A 3-1 win at SKA enabled Ak Bars to confirm a top-eight finish in the Eastern Conference in Tuesday’s big game. Elsewhere, Vityaz snatched a last-gasp equalizer at home to Severstal but lost out in overtime.

Rotenberg suffers first defeat

SKA St. Petersburg 1 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (1-2, 0-0, 0-1)

Tuesday’s heavyweight clash pitted Western Conference leader SKA against an Ak Bars team looking to confirm its playoff place. The visitor got the points it needed to secure a top-eight berth, inflicting a first defeat on Roman Rotenberg following his appointment as SKA’s head coach last week.

The visitor had missed the chance to secure that playoff spot when it down 2-4 at Admiral last week. And Dmitry Kvartalnov made seven changes to that team, scratching Steven Kampfer and welcoming Dmitry Voronkov, Alexander Burmistrov and Nikita Dynyak from injury.

Ak Bars demonstrated some great scoring efficiency in the first period, getting two goals from just four shots on target. Par Lindholm opened the scoring in the fourth minute, finishing his solo rush with an emphatic shot past Lars Johansson. Then, late in the frame, Dynyak benefitted when Artyom Galimov’s shot was deflected into his path; Johansson, wrong-footed, could not recover in time to protect the open corner as the visitor regained the lead.

Photo: 11.01.22. KHL Championship 2021-2022. SKA (St.Petersburg) – Ak Bars (Kazan)

In between, SKA tied it up through Nikita Gusev. His ninth-minute effort from the blue line looked harmless enough but somehow looped its way through the defense and got inside Igor Bobkov’s near post. It said much about the scarcity of scoring chances that Gusev’s goal came from SKA’s first attempt on target; in total the teams shared just 11 shots in the first period.

The middle frame saw even less action for the goalies. SKA was limited to just two shots at Bobkov as Ak Bars produced a defensive master class to preserve its lead. At the other end, Johansson was also rarely troubled, making five saves in the session.

The third period began with a flurry of activity. A defensive error by SKA enabled Lindholm to get the puck to the slot where Jordan Weal should have done better than shooting over the bar. The home team looked to capitalize on that reprieve and went down the ice to put the puck in the net. Vladislav Tsitsyura’s effort was stopped by Bobkov, but Evgeny Ketov followed up to stuff it home. However, Ak Bars challenged the call and the review whistled the play down for interference on the goalie. After that, though, the teams resumed their defensive style. Ak Bars showed great game management to frustrate the Army Men, and Weal’s empty net goal set the seal on the win.

Guslistov grabs winner in OT

Vityaz Moscow Region 2 Severstal Cherepovets 3 OT (1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1)

There was late drama in Podolsk, where Vityaz tied an incident-packed game with just 10 seconds left on the clock. However, Severstal would not be denied the verdict and grabbed a winner early in overtime to move level on points with fourth-placed CSKA.

Vityaz, looking to bounce back from a 1-4 loss at home to Avangard last time out, avoided a repeat of the slow start that cost it against the Hawks. The host largely stayed out of the box in the first period and took the lead through Vitaly Popov’s goal after 15 minutes. Severstal shaded the play in the opening stanza but was unable to find the net.

In the second period, Vityaz sought to seize the initiative. The home team dominated much of the action, outshooting Severstal 17-5, but gave up the only goal of the session. Yegor Morozov’s effort, against the run of play, brought the visitor level. It also gave Morozov his third goal in four games.

Photo: 11.01.22. KHL Championship 2021-2022. Vityaz (Moscow Region) – Severstal (Cherepovets)

Early in the third, Severstal went in front for the first time thanks to Daniil Vovchenko’s goal. Netminder Igor Saprykin won’t want to see this one again: he lost track of a fairly innocuous effort from Ilya Khokhlov, and Vovchenko was alert enough to sneak in and steal the puck from behind his back to score.

Vityaz had a great chance to tie it up soon afterwards when a defensive error sent Niko Ojamaki through for a one-on-one. Robin Press tracked the free-scoring Finn and had to foul him twice to halt his advance. Ojamaki had a penalty shot, which he failed to convert, while Press also sat out a minor for holding.

Salvation came with 10 seconds on the clock as Ivan Zinchenko snatched an equalizer for the home team. But the joy was short-lived: the first minute of overtime saw Nikita Guslistov get the winner for Severstal.

Monday was a day of unsuccessful fightbacks. First, Amur rallied from 0-2 at home to Sibir but fell in a shoot-out. Then Kunlun Red Star moved from 0-3 to 2-3 but could not escape defeat at home to table-topping Traktor.

Amur rallies from 0-2, loses in shoot-out

Amur Khabarovsk 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 SO (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 0-1)

The second of these back-to-back match-ups brought another tight game. Yesterday, Nikita Setdikov’s goal and Harri Sateri’s shut-out earned Sibir a 1-0 victory. Today there was no Sateri and, perhaps not a coincidence, more scoring.

Amur was looking to move to within a point of eighth-placed Bary if it could win here, but the home team made a poor start. JC Lipon and Valentin Pyanov both spurned good chances for Sibir in the early stages, but Alexander Sharov showed no mercy when he converted a 5-on-3 power play to send the visitor into the intermission with a lead. Oleg Li increased that advantage in the second session, scoring on his former club to double Sibir’s lead. The Tigers were toothless on offense and hamstrung by defensive errors and, increasingly, penalties.

However, the third period changed everything. After more than 100 minutes of failing to score on Sibir, Amur finally made a breakthrough thanks to Ruslan Pedan in the 45th minute of this game. The visitor was pushed back, although Sharov had a great breakaway chance that could have settled the outcome. Instead, though, Patrick Bartosak kept the home team in the game and Amur got its reward in the final minute when Radan Lenc grabbed a dramatic equalizer.

Overtime could not separate the teams, and the shoot-out saw Sibir claim the second point. Nick Shore scored at the first attempt and subsequently no other player could match him as the visitor celebrated two wins in two days.

Red Star fightback falls short

Kunlun Red Star 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 (0-2, 1-1, 1-1)

Kunlun and Traktor were also playing back-to-back games, although there was a rest day following the visitor’s 4-0 victory on Saturday. Red Star goalie Jeremy Smith, who currently has more saves per game than any other netminder in the league, got a well-earned additional rest as Paris O’Brien started this one, and there was a further boost as Zach Yuen made a welcome return from injury to bolster the KHL’s leakiest defense.

However, the form guide was firmly in Traktor’s favor. The visitor posted its sixth straight win on Saturday, condemning the Dragons to a club record 13th successive loss.

Traktor made a fast start here. With little over a minute played, Alexei Byvaltsev opened the scoring. Soon after, Yegor Fateyev celebrated his 100th KHL appearance with only his second goal of a season divided between Traktor and the Chelyabinsk farm club Chelmet.

However, this was not the same one-sided game that we saw on Saturday. Red Star, helped by three power plays in the first period, showed greater offensive potential than in recent games. The home team outshot Traktor 15-10 and Emil Garipov had to be alert to deny Parker Foo early in the frame and Tyler Wong towards the end.

The middle frame was also evenly contested. Sergei Telegin extended Traktor’s lead midway through the session and, at the time, it wasn’t clear how important that third goal would be. The visitor’s indiscipline continued to let it down, and Brandon Yip pulled a goal back on a 5-on-3 power play to give Red Star hope.

That hope was more tangible early in the third when Jake Chelios made it a one-goal game seconds after Tomas Hyka returned from the penalty box. But the home team ran out of steam in the third period. Traktor began to assume greater control of the game at both ends of the ice and created the more dangerous chances. A penalty on Nick Bailen late on failed to bring the Dragons an equalizer and Maxim Shabanov found the empty net to record his first KHL goal. That sealed the deal and sent Traktor two points clear at the top of the KHL standings.