Capital punishment. March 21 round-up
Two of Friday’s three games took place in Moscow – and the Russian capital took two beatings. Lokomotiv won 4-1 at Dynamo, while Dinamo Minsk defeated CSKA by the same scoreline. Earlier, Neftekhimik edged a 2-1 verdict over Admiral.
Belozyorov goal sinks Admiral
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 1 (1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
The Wolves returned home from a win at Spartak and backed up that result with victory over Admiral. It’s too late for Neftekhimik to make the playoffs, but Oleg Leontyev’s team seems determined to finish with a flourish.
Both teams played attacking hockey from the start, but Neftekhimik steadily gained the upper hand in the first period. That led to Dmitry Zhukenov opening the scoring a couple of minutes before the intermission, converting the second power play of the game.
In the second period, Nefetkhimik ran into penalty trouble and that helped Admiral tie the scores in the 28th minute. Nikita Soshnikov picked out the top corner with a perfect shot. Assists from Daniil Gutik and Libor Sulak extended their productive streaks to six and five games respectively.
The final frame resembled the first, with plenty of attacking intent. And, as in the first period, the home team got on top. Andrei Belozyorov applied a neat redirect to restore Neftekhimik’s lead. Admiral worked hard to find a way back but could not beat Yaroslav Ozolin in the home net as the host held on for the win.
Big win for Loko in Western summit clash
Dynamo Moscow 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 (1-1, 0-1, 0-2)
Friday’s Western Conference summit meeting had little bearing on the upcoming playoffs: the opponents were locked into first and second place even before Lokomotiv’s victory.
However, it might be a significant psychological moment for two teams with big hopes of lifting this season’s Gagarin Cup. The results ties this season’s mini-series between the two at 3-3 and stretches table-topping Loko’s current streak to three straight wins and four victories from five.
But the Continental Cup winner had to come from behind to get the verdict here. Dynamo got the first power play of the game in the fifth minute when Pavel Kraskovsky sat for holding. The home team wasted little time in capitalizing, with Nikita Gusev potting his 29th goal of the season.
Lokomotiv recovered to tie the scores in the 13th minute. After keeping Dynamo pinned in its own zone, Andrei Sergeyev fired a shot through traffic to beat Evgeny Yaroslavlev. The goalie, called up from the VHL this season, made his KHL debut in October at the age of 30. Today, he played his first game for Dynamo since Dec. 19’s win over Admiral.
After the intermission, Kirill Adamchuk had the puck in the Lokomotiv net. However, the visitor challenged the play and a video review called it back due to Dmitry Rashevsky obstructing Isayev’s movement on the crease. That cancelled what proved to be Dynamo’s only shot on goal in the second period. Come the 40-minute mark, the home team had added zero legitimate efforts. At the other end, despite some solid defense, Richard Panik struck on 39:57 to give Loko the lead going into the locker room.
And there was a similar feel to the third. Although the home team needed to get back into the game, it struggled to find scoring chances. Isayev had just six saves to make and the frustration took its toll on Max Comtois. With two minutes left, he was assessed a roughing minor and talked that up into 34 minutes of penalties. Lokomotiv made the most of that, with Alexander Radulov setting up Byron Froese to make it 3-1 before adding a fourth himself.
Dinamo snaps skid, CSKA continues to stumble
CSKA Moscow 1 Dinamo Minsk 4 (0-1, 1-3, 0-0)
Dinamo halted a four-game skid with victory in Moscow – and now has a great chance of securing a top-four finish in the Western Conference. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team needs just a point from its final game of the season at Sochi on Sunday to guarantee home ice advantage at the start of the playoffs.
CSKA, meanwhile, suffered a fourth straight loss and must hope for some help from Sochi if it is to get that coveted top four spot alongside Lokomotiv, Dynamo and Spartak. Ilya Vorobyov’s team faced a tough run of fixtures – Metallurg, Dynamo and Loko ahead of today’s game – but will need to be more effective if it is to progress in post season.
The visitor shaded the first period, producing more scoring chances off an equal share of possession. That yielded an opening goal for Roman Gorbunov after 12 minutes, reacting fastest after Vadim Shipachyov redirected Jordan Gross’s shot against the post. Dinamo almost had a second goal soon afterwards when Daniil Lipsky was left all alone in front of Ivan Prosvetov’s net, but the home goalie made the save.
However, Prosvetov’s evening took a turn for the worse at the start of the second period. Dinamo jumped out of the locker room and into a 3-0 lead, scoring twice in the first four minutes. Gorbunov turned provider for the second, releasing Vadim Moroz to beat the goalie. Then Yegor Borikov redirected a Josh Brook shot into the net, chasing Prosvetov from the game.
Pavel Khomchenko took over, but the pressure on CSKA’s net continued. And Borikov potted his second of the night when another defensive collapse enabled him to convert a three-on-one rush in the 32nd minute.
Things could hardly get much worse for the home team, and 14 seconds before the intermission, Denis Guryanov pulled a goal back. However, it never felt like more than a consolation effort. Dinamo continued to control the game in the third period and completed a 4-1 win with little alarm in the closing stages.
