KHL Game Day Round-Up | September 23, 2022

On 09/23/202209/23/2022 By CanucksBanterIn Khl Daily ReportLeave a comment

Torpedo snaps Avangard’s streak.

Torpedo and Spartak move up to second and third in the West, tied on 14 points, after wins on Friday. Neftekhimik’s loss to Traktor leaves it still seeking a first victory of the season, while the visitor moves into the top eight.

Neftekhimik still awaits first win

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 5 (0-2, 1-2, 2-1)

Neftekhimik’s poor start to the season claimed two victims during the week. Slovak forward Samuel Bucek and Russian goalie Alexei Murygin both left the club after an unsuccessful run. The changes bring opportunities for others, and young netminder Yaroslav Ozolin got his first game of the season at home to Traktor.

Thee 22-year-old featured in two games last season, but today he lasted just 20 minutes before being replaced by Alexander Sudnitsin. In that first period, Traktor scored twice to take control of the game. Anton Burdasov has a habit of making an early impact, and he opened the scoring here in the fourth minute. Ten minutes later, Teemu Pulkkinen doubled his team’s advantage and Neftekhimik was on course for a ninth straight loss.

Sudnitsin’s presence steadied things, and when Andrei Chivilyov pulled a goal back midway through the second period there was some grounds for optimism. After all, Traktor’s recent form is far from impressive and these two teams represented the bottom two in the Eastern Conference coming into the game. However, the visitor found an instant response as Kirill Kapustin made it 3-1. Then Vladimir Tkachyov’s power play goal stretched the lead further.

Neftekhimik needed a big third period, and Mikhail Sidorov’s goal three minutes into the action again raised home hopes. However, when Maxim Shabanov potted a fifth for the visitor, there was only one winner despite Ansel Galimov’s late consolation effort. Traktor moves up into the top eight, Neftekhimik is still rooted to the foot of the standings.

Torpedo shoots down Omsk’s revival

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 Avangard Omsk 2 (1-0, 0-0, 3-2)

Torpedo snapped Avangard’s three-game winning streak with Denis Yan playing a big role in securing this home victory. Yan had a goal and an assist in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and steering Torpedo to the win.

The game began at a high tempo and the first period was engaging to watch despite a wait for the opening goal. There was little to choose between the teams, but when Kirill Voronin’s shot was padded away to Mark Marin, the home defenseman instantly followed up to give Torpedo the lead.

Marin later took the game’s first penalty, and Avangard was able to build itself a little bit of momentum early in the second period when the goalscorer’s return was followed almost immediately by a foul from Nikita Shavin.

However, it wasn’t until the start of the third that the Hawks found an equalizer. Alex Broadhurst was the scorer, corralling the rebound from Damir Sharipzyanov’s shot and slotting the puck past Ivan Kulbakov.

The game’s big moment came a couple of minutes later when Semyon Chistyakov moved across his zone to neutralize Yu Sato’s breakaway. The Japanese forward crashed to the ice and Chistyakov was assessed a 5+game penalty. That power play brought two goals for the home team. First, Yan’s shot took a deflection off Maxim Letunov and got past Vasily Demchenko in the Avangard net. Then Yan scored himself when he picked out the far corner.

That double blow rocked Avangard, but there were chances for the visitor in the closing stages. Twice, the Hawks got on the power play in the last 10 minutes and Ivan Telegin managed to convert one of those opportunities. Torpedo’s response was immediate, though. Just 33 seconds later Sergei Goncharuk restored that two-goal cushion to guide the home team over the line.

Tsyplakov goal sinks Sochi

HC Sochi 0 Spartak Moscow 1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0)

With just one win this season, Sochi found itself rooted to the foot of the Western Conference. Spartak, meanwhile, had hopes of claiming second place with victory beside the Black Sea.

The opening goal did not arrive until the 27^th minute, and it went to the visitor. Spartak failed to make the breakthrough on its first power play of the game, but continued to press at equal strength and got its reward. Maxim Tsyplakov was the scorer, rifling home Ilya Talaluyev’s feed.

That proved to be the only goal of the game. Patrik Rybar made 25 saves to record his second shut-out of the season. Sochi failed to score for the third time this season, and slipped to a fifth successive loss.

Source: en.khl.ru

KHL Game Day Round-Up | September 17, 2022

On 09/17/202209/17/2022 By CanucksBanterIn Khl Daily ReportLeave a comment

Repeat wins for Magnitka, Admiral; Dorozhko impresses on debut

Two days after Metallurg and Admiral picked up victories over Amur and Salavat Yulaev, Saturday’s rematches delivered similar outcomes. On both occasions, the outcome was closer, but the eventual victors were the same. In Saturday’s late game, Lokomotiv snapped a three-game skid with a shoot-out win over Vityaz, but struggled to solve rookie goalie Maxim Dorozhko who made 42 saves in his first KHL start.

Magnitka hunts down the Tigers again

Amur Khabarovsk 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (0-1, 1-1, 1-1)

Metallurg defeated Amur for the second time in three days, but this was a tighter affair than Thursday’s 3-0 success.

Once again, the visitor hit three goals, but this time the Tigers stayed in contention after solving Eddie Pasquale at last.

In the first period the teams were evenly matched, but the Steelmen went into the break with a one goal advantage. Yegor Korobkin’s touch steered. Ilya Nikolayev’s point shot beyond Evgeny Alikin in the eight minute to open the scoring.

Midway through the second, Magnitka increased its lead when Ilya Khokhlov advanced and launched a powerful shot past Alikin. However, Amur responded with a power play goal from Cam Lee as the Canadian defenseman marked his KHL debut with a goal.

That had the game intriguingly poised going into the final stanza. However, Metallurg quickly restored its two-goal lead thanks to Semyon Koshelev’s goal 22 seconds into the third period. Amur refused to roll over, and kept up the pressure until the end. Igor Rudenkov’s late goal kept things interesting until the final hooter but Magnitka held on for the win.

Admiral up to third

Admiral Vladivostok 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 OT (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

It’s three straight wins for Admiral and three successive losses for Salavat Yulaev as the teams played out their second instalment of a double header on Saturday. After the Sailors won 2-0 on Thursday, they followed up with an overtime success to climb to third in the Eastern Conference.

Ufa, meanwhile, is still something of a work in progress under new head coach Viktor Kozlov. Salavat Yulaev is much changed following the departure of its flying Finns and the new line-up has yet to gel as hoped.

That did not stop the visitor getting ahead in this game. A power play midway through the first period saw Nikolai Kulemin open the scoring when he forced home the rebound from an Ivan Drozdov shot.

However, Admiral’s Libor Sulak has been a big performer this season and the home captain delivered a tying goal early in the second session. He smashed home a feed from Alexander Gorshkov to score for the third game in a row and underline his status as the key figure on the Sailors’ power play.

Both teams had chances to win it in the rest of the game, and the final moments of regulation were particularly frantic with a power play for each team in the closing stages. But the action went to overtime before Leonid Metalnikov’s stretch pass sliced open Ufa’s defense to release Evgeny Grachyov for the winning goal.

Defiant Dorozhko’s memorable debut

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Vityaz Moscow Region 0 SO (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Maxim Dorozhko had a KHL debut to remember after stopping 42 saves to frustrate Lokomotiv. The 24-year-old started a game at this level for the first time in his career, having previously come off the bench late in his team’s loss at CSKA last week.

Dorozhko was busy from the start in a game that Lokomotiv dominated, but pulled off save after save to keep his team in contention. In the first period, the home team outshot Vityaz 14-7, with a Pavel Kraskovsky effort forcing Dorozhko’s best stop of the opening session. The middle frame saw the host enjoy a 19-4 advantage without finding a way past the rookie. Gradually, though, the visitor began to clamp down on Loko’s offense and the flow of chances began to slow. Late in the second, there were even signs of danger at the other end when Stepan Starkov hit the piping and Tyler Graovac missed the target when an open corner presented itself.

The third period, and overtime, were tight as both teams recognized the high cost of any error. In the end, it was another KHL newcomer who settled the outcome. Stepan Nikulin, 21, was playing only his sixth game in the league. However, he was the only man to convert his attempt in the shoot-out, winning it for Lokomotiv with the 17^th shot of the extras. Vitaly Popov then missed the chance to keep Vityaz alive and the Railwaymen halted their three-game losing streak.

Source: en.khl.ru