Hot streaks continue. March 6 round-up
Avangard reeled off a 10th successive victory, coming from 0-2 to beat Torpedo in Nizhny Novgorod. As a result, the home team missed the chance to confirm its playoff spot. Salavat Yulaev and Metallurg both secured their fifth consecutive successes: Ufa won in overtime at Amur, while Magnitka eased to a 3-0 verdict over Sochi. Severstal defeated Vityaz by the same 3-0 scoreline. In the Eastern playoff race, Neftekhimik got a big boost. A 3-2 win at Admiral, coupled with Sibir’s 1-4 loss at basement club Barys, means just four points separate those two in the race for eighth place.
Ufa keeps up winning run
Amur Khabarovsk 1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Salavat Yulaev posted a fifth successive victory to wrap up its Far East tour. After winning here in Khabarovsk two days ago, the visitor made just a couple of changes: Semyon Vyazovoi started in goal and Alexander Komarov played on defense. Amur also selected a fresh goalie, Damir Shaimardanov, and reshuffled almost every line.
There were no goals in the first period but Amur looked the more dangerous. Despite having to kill the only penalty of the frame, the Tigers came closest when Ilya Talaluyev hit the post.
Talaluyev had another good chance in the second period, connecting with Alex Broadhurst’s feed. A few minutes later, Josh Leivo fired wide of the target from a similar play at the other end. Both sets of forwards got plenty of looks from the slot and eventually that brought the opening goal for Amur’s Oleg Li, a short-handed effort in the 31st minute.
However, the home defense was also guilty of leaving opponents unmarked on the slot. That proved costly in the 50th minute when Komarov’s point shot was steered home by Wilson to tie the game.
In overtime, both teams had chances to win it. Artur Gizdatullin was out of luck when he went through on Vyazovoi’s net, but at the other end Alexander Chmelevski showed his skills to seal a fifth straight win for Salavat Yulaev.
Last gasp winner for Neftekhimik
Admiral Vladivostok 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 (1-1, 1-1, 0-1)
A last-second goal from Nikita Khoruzhov gave Neftekhimik a vital win in its playoff push. The Wolves moved to within four points of eighth-placed Sibir after avenging a 1-0 loss in Vladivostok on Monday.
The visitor had a slight edge early in the game, helped by an early power play. However, the chance did not bring a goal and at equal strength the teams played some dense, low-risk hockey in a game that meant a lot in the playoff race. Nonetheless, Neftekhimik managed to carve out an opening: Khoruzhev making a great play for Riley Barber to finish. Admiral responded quickly with a power play goal from Pavel Shen after Nikita Khlystov went to the box. Daniil Gutik’s assist on that play set a club record 45 points in a regular season.
Neftekhimik made the better start to the second period and got a deserved reward when Vladimir Bryukvin found space on the slot and fired home a one-timer off Fyodor Kroshchinsky’s feed. The visitor might have extended its lead right away on the power play: Jean-Sebastien Dea hit the bar and Vyacheslav Leshchenko got a shot behind Andrei Mishurov, only to see the home goalie recover in time to freeze the puck on his goal line. Mishurov played a big role in keeping his team in the game before Libor Sulak tied it up before the intermission.
In the final frame, Neftekhimik’s urgent need for points in the playoff race prompted the visitor to seize the initiative. The shot count was 14-5 in the Wolves’ favor, but only the last of those found the mark. Khoruzhev conjured the winning goal with 59:59 played to snatch a dramatic win.
Barys ends skid, puts pressure on Sibir
Barys Astana 4 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (1-0, 1-1, 2-0)
Sibir came to Astana looking to take a step closer to securing a playoff spot. However, after falling victim to Barys’s 500th win in the KHL, Vadim Yepanchintsev’s side has seen the picture change in its race for the top eight with Neftekhimik. The Wolves’ win at Admiral cuts the gap between eighth and ninth to just four points.
The opening goal came late in the first period after Sibir took a bench minor for too many men. Alikhan Asetov’s redirect from the slot took Adil Beketayev’s point shot past Denis Kostin.
At the start of the second, Sibir had a chance to tie it up when Valentin Pyanov’s pass sent Pavel Gogolev clean through on goal. However, 20-year-old goalie Artyom Shestakov made the save on his first KHL start. Soon after that, Vsevolod Logvin doubled the home lead.
Sibir tried to find a way back. Gogelev again went one-on-one with Shestakov, but had the same outcome. Shortly after halfway, Georgy Belousov beat the young goalie with a one-timer and it remained at 2-1 until the second intermission.
The third period saw Sibir trying to turn the game around. Shestakov had much work to do, but most of it was routine stuff. The home team looked more dangerous on the counter and eventually sealed the win with a couple of empty-net goals from Nikita Setdikov to make the final score 4-1.
Lynx back to winning form
Severstal Cherepovets 3 Vityaz Moscow Region 0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
After three defeats, Severstal got back on course with a routine win over Vityaz. The visitor, already eliminated from playoff contention, offered little in this game as the home team opened a two-point gap over seventh-placed SKA.
Although Vityaz was in poor form and had nothing to play for, Pavel Desyatkov’s team had handed Severstal its heaviest loss of the season (1-7) earlier in the campaign. Today there was a measure of revenge for that drubbing.
The home team scored one unanswered goal in each period to ease to victory here. Mikhail Kotlyarevsky opened the scoring in the 13th minute as Severstal outshot Vityaz 19-10 in the first period.
The second saw the balance of play turn around. However, despite Vityaz dictating the game, the only goal came at the other end when Nikolai Burenov struck late in the frame.
Vityaz changed goalies in the second intermission, with 19-year-old Leonid Smirnov coming onto the ice for his first taste of KHL play. He managed to complete his debut without allowing a goal, but Vladimir Grudinin added a third into the empty net late in the game. Earlier, Dmitry Buchelnikov missed a penalty shot for the visitor as Samoilov secured his 10th career shut-out.
Torpedo blows 2-0 lead, Hawks win 10 in a row
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Avangard Omsk 3 (0-0, 2-1, 0-2)
Avangard won its 10th game in a row, and forced Torpedo to wait to confirm its playoff spot. A home win today would have confirmed all eight post season contenders in the west, but after this defeat Igor Larionov and his team will have to wait until Saturday’s game against Spartak for their next chance to secure their berth.
In form Avangard has no such concerns. Guy Boucher’s team is still down in sixth in the East, but has already secured its playoff spot and – on this evidence – will make a tough opponent for any of the leaders in this regular season. Indeed, with only three points needed to reach Avtomobilist, a top-four finish is not out of reach for the Hawks despite their early-season toils.
The first period saw Avangard have much the better of the play. The visitor outshot Torpedo 17-9 and created good chances for Konstantin Okulov and Mikhail Gulyayev. At the other end, Bogdan Konyushkov forced a good blocker save out of Nikita Serebryakov in the Hawks’ net.
However, the middle frame began with Torpedo on top. Yegor Vinogradov spurned a good early chance but almost immediately Kirill Voronin won the puck from Slava Voynov and fired home from the left-hand circle. Soon after, Vasily Atanasov set up Nikita Artamonov at the back door but again Serebryakov made a big save.
However, when Keaton Thompson took the first penalty of the game, Avangard began creating chances. Danil Bashkirov went close, and Alex Grant fired narrowly wide. But Torpedo, back at full strength, went to the other end and doubled the lead: Bobby Lynch skated clear to make it 2-0 in the 33rd minute.
The visitor looked to inject some pace into the game late in the middle frame, and got an important goal back before the intermission through Semyon Chistyakov. Lifted, Avangard started strong in the third. Reid Boucher tied it up, then Voynov went to the box. The power play needed some time to deliver, but Ryan Spooner’s instinctive play behind the net set up Damir Sharipzyanov to make it 3-2 after 44 minutes.
It took some time for the home team to get back into the game after that, but gradually Torpedo raised the tempo. A couple of penalties on Sharipzyanov added to Avangard’s problems in the closing stages, but Serebryakov made a couple of big late saves to deny Mikhail Orlov and Maxim Letunov as the visitor got it over the line.
Vovchenko’s double leads Magnitka past Sochi
HC Sochi 0 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (0-1, 0-2, 0-0)
Two goals from Daniil Vovchenko and 24 saves from Alexander Smolin were enough to lift Metallurg to victory at Sochi. The defending champion made it five wins on the bounce and moves up to third in the Eastern Conference, six points behind leader Traktor.
This game was rarely much of a contest. Metallurg enjoyed plenty of control in the first period, opening the scoring through Vovchenko on the power play in the seventh minute.
The middle frame followed a similar pattern. Dmitry Moiseyev saw his shot saved by Nikita Tulinov midway through the session, and shortly after that Yegor Yakovlev failed with a penalty shot after Yegor Korobkin was brought down by Vasily Machulin. But the pressure continued. Borna Rendulic scored on his former club to make it 2-0 in the 36th minute and, a couple of minutes later, another power play saw Vovchenko get his second of the night.
Sochi changed goalies at the second intermission and Evgeny Volokhin at least denied Metallurg any more goals in the third. He made 10 saves as, for the first time in the game, the home team managed to match the opposition through 20 minutes. However, that improvement could not bring any change to the final score as Magnitka closed out a 3-0 win. Smolin claimed his third career shut-out.
