loss when it gave up two quick goals at the start of the middle frame.

But Mikhail Naumenkov rekindled home hopes at the start of the final stanza, then Brett Murray and Riley Sutter completed a dramatic fightback to hand Ufa a fourth loss in five games.

The first period gave both teams reasons for encouragement. Shanghai could point to more shots on target, Salavat Yulaev could highlight more attacking possession. But neither could land a scoring blow in the opening exchanges.

That changed after the break. Two minutes into the middle frame, Maxim Zagrebin put the visitor in front, and three minutes later Matthew Maggio doubled the lead. Curiously enough, those two combined for Ufa’s only goal in a 1-2 loss at home to Sochi in its previous game on Oct. 24; today Maggio again had a helper on a Zagrebin tally, while Alexander Zharovsky had a hand in both goals.

Experienced forward Naumenkov picked a great time for his first goal in Shanghai colors at the start of the third period. The former Torpedo man is often more of a defensive forward, but found the net here to give the Dragons hope.

His goal ushered in a third period dominated by the home team, although a series of minor penalty made the play scrappy at times. With three minutes left, goalie Amir Miftakhov gave way to a sixth skater, and Love’s gamble paid off: Brennan Menell quarterbacked the play, and his shot deflected off a defenseman before Murray steered it past Semyon Vyazovoi.

Then, with barely a minute left, Zharovsky’s trip handed Shanghai the chance to win it. Yegor Solovyov’s shot caused chaos in front of Vyazovoi, Dmitrij Jaskin’s attempt bobbled free and Sutter was on hand to bang it in with six seconds left on the clock.

Muscovites blank playoff rival

Dinamo Minsk 0 Dynamo Moscow 4 (0-0, 0-1, 0-3)

Sunday’s Dynamic derby was a battle between two teams scrapping for a playoff place in the West. And, for the third time this season, the Muscovites took the honors.

A shut-out win in Minsk saw Leonids Tambijevs’ team overtake the Belarusians into seventh place; SKA is three points adrift in ninth, but has games in hand on its rivals.

Today’s game was a notable one for referee Sergei Morozov, who took charge for the 500th time in the KHL. He started out as a linesman in the league’s opening season and was an assistant 278 times in addition to his 500 nights with the whistle.

The officials were busy right away, with Dinamo Minsk getting a power play. The Belarusians have the best PP in the league with a 30.2% success rate, but it didn’t help this time. Nonetheless, the early initiative was with the home team and there were good chances for Sam Anas and Alex Limoges to open the scoring. Vladimir Kuznetsov did beat Maxim Motorygin in the Moscow net, but Tambijevs’ team challenged the play and it was called back for offside.

Somewhat against the run of play, the visitor took a lead to the intermission. Nikita Korostelyov found himself at the point and Igor Martynov screened Zach Fucale as the shot came in.

That goal lifted the visitor and the second period went Moscow’s way. The best chance of the session fell to Igor Ozhiganov, who got free at the back door but could not get his stick to the puck with the goal at his mercy. Minsk got its chance on the power play, and there were big moments for Anas, Limoges and Chris Tierney to try the game. Motorygin again came to the fore to preserve the one-goal lead.

At the start of the third, the Belarusians tried to up the tempo. Another power play brought more work for Motorygin, but no breakthrough. And then a counterattack saw Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi get clear to make it 2-0 midway through the session. In the end, Minsk overreached: Fucale made way for a sixth skater with four to play, but it ended up with two empty net goals from Ozhiganov and Luka Profaca sealed a flattering 4-0 final score.