Sibir downs Avangard in derby. September 13 round-up

The big game of the day saw Sibir extend Avangard’s miserable start to the season. The Siberian derby saw the Hawks suffer a fifth straight loss, although there was the consolation of a bonus point after forcing the game to a shoot-out. Elsewhere, Barys got its first win of the season with a 3-1 success at home to Traktor, while Amur won 2-1 at home to Kunlun Red Star.

Tigers beat Dragons again

Amur Khabarovsk 2 Kunlun Red Star 1 (1-0, 0-0, 1-1)

Amur picked up its second win over KRS in the space of a week as the Tigers made a winning start on home ice.

Yaroslav Likhachyov, last season’s MVP in the Junior Hockey League, continued his bright start to life in the men’s game with an early goal here. His second-minute strike makes it three goals in four games for the youngster, on loan to Amur from Lokomotiv. The home team might have extended its lead in the first period, but found Jeremy Smith a formidable obstacle in the visitor’s net. The Chinese national team goalie pulled off a particularly good save late in the frame, reaching behind himself to stop Vladislav Barulin’s power play effort.

In the second period, Red Star had more of the play without finding a way to test Evgeny Alikin. Early in the third, though, the visitor drew level when Jake Chelios launched a thunderbolt past the home goaltender.

However, the Dragons were unable to take anything from the final game of their road trip. Igor Rudenkov grabbed the winner after a breakdown on the blue line left the Red Star defense exposed.

First win for Barys

Barys Nur-Sultan 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (2-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Barys got its first win of the season with Andrei Skabelka’s team making a successful start to its home program. Linden Vey scored twice to pace the win for the Kazakhs, while Traktor suffered a fourth loss in six games.

Playing in front of its home fans for the first time, Barys got off to a good start. Vey opened the scoring in the seventh minute, and Kirill Savitsky doubled that lead in the 16^th. Both goals were assisted by Nikita Mikhailis, who is getting back to his best after a sluggish start to the campaign.

Traktor managed a response late in the opening frame when Teemu Pulkkinen struck on the power play. The visitor had marginally the better of the game but chances were hard to come by at either end and the second period saw no change to the score.

The visitor thought it had tied the game in the 55^th minute. However, a bench challenge for goalie interference wiped out the goal when the video showed Anton Burdasov’s stick hitting Nikita Boyarkin’s helmet. In the final seconds, Vey scored into the empty net to wrap up the win for Barys.

Avangard grabs a point at last

Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Avangard Omsk 2 SO (0-0, 0-0, 2-2, 0-0, 1-0)

Avangard got its first point of the season after taking this Siberian derby to overtime, but Dmitry Ryabykin’s team is still seeking a first win this term. The Hawks snatched a late tying goal to take the game into the extras, but ultimately lost out to Taylor Beck’s decisive effort in the shoot-out.

For two periods, these teams cancelled each other out. Avangard had the better of the game, outshooting Sibir 18-6 through 40 minutes, but could not score on Denis Kostin. The goaltenders’ collective stranglehold on the game was broken early in the third when an Avangard power play brought goals at each end. First, Evgeny Chesalin’s short-handed tally put Sibir ahead. Within 30 seconds, though, Reid Boucher had the game tied.

That sequence almost repeated itself late in the frame. Sibir again grabbed a short-handed tally to regain the lead, this time with Vyacheslav Litovchenko finding the net. This time, the penalty kill saw off Avangard’s attempts for an immediate reply. However, with just over a minute to play Nail Yakupov tied the scores during a spell of 6-on-5 action.

Avangard could feel a little unfortunate not to claim the win in regulation. Over 60 minutes, it outshot Sibir 31-13 and the visitor took that attacking intent into overtime. The Hawks enjoyed a power play during the extras but could not force a winning goal and ended up defeated in the shoot-out after Valentin Pyanov saved Sibir with a goal in the final attempt before the teams moved to sudden death.