SKA thumps Spartak, Sibir boosts playoff prospects. January 12 round-up
Friday’s big game saw SKA travel to Spartak and power to a convincing win. The Muscovites’ slump continues: that was a sixth loss in seven games. Elsewhere, Sibir’s Far East tour brought another handy win. That, coupled with Amur’s loss to Avangard, enhances the Siberians’ playoff prospects. Severstal won its fourth game in a row, defeating Kunlun 2-1, and Neftekhimik’s hard-working defense shut down Salavat Yulaev.
Hawks keep picking up points in the East
Amur Khabarovsk 2 Avangard Omsk 3 (1-1, 0-1, 1-1)
Avangard continued its Far East tour in Khabarovsk and recorded a third successive road win. Amur, trying to keep in contact with the playoff places, continued to battle with an injury list that robs it of leading players like Cam Lee, Alex Broadhurst, Alexander Khokhlachyov and Pyotr Khokhryakov. The return of veteran blue-liner Yakov Rylov was a rare bit of good news for Andrei Martemyanov’s team.
The Tigers made a lively start, and got on a two-man power play in the fourth minute. That did not produce the opening goal, but back at equal strength Yegor Korshkov broke the deadlock. The Hawks replied within a few minutes and recent signing Tomas Jurco celebrated his first goal for the club after some good work from fellow newcomer Nikolai Prokhorkin.
Amur again caught the eye at the start of the middle frame. Korshkov had a chance for a second goal, Jan Drozg fired in several testing shots. Avangard began to reassert itself and might have got in front when Vladimir Tkachyov found himself in space in front of the net, only for Igor Bobkov to snuff out the chance.
A power play saw the visitor get ahead. Reid Boucher took advantage, bustling into the zone and pinging an early wrist shot past Bobkov to record his 35th of the season.
Amur was by no means out of it. The home team had a couple more power play chances without finding an equalizer. Even at equal strength, Avangard struggled to take a grip of the game until a schoolboy error from goalie Bobkov gifted Nikita Kholodilin the 3-1 tally.
Late in the game, Semyon Chistyakov’s high-sticking penalty handed Amur one last chance. Playing six-on-four, the home team pulled one back thanks to Artur Gizdatullin’s redirect and Korshkov’s twinkle-toed rush might have brought a tying goal but instead ended in an interference call after he collided with goalie Pavel Khomchenko.
Sibir grabs second straight road win
Admiral Vladivostok 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 (1-2, 1-1, 0-1)
While Amur was losing at home, Sibir was enhancing its position in the race for eighth place in the East. A 4-2 win at Admiral opens a five-point gap for the Siberians, although they have played two games more.
There was no preamble to this game, with the teams sharing three goals in the first eight minutes. Nikita Anokhovsky gave the Sailors an early lead when he confidently buried a penalty shot after Ilya Morozov’s foul. Sibir replied with goals from Artyom Mikheyev and Nikita Yefremov to lead at the intermission.
The latter half of the first period slowed down a little, but it took just 42 seconds to produce a second-period goal. Ruslan Ibatullin got the puck on the blue line, set himself and picked out the top corner to haul Admiral level. After that the game continued at a fast pace with chances at both ends. Then came a pair of penalties and the visitor’s Andy Andreoff proved more effective with the extra man.
Early in the third, Mikheyev got his second goal, this one shorthanded. Admiral continued to press for a way back into the game, but could not any of its 17 third-period shots past Denis Kostin as Sibir secured the verdict.
Revenge win for Traktor
Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Ak Bars Kazan 1 (2-1, 1-0, 0-0)
Ak Bars came to Chelyabinsk with a four-game winning streak, although each of those was a one-goal verdict. Traktor warmed up with a 5-3 win over another Tatar team, Neftekhimik and that winning form carried the home team to a revenge win here. Earlier in the season, the host lost 3-5 in Kazan.
The start was cautious, but in the 12th minute Yegor Popov won his battle on the slot to put Traktor in front. Ak Bars replied quickly: Vadim Shipachyov produced a fantastic stretch pass to release Dmitry Kagarlitsky to make it 1-1. However, the home team would take a lead into the intermission, with Danil Yurtaikin’s power play goal making it 2-1, two seconds before the break.
That late blow sparked Ak Bars into life. In the middle frame, the visitor controlled long stretches of the game and outshot Traktor 14-7. However, Zach Fucale did a great job in the home net and, in the 28th minute, Artyom Shchuchinov’s classy set-up enabled Vitaly Kravtsov to add a third.
Chasing the game, Ak Bars stormed onto the attack in the third. However, the visitor encountered a disciplined home defense and not even a double minor for ex-Kazan D-man Albert Yarullin could open the door. Indeed, Vladimir Tkachyov was close to a short-handed goal coming the other way.
After killing that penalty, Traktor was able to take the pace out of the game. The closing stages were relatively calm as the home team secured the verdict.
Defensive heroics give Wolves the verdict
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)
Neftekhimik bounced back from its loss at Traktor to produce a sixth win from seven games. The result pushes the Wolves up to ninth, four points adrift of Sibir in the final playoff spot.
However, this win over Salavat Yulaev owed much to defensive fortitude. Goalie Andrei Tikhomirov made 26 saves, and his defense blocked another 25 attempts as the Salavat Yulaev offense dominated. The visitor had more than 20 minutes of attacking possession but could not find a goal to show for it.
Neftekhimik had far fewer opportunities, but made much more of them. Crucially, when Grigory Panin took a penalty just before the first intermission, the home team capitalized at the start of the middle frame. Jean-Sebastien Dea’s power play goal put Neftekhimik in front and allowed the team to dig in and defend its advantage.
And defend it did. The pressure on Tikhomirov’s net intensified, but so did the workrate from the home team. And, when a scoring chance presented itself late in the third, Yegor Korbit took advantage to set up a 2-0 lead that Neftekhimik preserved until the end.
Dragons can’t stop Severstal
Severstal Cherepovets 2 Kunlun Red Star 1 (0-0, 1-0, 1-1)
Severstal recorded its fourth straight win, and also defeated the Dragons for the fourth time this season. The win takes the Steelmen to 55 points and tightens their grip on seventh place in the west.
The home team had the best of the opening frame, enjoying far more puck possession and outshooting Red Star 10-4. Alexander Lazushin was the most eye-catching of the visiting players, producing some big saves to keep the teams deadlocked through 20 minutes. In front of him, the Red Star defense blocked 10 attempts as the Chinese team battled to the intermission.
Early in the second, though, Alexander Skorenov made the breakthrough. The Belarusian forward also scored on the Dragons when the teams last met in late December.
Although Severstal continued to have far more of the play, Kunlun hung around in the game and kept up their hopes of salvaging something. It wasn’t until the 51st minute that Adam Liska gave Severstal some breathing space. And his goal proved crucial, with Gemel Smith pulling one back for Red Star to set up an anxious finale for the host.
SKA romps to big win at Spartak
Spartak Moscow 2 SKA St. Petersburg 5 (0-1, 0-4, 2-0)
Spartak’s stuttering run is in danger of turning into a slump. The Red-and-Whites, so impressive up until the festive period, are now on a sequence of just one win in seven games. That has seen Alexei Zhamnov’s team drop from the top of the table to fourth in the West, with SKA overtaking its opponent thanks to today’s convincing win.
SKA is moving in the opposite direction. Back-to-back losses last week are already largely forgotten: Roman Rotenberg’s team got back on track at Vityaz and gave a compelling account of itself here.
The damage was mostly done in the second period. Mikhail Vorobyov’s early goal separated the teams through 20 minutes, and Artyom Zemchyonok’s assist was his 100th in the KHL. However, it was after the intermission that SKA took complete control.
Ironically, Spartak made the brighter start to the middle frame, with Ilya Kovalchuk threatening to score on his former club. But as the game progressed, SKA grew more dominant. The visitor saw a goal wiped out by a bench challenge, but responded with four markers in six minutes at the end of the session. Valentin Zykov triggered the charge, Sergei Tolchinsky scored twice and after Patrik Rybar came into the game Arseny Gritsyuk scored on him after 24 seconds to make it 5-0.
Kovalchuk did get a goal in the third, converting a power play to send a reminder to his former club. Joey Keane also found the net late on. But that was merely a consolation effort as SKA closed out an emphatic victory.
