Two third-period power play goals saw Dynamo repeat Wednesday night’s 4-3 scoreline and claim a second win of the season. Once again, though, the Blue-and-Whites had to battle to subdue the opposition after conceding the first goal. This time it took just 19 seconds for Maxim Kazakov to score on Alexander Sharychenkov, not the welcome the goalie was looking for as he replaced the injured Alexander Yeryomenko in the starting line-up.
Former Metallurg man Ansel Galimov tied the scores midway through the first period, making it two goals in two games since he came to the capital, and when Mat Robinson fired Dynamo ahead midway through the second stanza it seemed that the home team would make its class tell. But Metallurg tied it up once again through Roman Manukhov and it was only a quickfire pair of power play markers at the start of the third that gave the host some breathing space at last. Maxim Pestushko and Alexei Tsvetkov did the damage, opening up a 4-2 lead by 44:17. Even then, the game was still alive: Kuznya halved the arrears through Ilya Musin to set up an anxious 10 minutes at the end, while Maxim Karpov wasted a chance to settle the outcome when he hit the post of the empty net late on.
Ugra forward Pavel Medvedev delivered an early candidate for goal of the season with a stunning lacrosse-style strike to open the scoring in Chelyabinsk. Mimicking the likes of Mikael Granlund and Sid Crosby, he scooped the puck onto his stick and lifted it over the shoulder of goalie Vasily Demchenko in a single movement. For the 23-year-old former Spartak forward, this season could be a breakthrough campaign: he’s won himself a starting spot for Ugra from the get-go, and with skills like that he can expect to stay in the team.
Medvedev’s goal set his team on the way to a victory that seemed straightforward after Konstantin Panov and Nikita Gusev stretched the lead to 3-0. But Traktor fought back in the middle session, tying the game on markers from Alexei Cruchinin, Vyacheslav Osnovin and Francis Pare. But Gusev’s second of the night, followed by a power play goal from Igor Bortnikov, saw Ugra regain control early in the third.
Neftekhimik v Avtomobilist 1-2 Two second-period goals made the difference as Avtomobilist came from behind to win at Neftekhimik. Vitaly Popov and Pavel Turbin hit the net to wipe out Kirill Lyamin’s fifth-minute goal for the host.
Vityaz v Sibir 1-5
Vityaz goalie Harri Sateri had a difficult night as Sibir raced to a 5-1 win in Podolsk. The Finn was on the ice for barely five minutes, conceded three goals, and was swiftly removed. But the change had little effect: Sibir was red hot in the first period and raced to a 5-0 lead in just 17 minutes.
The breakthrough came on 3:28 thanks to David Ullstrom. 31 seconds later Sergei Shumakov made it 2-0 and when Damir Zhafyarov added a third on 5:03 it was time for Sateri to take a break. His replacement, Igor Saprykin, was beaten by Vladimir Butuzov and Ivan Vereshchagin as Sibir finished the first period with five goals off 17 shots – a strike rate of almost 30%. Coach Oleg Orekhovsky decided to go back to Plan A and reinstated Sateri for the second period. To the goalie’s credit, he put his early gremlins behind him to make 17 saves in the rest of the game and keep the score at five. Vityaz got one back through Yury Koksharov in the second but in the final session the game degenerated into a series of penalties culminating with a 5+20 call on Mario Kempe for kneeing seconds before the hooter.
Slovan v Amur 0-1Amur goalie Juha Metsola arrived in Russia with a big reputation and his performance at Slovan showed just why he was rated as the top stopper in Finland’s domestic championship last year. He made 39 saves, 22 of them in a first period when Slovan threatened to run amok, to claim a shut-out in his team’s 1-0 victory. Tom Wandell hit the home team with a sucker punch on the power play early in the third to steal the points in Bratislava.
Medvescak v Admiral 3-1
Medvescak bounced back from Wednesday’s shoot-out defeat against Amur to win 3-1 against Admiral. Goals either side of the first intermission from Radek Smolenak and Geoffrey Kinrade put the Croatian team 2-0 up, but when Alexander Kuznetsov reduced the deficit on the midway mark it brought back unhappy memories of how the team blew a 2-0 cushion two nights ago. This time, though, the home fans went away happy: Marek Kvapil got his first for the club in the third period to seal the win.
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