Brothers trigger Ak Bars revival, SKA thumps Spartak. November 9 round-up

The Terekhov brothers, Stepan and Semyon, scored in the same game for the first time in the KHL to lead Ak Bars to a 5-2 win at home to Torpedo. Andrei Razin’s SKA showed signs of real progress with a convincing win over Spartak, helped by productive returns for forwards Scott Wilson and Nikolai Goldobin. CSKA returned to the top of the Western Conference thanks to victory at home to Sibir, and Severstal edged a 4-3 verdict at home to Lada.

Brothers on target as Ak Bars rockets up the table

Ak Bars Kazan 5 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 (3-1, 1-0, 1-1)

Victory over Torpedo sent Ak Bars shooting up the Eastern Conference. Before today’s game, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men were down in 10th, outside the playoff places. After a 5-2 win, they are up to third – highlighting just how tight the section is this season.

It was also a special day for the Terekhov brothers, Stepan and Semyon. For the first time, the pair both scored a goal in the same game – and, indeed, the same period. They helped build a 3-1 lead in the opening stanza.

After three losses on the spin, the Tatars needed a lift. The home team made a bright start to the game, with Dmitry Shugayev called into early action in the Torpedo net. And the pressure told. In the seventh minute Ak Bars forced a turnover in its own zone and launched a swift counterattack. Defenseman Stepan Terekhov got forward alongside Yegor Sokolov and finished off the play. Soon after, the host got the first power play of the night and duly doubled the lead. Albert Yarullin was the scorer with a well-placed wrister from long range.

Torpedo responded thanks to Igor Geraskin after 11 minutes of an entertaining first frame. But before the intermission Semyon Terekhov, the elder brother, restored that two-goal advantage when he held off Nikita Kamalov to score from the slot.

The next goal, midway through the second period, was another landmark moment. Alexei Byvaltsev got his 100th in the KHL to make it 4-1 when he gathered the rebound from Alexander Chmelevski’s shot and saw his effort bounce into the net off an opposition skate.

The visitor tried to raise its game in the final session and created some decent chances. However, another power play goal – again with Yegor Vinogradov in the box – saw Andrei Stas make it five for the home team. Pavel Kraskovsky got a late consolation for Torpedo, but this was all about Ak Bars and the Terekhovs.

Liska leads Severstal past Lada

Severstal Cherepovets 4 Lada Togliatti 3 (1-1, 2-2, 1-0)

Three times Severstal saw a lead pegged back in Monday’s game at home to Lada, but in the end captain Adam Liska’s third-period tally saw the Lynx to victory.

Liska scored twice in the game, both on the power play. His second-period goal gave the host a 3-2 lead, only for Ivan Zinchenko to tie the scores just before the intermission.

But after 47 minutes the Slovak center got the winner. He showed great hands at the side of the net to collect a pass from Denis Yan and move it into a shooting position before beating Andrei Mishurov.

That settled a game that began with a goal after just 10 seconds from Ivan Podshivalov. Lada responded well and tied the game on Nikita Setdikov’s power play effort in the 16th minute.

And the trade in goals continued: Ruslan Abramov made it 2-1 in the 25th minute, only for Ivan Savchik to reply with a short-handed tally. The second period concluded with that Liska-Zinchenko exchange before the decisive moment midway through the third.

Wilson returns with goal as SKA wins big

SKA St. Petersburg 7 Spartak Moscow 1 (5-0, 1-1, 1-0)

A goal from Scott Wilson on his return to action, and two for young Nikita Nedopyonkin, helped SKA to an emphatic win over Spartak. The 7-1 verdict was the Petersburg team’s biggest win of the season so far. It also makes it three wins from four under Andrei Razin, reversing his slow start after arriving from Metallurg.

Vasily Glotov’s early goal got the home team moving, but it was a spell of three goals in little more than two minutes that decided this game midway through the first period.

Rocco Grimaldi doubled the lead on 11:30, but arguably it was Wilson’s goal on 13:02 that meant most today. The Canadian was back in the team for the first time in over a month, and scored his first goal since Sep. 25. More importantly, perhaps, Nikolai Goldobin’s assist ended a drought that began for him on Oct. 8. Goldobin started the season in fine form, but the points dried up and he was scratched after a 0-1 loss at Lada on Oct. 15.

Sergei Sapego made it 4-0 on 13:36, chasing Artyom Zagidulin from the Spartak net and bringing Evgeny Volokhin into the game. It took SKA just five minutes to solve the youngster, with Nedopyonkin getting his first while Glotov’s assist brought up his third point of the night.

The 21-year-old added his second goal of the season at the start of the second period to make it 6-0 and end any lingering doubts about the outcome. After that, things calmed down somewhat. Spartak managed the consolation of a power play goal from Max Comtois late in the middle frame, although that had little significance beyond denying Sergei Ivanov a shut-out.

It looked like Comtois’s 39th-minute goal might be the last of the game, but there was still time for Goldobin to collect another assist as Andrei Pedan had the final say 31 seconds before the hooter.

Buchelnikov boosts CSKA

CSKA Moscow 4 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (1-0, 1-0, 2-1)

Dmitry Buchelnikov’s double set CSKA moving back towards the top of the Western Conference, pacing a 4-1 win over Sibir in Moscow.

Maxim Sorkin and Nikolai Kovalenko were also on target for Igor Nikitin’s team, while Yegor Zamula picked up two assists.

Buchelnikov’s goals moved him to nine for the season. They were his first markers in four games, and his first points on home ice since Oct. 3 and a 4-3 SO win over Dynamo.

Yet Sibir will be frustrated that they couldn’t make more of a strong first period. The visitor outshot CSKA 12-4, only to be denied by Alexander Samonov. Then, seconds before the intermission, Buchelnikov advanced down the right and squeezed a shot past Anton Krasotkin from a tight angle.

The visitor looked for a lively start to the second period, hoping to reverse the effect of that mugging late in the first. However, Buchelnikov had other ideas and doubled the home lead in the 26th minute. This time he finished off a spell of pressure, deceiving the defense before shooting home from mid-range. After that, CSKA was in the ascendancy and Sibir struggled to match the initiative it showed in the opening frame.

It seemed that the game was drifting to a quiet conclusion, but the last seven minutes brought three more goals. Maxim Sorkin’s power play effort increased the home lead before Ivan Mishchenko shot through traffic to beat Samonov at last in the 56th minute. Krasotkin left the ice a couple of minutes later, but to no avail; Kovalenko found the empty net to make the final score 4-1.