Kunlun Red Star 1 vs Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5
Table-topping Metallurg eased to a third successive victory at Kunlun, scoring on the first shift of the game and going on to dominate throughout.
The opening goal arrived after just 15 seconds, with Andrei Chibisov converting Josh Currie’s feed. The home bench appealed for offside, believing Chibisov had crossed the blue line before Artyom Zemchyonok’s long pass skittered into the home zone via a deflection in center ice, but the video review upheld the on-ice verdict. 1-0 Metallurg, and a bench minor for Red Star.
The home team survived that penalty, but allowed a second goal on the breakaway when Nikolai Goldobin got clear.
A power play goal from Tyler Wong gave the Dragons some hope, but Metallurg was always dominant and it took some great work from home goalie Jeremy Smith to keep the score down.
The pick of Smith’s saves came early in the middle frame when he denied Anatoly Nikontsev what was effectively an empty net effort after Brendan Leipsic pulled the defense badly out of shape.
Leipsic would not be denied his share of the points, though, and scored two goals of his own later in the game. Arkhip Nekolenko also found the net in between those two as Ilya Vorobyov’s team eased to a comfortable win.