Kunlun Red Dragons – CanucksBanter

10 December 2021 hcredstar.com

Barys Nur-Sultan 7 Kunlun Red Star 4

Friday’s trip to Kazakhstan turned into the ‘game of two halves’ beloved of football cliché. The Dragons jumped into a 3-0 lead with some impressive play – and some unexpected scorers – inside the first 26 minutes. After that, though, Barys hit back to turn the game upside down and, eventually, secure a victory.

Red Star spent much of the first period on the power play, including a period of 5-on-3 play midway through the session. However, Barys was strong, both at even strength and on the PK.

There was a sense of a missed opportunity as the session drew to a close, but that was immediately lifted in the 18^th minute when Alex Riche opened the scoring. Our third line got everything right, with Cliff Pu and Josh Nicholls combining to find Riche, who had positioned himself perfectly on the doorstep for a close-range finish to bag his fourth career goal for our club.

Boosted by that goal, the Dragons continued to press, ending the first period on the power play and carrying that pressure over to the middle stanza. And that second session brought two more quick tallies – and two unusual goalscorers.

First came Rudi Ying, who wrote his name in the history books back in February 2019 when he became the first Chinese born player to score in the KHL. This was a solo effort on a delayed penalty, with Ying grabbing a loose puck in our zone and charging down the ice. His run bisected two defensemen before he fired a shot that went through Joni Ortio’s defenses.

Next came Mikael Tam, with his first goal in the KHL in his 35^th appearance for the Dragons. He joined the rush and got on the end of Pu’s pass for a composed finish. That’s no surprise for followers of our teams in the VHL down the years, where Tam has been a consistent scorer from the blue line. The 30-year-old’s chances in the first team have been somewhat limited, though, but a consistent run of games this season brought a deserved first goal in the KHL.

The contributions of both Tam and Ying also highlight the value of the work going on throughout the KRS system: beyond the first team, there is an enormous effort in place developing talent for the future of Chinese hockey.

Sadly, the immediate future was to prove challenging. After powering into that three-goal lead the Dragons found things much tougher. Barys began to find its shooting range and managed to claw back its deficit.

Yegor Petukhov started the fightback with a shorthanded goal, deflecting a Joe Morrow shot past Paris O’Brien. Then came two in two minutes as Roman Starchenko and Linden Vey tied the scores at 3-3.

Next, Red Star had to kill a penalty as the pressure intensified. That task was completed but, just as it seemed our guys might make it to the refuge of the second intermission with the game still level, Jakob Lilja struck late in the middle frame to put his team in front. The Swede moved to three goals in two games after scoring twice in yesterday’s victory over Sochi and he was on the scoresheet again early in the third.

From 3-0 up to 3-5 down is the kind of reversal of fortunes that would silence most teams. But, as we’ve seen plenty of times this season, one thing Red Star has in abundance is character.

Once again, the Dragons displayed a willingness to battle through any adversity. Ethan Werek pulled a goal back when Nikita Boyarkin gave up a big rebound from Tyler Wong’s point shot and suddenly the game was back in the balance.

However, after seizing control, Barys was in no mood to allow a second big fightback in one game. Further goals from Cody Kunyk and Matt Frattin took the home team clear and clinched a victory that lifts the Kazakhs into the playoff places in the East. Tam’s big day wasn’t done, though: in the closing stages he found himself handed an unexpected temporary transfer after Roman Savchenko dumped him onto the Barys bench after taking exception to Mikael’s hit. The home player was ejected from the game; Tam took a boarding minor and a major for fighting in the last significant incident of the day.

The Red Dragons finished their 4-game road trip losing all four games.

9 December 2021. hcredstar.com

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Kunlun Red Star 4

A tough assignment at the league leader brought out Red Star’s resilient side. As in our overtime loss at Traktor on Monday, the guys showed plenty of heart and determination against a powerful and skilled opponent. Tonight, sadly, there was no tangible reward for the team’s efforts but once again there was much to be proud of after giving the KHL pacesetter plenty to think about.

Metallurg, as expected, had the better of the first period. However, the table-topper faced enough danger on the counterattack to have to keep it honest: Brandon Yip put a dangerous redirect on a Ryan Sproul shot that flashed just wide, then the Foo brothers combined in similar fashion to force a save from Juho Olkinuora. It took a home power play to finally break the deadlock, with Metallurg’s Nikolai Goldobin opening the scoring midway through the session. That helped Magnitka assume greater control of the game and, after the intermission, Nikita Korostelyov scored for the third game in a row.

From 0-2 down, the Dragons stirred. A power play midway through the second period offered a way back into the game. Juho Olkinuora denied Spencer Foo, but Red Star kept the play alive and when the chance came to Brandon Yip our captain made no mistake. Power play goals are becoming a regular thing for Yipper – that’s two in two games for him now, and he assisted on Tyler Wong’s PP effort against Sibir immediately prior to that.

That was just the start. Four minutes later, good pressing in the neutral zone forced a turnover. The puck went straight to Cliff Pu and he needed no second invitation, advancing to the top of the left-hand circle and using Mikhail Grigoriev to conceal a shot that surprised Juho Olkinuora in the home net.

Now the balance of play had shifted and the Dragons had every hope of building on that momentum when Denis Zernov was called for interference at the end of second period, giving us a two-minute power play at the start of the third. Sadly, Metallurg came out after the intermission and killed that penalty before taking advantage of a chance for its own power play. There didn’t seem to be much in a tussle between Alex Riche and Artyom Minulin – it looked like six of one and half-a-dozen of the other – but our man took a roughing minor and the PP brought a goal for Maxim Karpov to restore the home lead.

Back in the game, Riche set about putting the record straight. And he was presented with the perfect opportunity to do so when Yegor Yakovlev took the puck behind his own net and was chased down by Cliff Pu. The home defenseman’s clearance went straight to Riche, who was quick to step up and deposit a wrister beyond Olkinuora.

But that was as good as it would get for the Dragons. It didn’t take long for Philippe Maillet to restore Metallurg’s lead and Yegor Korobkin quickly stretched it to 5-3. Late in the game, Karpov potted his second but the final word went to Luke Lockhart, who grabbed a consolation goal with 18 seconds left. It gave the final scoreline a slightly less lopsided look, and better reflected just how hard Red Star pushed the league leader on its own ice.