Tomas Zigo, a 24-year-old forward who joined Slovan from Banska Bystrica in the summer, scored twice to open his KHL account – but still finished on the losing side. Zigo tied the scores on two separate occasions after Joonas Kemppainen and Maxim Shalunov put Sibir up in the first period. But with the game deadlocked, Zigo missed his chance in the shoot-out as Alexei Krasikov made the save. Krasikov replaced Alexander Salak for the decisive showdown and repaid Andrei Skabelka’s faith by stopping three of Slovan’s four attempts.
Konstantin Okulov scored twice to give Sibir the victory.
Avangard v Medvescak 4-1
Derek Roy made his second appearance for Avangard and delivered two points to help his new team to a comfortable win. He supplied the assist on Alexander Perezhogin’s third-minute opener, only to see Edwin Hedberg bring Medvescak level. But late in the second period Roy, an experienced NHLer who moved to Europe last season to play in Switzerland, got his first KHL goal to put Avangard in front once again. That proved to be decisive; Ilya Mikheyev and Alexei Glukhov completed the scoring in the third.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk v Dinamo Minsk 5-4
The clock read 42:36. The scoreline was 3-2 in Dinamo’s favor. It was time to set a new record. Sergei Mozyakin scored his 429th goal in top-flight Russian hockey, moving ahead of Boris Mikhailov’s 35-year-old mark of 428 to move out in front as the most prolific goalscorer of all time in Russian or Soviet domestic hockey. It was a goal that highlighted the 35-year-old’s predatory instincts: as Jan Kovar collected the puck out on the point, Mozyakin wheeled away from his marker into space at the foot of the circle. Kovar’s diagonal pass picked him out and he swung around to shoot from between the hatchings and shot over Ben Scrivens’ glove to write another chapter in his remarkable personal history – and, no less importantly, tie a game that had been drifting away from the defending champion.
Mozyakin’s golden goal was Metallurg’s second in 32 seconds as the team wiped out a two-goal deficit early in the third period. Then Sergei Tereshchenko put Magnitka ahead for the first time on the night in the 53rd minute. There was still time for a final flourish as the teams traded last-minute goals through Vladislav Kaletnik’s empty-netter and Evgeny Kovyrshin’s last-second consolation, but the day belonged, without question, to Mozyakin. Earlier Dinamo opened up a 2-0 lead thanks to Alexander Pavlovich and Alexander Materukhin, but almost inevitably Mozyakin got involved to help Wojtek Wolski halve the deficit on a power play midway through the second period. That whetted the appetite for the big moment and Magnitogorsk’s captain was not about to fluff his lines. Typically, it wasn’t just any old goal; throughout his career at CSKA, Atlant and now Metallurg, Mozyakin has specialized in clutch plays. He’s so often been the go-to guy for that game-breaking goal, he’s so often been the team’s salvation in a tight play-off encounter. It was fitting, therefore, that his record-breaking marker came at a vital stage in this game, setting his team on the path to victory after struggling in the early stages. And so a record that was set in October 1980 – five months before Mozyakin himself was born – finally falls barely a month before its 36th anniversary. With several more years potentially ahead of him, how many more can Mozyakin score … and will any future Russian player come close to this tally in Russian championship hockey?
SKA v Severstal 4-0
Pyotr Vorobyov’s second game in temporary charge of SKA was a happier event than his first. The acting head coach picked up his first victory as Oleg Znarok’s stand-in following a 1-2 reverse at CSKA last time out. Ilya Kovalchuk, SKA’s captain in the absence of World Cup-bound Pavel Datsyuk, opened the scoring in the 14th minute, pouncing on the rebound after Sergei Plotnikov’s shot was padded back into the slot. Roman Rukavishnikov doubled the lead in the 18th minute and Alexander Barabanov added a third midway through the middle stanza. SKA’s dominance was threatened early in the third period when Yegor Yakovlev was ejected from the game for a check from behind on Severstal’s Yury Trubachyov. But the Steelmen failed to capitalize on the power play and never got back into serious contention. Instead Slava Voynov added a fourth on the power play after Trubachov himself was penalized. Home goalie Igor Shestyorkin made 26 saves for his shut-out.
Dinamo Riga v Jokerit 1-3
Jokerit had to come from behind to claim victory in this clash of the Baltic rivals on the strength of three goals in the last 10 minutes. In a hard-fought game Lauris Darzins broke the deadlock for Dinamo in the 37th minute, even as Jokerit enjoyed the bulk of the chances in the second period. But in the final stanza the visitor took control. Topi Jaakola tied it up on the power play in the 52nd minute before Oliver Laurdisen got the go-ahead goal in the 56th. Dinamo’s hopes of replying were hit hard 50 seconds later when Mika Niemi added a third.
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