Lada stuns Loko again on day of comebacks. November 6 round-up

For the second time this week, defending champion Lokomotiv failed to score on struggling Lada. The meeting in Togliatti went goalless through 65 minutes, then Andrei Mishurin backstopped a shoot-out win to lift his team off the foot of the Western Conference. Elsewhere, it wasn’t an easy day to hold onto a lead. Amur blew a 2-0 lead at home to SKA and lost 3-2, Barys got up 2-0 in Vladivostok before losing 5-4 to Admiral, and Traktor rallied from 1-3 to beat Ak Bars. Avtomobilist, too, scored first in Ufa but eventually lost 3-2 in overtime. For a moment, it looked like Dinamo Minsk might outstrip all those fightbacks when two quick goals on Spartak turned a 0-4 scoreline into a 2-4 game. However, the Muscovites recovered to win it 5-3.

SKA rallies from 0-2 …

Amur Khabarovsk 2 SKA St. Petersburg 3 (2-0, 0-2, 0-1)

SKA rallied from 0-2 to claim a much-needed victory at Amur. Following a 0-4 loss in Vladivostok in the previous game, Andrei Razin refrained from widespread changes on the team. Sergei Ivanov played in goal, Sergei Plotnikov went to the second line and Andrei Pedan replaced Vladislav Syomin as seventh defenseman.

Amur got off to a flying start, scoring in the first minute when Raul Akmaldinov found an incredibly precise shot from long range. Five minutes later, a somewhat freakish goal saw the Tigers double their lead: Maxim Krovyakov’s shot cannoned off the boards, got tangled up in Ivanov’s kit and bounced into the net.

The SKA bench responded with a time-out and replaced Ivanov with Artemy Pleshkov. He had to deal with a couple of threatening attacks and his saves revived his team. Later in the frame, on the power play, we finally saw something of the visiting offense and Maxim Dorozhko began to earn his appearance fee.

Once the visitor got moving, it managed to turn the game around. Two goals in the second period wiped out Amur’s lead. Nikita Zaitsev emulated Akmaldinov’s opener in the 22nd minute before a power play goal from Vladislav Romanov tied it up midway through the game. The 23-year-old got his second of the season after good work on the slot.

With the scores level, the game opened out and both teams created regular chances. Perhaps the best went to Fyodor Khrapov for the home team, but he was distracted at the last by a visiting defenseman. At the other end, Vasily Atanasov tested Dorozhko from close range.

In the third, the pattern of play remained similar. Amur skated better but could not turn that into a goal. At the other end, SKA got the breakthrough amid a crowd scene on the slot: a point shot saw the puck bouncing around before Rocco Grimaldi banged it home. The visitor had a chance to make the game safe with a five-on-three power play but could not capitalize against the KHL’s best PK. However, Amur was unable to parley that reprieve into a tying goal and Razin’s men secured a vital two points.

… and so does Admiral

Admiral Vladivostok 5 Barys Astana 4 (1-2, 3-1, 1-1)

The Sailors followed up a 4-0 win over SKA with a high-scoring success against Barys. The home team had to come from 0-2 to get the verdict but managed to outscore the most prolific offense in the league this season to take the points.

Both teams were at it from the opening face-off, and by the 12th minute we had three goals. Barys had the early momentum, opening the scoring on a fine goal from Asanali Sarkenov. He raced down the right, cut into the center and picked out a beautiful shot to the top shelf for only his second goal in the KHL. Next came a spell of attacking possession that concluded with Jake Massie switching the play for Logan Day to double the lead with a shot from the top of the circle.

But Admiral responded well, and a similar positional attack brought a goal from Danila Moiseyev to reduce the deficit before the intermission.

At the start of the middle frame, the teams again traded goals: Daniel Usmanov was alert to tie the game on a rebound, but 13 seconds later Barys was back in front. Uncertainty in the home zone saw Arkady Shestakov take control of the play and set up Alikhan Omirbekov for a devastating one-timer.

That slowed the host’s progress, but did not halt it. A swift counter down the right brought a goal for Konstantin Luchevnikov, whose feed to the back door was deflected past Andrei Shutov. Then a goal on the hooter sent Admiral into the second intermission with a 4-3 lead thanks to a powerful shot from Borna Rendulic.

Barys faced another challenge at the start of the third when Day and Ian McCoshen took penalties and left their team with three skaters. The visiting PK withstood that test, and at the other end the Kazakh power play tied it up on a goal from KHL scoring leader Justin Bailey. It seemed that it would take overtime to separate the teams, but Grigory Vashchenko had other ideas: his shot from the right wing secured a 5-4 win for Admiral.

Another fightback win

Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (1-2, 1-1, 3-0)

Like SKA and Admiral, Traktor recovered a two-deficit to claim victory. This time, Ak Bars lost out as Scott Gordon’s team moved off the foot of the Eastern Conference standings. In an incredibly tight section, Traktor is now 10th, but just two points behind third-placed Barys.

The home team welcomed back Sergei Telegin, who replaced Mark Rodionov after missing the previous game for family reasons. Ak Bars brought in Yegor Sokolov ahead of Denis Komkov as it looked to respond to back-to-back losses against today’s host.

Nathan Legare enjoys playing against Ak Bars and had scored in all three previous meetings this season. He kept up that record today after winning a puck battle on the slot. But the visitor responded with two goals to take a lead into the intermission. Alexei Marchenko’s stretch pass set up a counter attack and Ravil Yakupov finished it off to tie the game. A couple of minutes later, Alexander Chmevelski put away the rebound from Stepan Terekhov’s shot.

Traktor spurned power play chances either side of the intermission, and Ak Bars punished that with a third goal. Maxim Bykov potted his first of the season after blocking a shot at one end, then breaking down the ice with Nikita Dynyak to score at the other.

Mikhail Rolgizer missed a great chance to put Traktor back in contention when he misfired from a good position, but redeemed that lapse a few shifts later when he scored from inside the circle.

It was anyone’s game going into the final stanza, but Traktor proved too good for its guest. Grigory Dronov tied it up when his powerful long-range effort deceived Arefyev. Within a minute, Mikhail Grigorenko had the home team in front for the first time when he converted Legare’s feed. And Alexander Shen completed the scoring with a short-handed goal, a first in the KHL for the 20-year-old forward.

Shipachyov sets up Ufa win

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 OT (2-1, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Two goals from Vadim Shipachyov paved the way for Salavat Yulaev to beat Avtomobilist.

The visitor was without influential defenseman Ilya Karpukhin, with Jordan Gross replacing him. Nikita Shashkov returned after injury and was named 13th forward, while Evgeny Alikin started in goal.

Salavat Yulaev continues to struggle with defensive absences. Veteran Grigory Panin suffered an injury in the previous game, and the lack of personnel prompted the club to sign up free agents Ruslan Pedan and Artyom Zemchyonok. Sheldon Rempal wore the C in Panin’s absence, while Semyon Vyazovoi was in goal. Up front, Alexander Zharovsky is away on junior international duty, bringing Maxim Kuznetsov into the team.

The visitor opened the scoring, with Alexander Sharov scoring against his former club. But Shipachyov turned the game around in the opening frame, first redirecting Sergei Varlov’s shot past Alikin, then converting a power play from a tight angle to make it 2-1 at the intermission.

In the second period, there were great chances for Kale Clague and Maxim Denezhkin before Daniel Sprong tied the game for Avtomobilist. His precise wrister was too good for Vyazovoi.

That was the end of the scoring in regulation, although an entertaining third period saw the momentum ebb and flow from one side to the other. The action continued until the final minute of overtime, when Matthew Maggio found the way past Alikin to secure Ufa a hard-fought win.

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

On Monday, Lada blanked defending champion Lokomotiv for a sensational 1-0 win in Yaroslavl. On Friday, the Motormen proved it was no fluke, frustrating the Loko offense once again through 65 goalless minutes before winning it in a shoot-out.

Goals have been in short supply throughout these encounters, and goalies were on top today. Alexei Melnichuk replaced Daniil Isayev in the Loko net and made 23 saves through 65 minutes. His opposite number Andrei Mishurov stopped 22 shots at the other end.

Lada made a decent start to the game until it ran into penalty trouble. That gave Lokomotiv the edge and Maxim Shalunov hit the post from close range. Yegor Surin also went close with a shot that flashed past the net before Lada revived its offensive efforts late in the frame.

Chances remained in short supply in the second period. Lada looked more promising, with Vyacheslav Osnovin getting a great chance on the power play. All too often, though, the teams struggled to turn possession into chances and the game remained deadlocked.

Things got tighter as time went on and there were few meaningful attempts on goal in the third period. Artur Kayumov’s double minor penalty at the end of regulation had Lada on the power play at the start of overtime. That led to multiple attacks from the home team, but Melnichuk held firm for his 10th KHL shut-out. But the visiting goalie was beaten twice in the shoot-out, with former Loko man Pavel Kudryavtsev and Rasim Shakirov giving Lada the win.

Comtois scores 50th goal as Spartak holds off Minsk

Spartak Moscow 5 Dinamo Minsk 3 (2-0, 2-2, 1-1)

This Moscow match-up featured two teams struggling for consistent form. Both had two wins in the last six, both lost on home ice last time out.

Spartak made a strong start to Friday’s game, opening the scoring after 69 seconds thanks to Ilya Kotlyarov. After Zach Fucale stopped a Christian Jaros shot, nobody could get the rebound clear of the slot and Kotlyarov was able to finish it off. Then came a home power play, and a great save from Fucale to take the puck off Ivan Ryabov’s stick with the goal at the forward’s mercy.

Dinamo survived the penalty, but fell behind soon after when Max Comtois netted his 50th KHL goal.

After a slow start, Minsk began to pose more of an attacking threat. And that energy certainly infected Rhett Butler, who was drawn into a scuffle with Spartak defenseman Andrei Mironov after his hit on Bogdan Belkin just before the intermission.

At the start of the second period, Spartak increased its lead on a goal from Pavel Poryadin. Mironov got involved in another flare-up, this time with Ilya Usov, and while those two cooled their heels in the box, German Rubtsov made it 4-0 in the 27th minute. That was enough for Sergei Brylin on the Dinamo bench, and Fucale made way for Evgeny Prokhorov.

The 19-year-old was on KHL ice for the first time, having been listed as an unused back-up on a dozen previous occasions. He was quickly into the action, stopping Daniil Gutik’s shot from a tight angle. Later, he closed the door on Comtois when the Canadian got a one on one.

At the other end, the Belarusians finally found their shooting range. Two goals in a minute before the second intermission got the visitor back into the game. A misplaced pass from Joey Keane sent Usov away to make it 1-4, then Josh Brook added a second with 10 seconds left on the clock.

That gave Dinamo hope of an improbable fightback. But the third period saw Spartak not only slow the visitor’s offense, but also create chances of its own. Luke Lockhart beat Prokhorov in the 55th minute, putting a blot on a promising debut and padding the lead to 5-2. Minsk responded at once and Chris Tierney made it 3-5, then a penalty on Rubtsov ensured more anxious moments as the game went into the last four minutes.