Aimurzin’s late strike sinks Dynamo, playoff line-up confirmed. March 23 round-up
Severstal grabbed a late winner at home to Dynamo, moving up to sixth place on the final day of the KHL regular season. As a result, Dynamo is set for a first-round playoff battle with old rival SKA, while Severstal will begin at Spartak. The Red-and-Whites secured third place in the West with a come-from-behind win over Lada, while Dinamo Minsk’s victory at Sochi kept the Belarusians in the top four. They will play CSKA, which snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 win at Vityaz, while Neftekhimik thumped Admiral as the Sailors continue to struggle ahead of the playoffs.
After today’s results, the full playoff pairings are as follows:
Western Conference: Lokomotiv vs Torpedo, Dynamo Moscow vs SKA, Spartak vs Severstal, Dinamo Minsk vs CSKA; Eastern Conference: Traktor vs Admiral, Salavat Yulaev vs Sibir; Metallurg vs Avangard, Avtomobilist vs Ak Bars.
CSKA halts losing run
Vityaz Moscow Region 1 CSKA Moscow 2 (1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
CSKA snapped a four-game skid to finish the regular season with a win. The 2-1 verdict at Sochi made little difference to the final standings, with the Muscovites always likely to end in fifth, but at least it gave Ilya Vorobyov’s men some momentum ahead of a series against Dinamo Minsk.
The head coach rested Nikita Nesterov, Ivan Drozdov and Pavel Karnaukhov for this one, while Stanislav Galiyev and Rourke Chartier returned after a week’s rest. More significantly, Colby Williams returned to the defense after picking up an injury last month.
With Williams still getting back to game readiness, he found himself involved in both goals in the first period. While he would have enjoyed assisting on Prokhor Poltapov’s opener, he was unable to prevent Matvei Zaseda from cancelling that one out.
The second period was goalless, although the visitor looked the stronger of the teams. In contrast, the third began with Vityaz seizing the initiative, only to fall behind. Once again, it came on the counterattack and once again Williams had an assist, albeit a rather inadvertent one. The skate bounced off the defenseman’s skate for Kirill Dolzhenkov to race away on the counter and beat Andrei Kareyev.
Vityaz continued to press, but could not find a way back. As in the three previous meetings between these two, CSKA earned a hard-fought victory.
Spartak clinches third place
Spartak Moscow 3 Lada Togliatti 2 OT (0-0, 0-2, 2-0, 1-0)
The Red-and-Whites came from 0-2 to win in overtime and secure third place in the Western Conference. As a result, Alexei Zhamnov’s team will start with home advantage against Severstal in the first round of the playoffs.
Aware that defeat could mean a fifth-placed finish and a road trip to start post season, Spartak took control of the game in the first period. However, despite outshooting Lada 17-3, the Muscovites were repeatedly foiled by Alexander Trushkov, a goalie who learned his trade with the club.
Lada didn’t exactly step up its offense in the second period. However, from just five shots it managed two goals to get in front. Nikita Popugayev opened the scoring in the 21st minute, then Andrei Altybarmakyan doubled the lead in the 34th. Trushkov made 16 more saves and saw Nikolai Goldobin hit the post late in the session.
The visiting goalie was finally beaten at the 36th attempt when Goldobin extended his goal streak to five games. In the 53rd minute, a neat combination set up Demid Mansurov for his first goal of the season and tied the game.
After 60 minutes, a lopsided 56-13 shot count brought a level scoreline of 2-2. In the extras, a home power play saw Spartak get the win. Ivan Morozov’s pass from behind the net found Goldobin, and he set up Pavel Poryadin at the back door to make it 3-2.
Barber’s hat-trick powers big win
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 7 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (3-0, 3-0, 1-2)
Despite being out of playoff contention, Neftekhimik signed off in style with an emphatic win over Admiral. As a result, the Sailors remain eighth in the Eastern Conference and will face Traktor in the playoffs. Salavat Yulaev and Sibir are confirmed as the other outstanding pair in the East.
Riley Barber’s hat-trick led the way for the home team. A four-point game moved him to 30 (16+14) points from 45 games after returning the KHL in November. And the team’s scoring leader, Andrei Belozyorov, added his 17th goal of the season to finish with 43 points.
Grigory Seleznyov gave the home team a fast start with a goal after three minutes, and Belozyorov soon doubled the lead. On the power play. Then Barber got busy, adding a third goal late in the opening frame to chase starting goalie Andrei Mishurov from his net.
In the middle stanza, Riley added two more in quick succession, beating Ilya Konovalov on 28:03 and 28:44. All three of the American’s goals were assisted by Jean-Sebastien Dea, and the roles were reversed in the 37th minute as the Canadian made it 6-0.
Admiral was on the way to a fifth successive loss – far from ideal with a testing playoff ahead – but managed some consolation in the third period. Daniil Gutik and Nikita Susuyev scored a couple of goals to make the scoreline more respectable before it finished before German Tochilkin’s late goal gave Neftekhimik the final word.
Dinamo secures home advantage, CSKA awaits in playoff
HC Sochi 2 Dinamo Minsk 6 (0-2, 1-3, 1-1)
By the time this game started, Dinamo knew it would face CSKA in the playoffs. However, it also knew that it had to win here to gain home advantage as the first round gets underway on Wednesday and Thursday.
It was a challenge that Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team eagerly met. A dominant performance brought a comfortable victory as Sochi ended another difficult season adrift at the foot of the Western Conference.
Dinamo took charge in the latter part of the first period. Vitaly Pinchuk opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Andrei Stas doubled the lead on the power play a couple of minutes later. Vadim Shipachyov’s assist on that goal broke another of Sergei Mozyakin’s records. Shipachyov is now the most productive player aged 37+ in a KHL campaign.
Sochi never really looked like threatening the visitor. Early in the second, Pinchuk extended the lead with a short-handed goal, then came two goals in less than 20 seconds as the midway point approached. Sergei Kuznetsov and Sam Anas were the scorers, Pinchuk got his third point of the day with a helper on the latter.
The home team replaced starting goalie Ilya Gorbunov with Nikita Tulinov and immediately grabbed a consolation goal thanks to Daniil Seroukh. But after that flurry of three goals in the 30th minute, the game went quiet. Late in the game, the teams traded further goals. Jordan Gross scored Dinamo’s sixth, with Shipachyov assisting to finish with 57 (15+42) points for the season. But the last word went to Alexander Khokhlachyov, who scored a second goal for Sochi in the closing moments.
Aimurzin grabs last-minute winner
Severstal Cherepovets 3 Dynamo Moscow 2 (1-0, 1-1, 1-1)
This game had the potential to be the start of a more significant series. If Dynamo won here in regulation, it would keep Severstal in seventh place and set up a playoff meeting between the two teams to start in Moscow next week. But, if Severstal could muster at least one point, it would overtake SKA to face Spartak in post season.
That prospect seemed to motivate the home team more in the early exchanges. Severstal had much the better of the first period, enjoying a territorial advantage and outshooting Dynamo 14-4. The second power play of the game brought the breakthrough in the 17th minute. Dmitry Rashevsky sat for tripping, and Nikolai Chebykin scored from a tight angle off Alexei Kruchinin’s feed.
Dynamo got its first PP of the game at the end of the opening frame, and that helped the visitor to a bright start to the second. In the 24th minute, Jordan Weal tied the scores after some slick passing moved the puck around the Severstal zone for the Canadian forward to strike from close range.
But Severstal continued to look dangerous. Mikhail Ilyin tested Maxim Motorygin, then Daniil Davydov skated clear only to be denied by the visiting goalie. The pressure built up, and in the 33rd minute David Dumbadze restored the home lead when he redirected Mark Barberio’s shot into the net. Almost immediately, Severstal got on the power play, but could not press home its advantage in the second period.
The host continued to press at the start of the third, but gradually Dynamo got back into the game. Nikita Gusev saw one attempt saved by Alexander Samoilov but came back for more and tied the game in the 49th minute. Daniil Pylenkov got forward on the left and drilled the puck across the face of goal, where Gusev was waiting at the back door to turn it over the line.
At this stage, Severstal was on course for the point it needed to move ahead of SKA into sixth place. Dynamo’s hopes of getting in front and extending acquaintance with today’s opposition in post season were hampered by an interference call on Kirill Adamchuk in the 53rd minute. The visitor killed that penalty and went in search of a winner, but Samoilov held firm. Then, at the other end, Danil Aimurzin grabbed a last-minute winner for Severstal, claiming the last goal of the regular season and giving his team a third straight win.
