Neftekhimik bounces back, Hawks suffer in Minsk. November 10 round-up

After two heavy losses, Neftekhimik earned an encouraging shoot-out win over Salavat Yulaev. The visitor moves third in the East, but is just one point clear of 10th-placed Admiral. Traktor is fourth in that section, level on points with Ufa, following a 5-2 win at home to Shanghai Dragons. And Avangard is also in that group of closely-matched teams following a 0-4 loss at Dinamo Minsk, where Zach Fucale celebrated his first shut-out of the season.

Dragons lose to Traktor again

Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 Shanghai Dragons 2 (2-0, 2-0, 1-2)

For the second time this season, Traktor beat the Dragons. Today’s result saw Scott Gordon’s men shoot into the top four from outside the playoff spots, emulating Ak Bars’ rapid rise yesterday.

Shanghai, beaten 2-6 when the teams met in Petersburg earlier this season, thought it had an early lead. However, Nick Cicek’s goal was called back for offside. Instead, Traktor opened the scoring after the Dragons lost possession in their own zone. Nathan Legare took the puck and shot at goal; Mikhail Rolgizer converted the rebound midway through the opening frame.

The visitor continued to press and hit the piping three times in the opening stanza. But it could not score, and Traktor extended its lead thanks to Artemy Nizameyev’s wrist shot in the 16th minute.

The middle frame started with a fight between Alexei Saveliev and the visitor’s Turner Ottenbreit. That put Shanghai on the power play – Saveliev was assessed a tripping minor as well as the fighting major he shared with his rival – and led to another goal. Just not for the visiting PP. Sergei Telegin sent Alexander Shen racing down the ice to score a shorthanded goal in the 23rd minute. Then Nikita Soshnikov made it 4-0, chasing Amir Miftakhov from his net. In came Vyacheslav Buteyets, a young Traktor goalie on loan to the Dragons.

The Dragons managed to reduce the deficit in the third period on a power play goal from Dmitrij Jaskin and a further marker from Yegor Solovyov. At the other end, Buteyets had a successful homecoming, albeit too late to change the outcome. He didn’t allow a goal during his 30 minutes in the game, although Boris Katchouk made it five for Traktor with an empty-netter.

Fucale’s first shut-out stops Avangard

Dinamo Minsk 4 Avangard Omsk 0 (0-0, 0-0, 4-0)

Zach Fucale made 27 saves to secure his first shut-out of the season, and Dinamo Minsk took advantage with four goals in the third period to beat Avangard.

The result lifts the Belarusians to eighth in the Western Conference, back in the playoff spots at the expense of Dynamo Moscow.

The Hawks called upon Cedric Paquette for his first game of the season. The Canadian, once a Minsk player, went into the fourth line as he looks to gain game readiness after a long lay-off. Artyom Ilyenko made way for him.

Things got off to a tentative start. Avangard had more shots on goal, but they lacked venom and didn’t much trouble Fucale. Dinamo had the first power play of the game and came close to an early goal when Alex Limoges gave Stanislav Galiyev a perfect set-up, only for the forward to fluff his lines.

The second stanza saw Avangard enjoy several successive shifts in Dinamo territory. Once again, though, this barely generated a scoring chance. The Hawks’ power play also lacked bite, failing to test Fucale either side of the intermission. As time went on, both teams saw their game break down. There were frequent stoppages and few passages of fluid play. The best scoring chance – one of very few – came when Josh Leivo got some open ice but fired wide of the target.

The torpid pace of play continued into the third until a penalty for Kirill Adamchuk. Dinamo could not convert that power play, and almost gifted Alexander Volkov a shorthanded goal. But back at equal strength, a home counterattack delivered te breakthrough at last. Sergei Kalinin found Rhett Gardner on the slot and he beat Ivan Prosvetov at the second attempt.

Finally, the game opened out. Avangard pushed for a tying goal, but in doing so offered space for Dinamo to attack. Nikolai Prokhorkin spurned a great chase to equalize, and Minsk immediately punished him. Ty Smith found space for a shot and doubled the home lead in the 56th minute.

With more than three to play, Guy Boucher called Prosvetov to the bench. Dinamo took full advantage to score two empty net goals: Sergei Kuznetsov added a third with a shot from in front of his own net, the Xavier Ouellet added a fourth with Fucale adding an assist to his shut-out.

Belozyorov settles shoot-out

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 SO (1-2, 2-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

After heavy back-to-back losses – 1-8 at Metallurg, 1-5 at home to Lokomotiv – Neftekhimik got a much-needed boost when it entertained Salavat Yulaev. The Wolves remain second in the Eastern Conference, but it’s looking increasing like a section with Metallurg untroubled against a raft of opponents separated by just a few points in mid-table.

Today’s result means Neftekhimik trails the leader by seven points, but is just nine clear of Sibir down in 11th. Salavat Yulaev’s point lifts it to third, but it is only one point better off than Admiral in 10th.

Ufa had won the two previous meetings between these teams this season, both on home ice. And the visitor was the more dangerous team in today’s goalless first period, outshooting Neftekhimik 14-5.

But Salavat Yulaev kept picking up penalties: three in the first period and another early in the second. That one, for a hook by Alexander Komarov, led to Nikita Khoruzhev opening the scoring on 23:37. Sheldon Rempal tied the game, then the visitor got up thanks to a five-on-three power play. Khoruzhev left his colleagues short and Rempal turned provider for Devin Brosseau to separate the teams before the intermission.

The game turned again in the third. Home goalie Yaroslav Ozolin had an assist as Sevastyan Sokolov tied it on 42:26. Within four minutes it was 3-2 Neftekhimik: Evgeny Mityakin’s goal restored the home lead. Salavat’s salvation came in the 53rd minute when Artyom Nabiyev scored his third of the season to make it 3-3 and take the game all the way to a shoot-out.

That shoot-out started with forwards on top: Rempal cancelled out Artur Tyanulin’s opener as the first two attempts found the target. Then came a run of 11 failures – nine saves, two misses – before Neftekhimik’s top scorer Andrei Belozyorov stepped up to win the game.