SKA wins in Kazan, Lada shocks Loko. November 2 round-up

A roller-coaster of a game at Ak Bars saw SKA claim a 4-3 verdict despite trailing 0-2. Andrei Razin won only his second game since moving to Petersburg as head coach. Lada’s newly-confirmed head coach Igor Gorbenko enjoyed a 1-0 win at Lokomotiv in his first game in charge.

Razin’s SKA compounds Ak Bars’ home woes

Ak Bars Kazan 3 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (2-0, 1-2, 0-2)

Andrei Razin celebrated only his second win as SKA head coach after a battling performance secured a thrilling victory in Kazan.

Ak Bars, which had lost six successive home games prior to Saturday’s success against Amur, opened a 2-0 lead but could not hold on. Two goals early in the third period got SKA up for the first time and that proved enough to settle the outcome.

The home team announced on the eve of today’s game that Albert Yarullin would take over the captaincy from Alexei Marchenko. He returned to action today in place of Mitch Miller amid a scattering of changes.

Razin’s on-going search for the winning formula saw him freshen up every line except the first, while he also made changes on defense to bring in Yury Zhuravlyov for Nikita Zaitsev.

Visiting goalie Sergei Ivanov was busy from the start. Ak Bars had an early power play, creating chances for Yarullin and Semyon Terekhov. Kirill Semyonov ran out of space to complete a flashy move, Grigory Denisenko tried to score on the wraparound and, amid the confusion on the slot Vladislav Syomin was assessed a major penalty after striking Denis Zernov. The five-minute power play saw Ak Bars get some rhythm at last and Alexander Chmelevski’s wrister opened the scoring.

As Syomin’s penalty expired, Zernov found himself in the box after attempting to play the puck from the bench. He returned to the game and soon after, Ak Bars got another PP. It didn’t take long to turn that into another goal: Denisenko dished off a sweet pass for Zernov to make it 2-0 at the intermission.

But SKA turned things around after the break. Matvei Korotky set up Vasily Atanasov to halve the deficit. The visitor’s goalscorer then found himself in the box and Ak Bars produced another dangerous power play, this time without beating Ivanov. But back at equal strength, Yegor Savikov tied the game. Momentum seemed to be going Petersburg’s way, but an untimely penalty for Nikolai Knyzhov saw Terekhov restore the home lead in the 36th minute.

At the start of the third, SKA completed its fightback. Danil Aimurzin produced a cunning shot from a dead angle to tie the game within a minute of the restart. Both teams missed big chances, with Nikita Yevseyev sliding across the ice to block a goalbound shot after home goalie Maxim Arefyev was beaten. But SKA would not be denied: Savikov found Atanasov at the back door for a neat finish to claim his second of the night. Ak Bars had a couple of chances to save the game through Semyonov and Terekhov. The home side was on top, and SKA’s defense began to wobble, but the visitor held on to take the win and close to within a point of eighth-placed Dinamo Minsk.

Mishurov denies defending champ

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 Lada Togliatti 1 (0-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Andrei Altybarmakyan scored the only goal of the game to give Lada’s newly-appointed head coach Igor Gorbenko a winning start.

Gorbenko had been serving as interim head coach following the departure of Pavel Zubov, but this morning he was confirmed as the permanent incumbent.

A road trip to the defending champion was not the easiest of starts for a team at the foot of the KHL standings. Lokomotiv welcomed back Maxim Beryozkin and Danil Romantsev after injury, and also recalled Stepan Falkovsky. Lada was without Artyom Volkov, replacing him with Vladislav Leontyev, and Andrei Mishurov started in the visitor’s net.

To nobody’s surprise, the goalie had a busy time of it. Lokomotiv outshot Lada 36-18, but could not make a breakthrough. Indeed, arguably the best chance of the first period fell to the visitor went Dmitry Kugryshev got clean through on Alexei Melnichuk only to be denied by the home goalie.

The second period saw more enterprise from Lada, but Lokomotiv got the puck in the net through Falkovsky. That play was called back for a foul on Mishurov and the game remained goalless going into the third.

Mishurov excelled at the start of the third when it seemed inevitable that Lokomotiv’s pressure would bring goals. When he was beaten, the officials intervened again, this time ruling the play offside.

Lada never really looked capable of scoring until the 56th minute when Altybarmakyan converted an Ivan Savchik feed to break the deadlock. That proved to be the winner; Lada defeated Lokomotiv for the first time since 2017, and Altybarmakyan’s 39th goal for the club put him to the top of Lada’s KHL goalscoring charts.