There were two big Moscow derbies played over the 'Western' Christmas period with Dynamo playing host to Spartak on December 20 and then on the 28th Dynamo made the trip across the city to face the Red Army side of CSKA.
Dec 20 - Dynamo v Spartak 3-0
Dynamo powered to a win in this Moscow derby, and the margin of victory was rather more emphatic than the scoreline suggested. The visitors had Markus Svensson to thank for a brave goaltending display as the Blue-and-Whites fired in 51 shots on his net. The pressure was intense from the start, with Dynamo leading the shot count 23-3 at the first intermission and continuing in a similar vein into the middle session. But the scoreboard remained blank until the 33rd minute when Denis Kokarev scored on the power play to break the deadlock. The goal was worth the wait: Konstantin Gorovikov found Kokarev in center ice with a pass that invited him to steam into the gap between two Spartak players before shooting over Svensson’s glove. The floodgates still failed to open, though, and it wasn’t until the closing stages that Dynamo finally got the goals that its dominance deserved. Ilya Nikulin and Dmitry Vishnevsky struck two minutes apart to end Spartak’s hopes. While Svensson made 48 saves and lost, his opposite number Alexander Yeryomenko earned a shut-out with 19 stops.
Dec 28 - CSKA v Dynamo 5-3
Two late goals from young forward Andrei Svetlakov earned CSKA a narrow verdict over city rival Dynamo in the big game on Wednesday’s card. The 20-year-old, who was starring with Russia’s juniors at the World Championship this time last year, struck in the 53rd and 54thminutes to turn a 2-3 deficit into a winning 4-3 lead. Bogdan Kiselevich added a fifth on the power play to wrap up the points for CSKA. Svetlakov tied the scores from close range off Maxim Mamin’s pass from behind Alexander Zalivin’s net, then went on to win it 70 seconds later with a one-timer from the right-hand circle after Andrei Kuzmenko led a break down the left channel.
CSKA had much the better of the first period, but ended up as architect of its own downfall in the closing minutes. The Army Men took the game to their city rival and arguably should have had more than Kuzmenko’s 11th-minute goal to show for a powerful performance. Instead, though, the teams went to the intermission tied at 1-1. A needless Svetlakov foul and a delaying the game penalty for Artyom Blazhievsky gave Dynamo a 5-on-3 advantage. The Blue-and-Whites cashed in thanks when Martins Karsums exploited the additional space to score 31 seconds before the interval.
The second stanza was similar. CSKA again had more chances and spent much of the period in the Dynamo zone. But it wasn’t until the 35th minute that Blazhievsky put the Army Men back in front. That lead was short-lived. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Yakov Rylov fired the puck across the face of the net and profited from a lucky bounce off a CSKA skate. Dynamo got ahead for the first and only time in the game on a Juuso Hietanen goal early in the third, the Finnish D-man firing in a powerful wrist shot from the right. But Svetlakov was destined to have the final say as CSKA took the points and the bragging rights.
CSKA
Dec 20 - Lada (a) 5-4Second-placed CSKA made it five wins in a row despite conceding four power play goals at Lada.
The Army Men continued their winning run in a roller-coaster of a game, but the victory was overshadowed by an injury to Valery Nichushkin. The young forward crashed heavily into the boards late in the first period and did not return to the game. Head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov later said that Nichushkin’s shoulder injury wasn’t too serious, but would rule him out for a short time.
On the ice, meanwhile, CSKA also faced adversity. An explosive first five minutes saw the visitor trailing twice on power play goals from Viktor Komarov and Kristaps Sotnieks. In between Nichushkin claimed an assist on Greg Scott’s equalizer for CSKA, but the first stanza ended with the home team ahead.
Maxim Mamin tied it up in the second, but the game changed – seemingly decisively – in the 44th minute. CSKA scored two goals in 28 seconds with Kirill Petrov getting his 14th of the season and the returning Geoff Platt celebrating his first game back in the KHL with a goal to make it 4-2.
Lada wasn’t finished, though. Two further power play goals – a second from Sotnieks and one for Andrei Ivanov – tied the game with 10 minutes to play as Nikita Filatov completed a hat-trick of assists against one of his former clubs. But Denis Denisov delivered the killer blow, making it 5-4 to CSKA in the 55th minute and securing a fifth straight win for the Moscow team.
Dec 22 - Neftekhimik (a)
The history books show that CSKA was overwhelmingly the most successful team in Soviet hockey and on a day dominated by the game’s past it was little surprise that the class of 2016 showed once again that it is a serious contender to lift the country’s top title once again. Geoff Platt, recently returned to Moscow after a spell with Vaxjo Lakers in Sweden, got things started here with a fourth-minute goal. Platt now has two in two on his return to the KHL.
The home team, under the guidance of Andrei Nazarov, is battling to get into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference and it showed plenty of character to create the bulk of the chances in the rest of the opening session before finally tying the game in the 29th minute. Youngster Pavel Poryadin got the goal as the play settled down following a niggly opening to the middle stanza that saw Grigory Panin ejected from the game for a high hit. But CSKA was not to be denied. Two power plays in the latter stages of the second period led to two more goals for Kirill Petrov, taking his tally to 16 for this season. CSKA closes to within a single point of league leader SKA, but has played four games more than its Petersburg rival.
Dec 26 - Lokomotiv (h) 2-3 SO
A late equalizer was not enough to save CSKA from a rare home defeat as Lokomotiv returned to fourth place in the Western Conference. Maxim Mamin salvaged a point for the Army Men with a goal in the 57th minute, scoring at the end of a third period in which CSKA managed 24 shots but could only steer four of them on target. Despite some wild shooting from his team-mates, Mamin managed to find a way past Alexander Sudnitsin and take the game to a shoot-out as Lokomotiv faded in the closing stages. But his effort was ultimately in vain when his attempt in the shoot-out was saved. Brandon Kozun and Andrei Loktionov had already scored on Viktor Fasth, and Lokomotiv took the bonus point. Earlier Artyom Ilyenko, the latest young prospect to emerge from Loko’s engine room, got his first of the season to put the Railwaymen ahead in the 34th minute. CSKA soon tied it up through a prospect of its own, Andrei Yermakov, but Kozun restored the lead 80 seconds later.
Dynamo
Dec 22 - Torpedo (a) 2-1 OT
When Dynamo first took to the ice with a 5-1 victory over Vodnik Arkhangelsk, hockey was a rather different sport. Dynamo won back then, and did so again today – but this latest success came in a new format.
The decision to settle games in 3-on-3 overtime was only confirmed last week, and after a 1-1 tie in regulation the Blue-and-Whites were experiencing it for the first time in their long history. Dynamo adapted quickly, with Martins Karsums getting the game-winner after collecting a Juusso Hietenan pass and outwitting goalie Ilya Proskuryakov. And there was another little piece of history: Karsums’ goal was the first power play winner in the new format, with Dynamo invited to add an extra player after Alexei Potapov was sin-binned.
Earlier, the key action came in the first period. Alexei Tsvetkov opened the scoring in the third minute, damping the enthusiasm of a Torpedo crowd that came ready to enjoy the evening’s retro-themed entertainment. Carter Ashton tied it up for the host, a deserved goal given the pressure that Torpedo brought to bear on Alexander Yeryomenko’s net in the opening stanza.
There was no further scoring though until Dynamo got that power play chance in overtime and secured the two points.
Dec 24 - Sochi (a) 3-5
Sochi picked up a vital win to remain within three points of the playoff spots and snap a run of four losses. With the pressure increasing on Vyacheslav Butsayev’s team, a good start was vital … and Evgeny Skachkov obliged after just 22 seconds. Andre Petersson, happily restored to full game readiness after injury problems, got a second in the 10th minute and Sochi was looking good.
But Dynamo, with just one loss in six, is looking for a top-four finish in the West and was not going to give up easily. Artyom Fyodorov reduced the arrears and Martin Karpov tied the scores seconds into the middle stanza. It wasn’t enough. Sochi regrouped and took command late in the second period. Andrei Kostitsyn completed a hat-trick of assists to help Maxim Mamin make it 3-2, then Renat Mamashev converted a power play 30 seconds before the intermission. Pavel Padakin and Denis Kokarev traded goals in the final session, but the result was already secured.
Spartak
Dec 22 - Lokomotiv (h) 2-1
Like Dynamo, Spartak also embraced the day’s historic theme, transforming Moscow’s shiny 21st-century VTB Arena into a Soviet-era theme park for its game with Lokomotiv. The teams donned retro uniforms, even the officials eschewed their familiar zebra stripes in favor of an all-black outfit with striped sleeves. A fleet of vintage buses and cars lined up outside the stadium, children dressed in old-style Pioneer uniforms and the food concessions took on a 1940s look with bulky tea urns replacing today’s hot dogs and burgers. A Stalin lookalike came along to keep an eye on proceedings, although there was little sign of Leonid Brezhnev, a later Soviet leader who was an enthusiastic Spartak fan. Recent history was not really on Spartak’s side going into the game, though. Loko rebounded from two defeats to beat HC Sochi last time out, while the Red-and-Whites languished some way off the playoff places on a run of four defeats in six games. When Petri Kontiola’s power play goal gave the visitor the lead in the 17th minute, it didn’t look good for the host. The second period turned that around. Igor Mirnov tied it up on a power play in the 24th minute before Ryan Stoa grabbed the winner 48 seconds before the intermission. As play went behind Alexei Murygin’s net, Lukas Radil flicked a backhand pass into the danger zone and Stoa went over the goalie’s glove from a tight angle to win the game.
Dec 24 - Vityaz (h) 2-5
A strong first period set Vityaz on the way to a valuable victory, lifting the Moscow Region team up to seventh place ahead of Jokerit. Three unanswered goals in the opening stanza made the difference here. Alexei Kopeikin poached his 15th of the season in the 10th minute, long-serving forward Roman Horak doubled the lead and recent signing Alexander Pankov completed a thoroughly impressive start with a third goal just before the hooter. After that the teams were content to trade goals. Yaroslav Dyblenko and Nikita Vyglazov found the net in the second period, Sergei Shmelyov and Horak again hit the target in the third. Vityaz now has a three-point cushion over ninth-placed Sochi; Spartak is 10 points shy of reaching post-season.
Dec 26 - Slovan (a) 4-5 SO
There may be little left for these teams to play for this season, but that didn’t stop them serving up a Boxing Day battle in Bratislava. The first period was sluggish, but after the break Slovan sprang into action with four goals in 10 minutes. Tomas Surovy got two of them, Jeff Taffe had a goal and an assist and Tomas Kundratek got the other. Jonathan Cheechoo contributed two helpers.
That looked like the end for Spartak, but the final stanza saw the Red-and-Whites complete an improbable fightback to tie the game at 4-4. Alexander Vasilyev, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Ryan Stoa and finally Artyom Voronin in the 57th minute took the game into overtime. There was no further scoring, despite both teams taking penalties in the extras, but Ziga Jeglic and Surovy scored in the shoot-out and finally gave Slovan the victory it thought was secure at the second intermission.
Dec 28 - Sochi (a) 4-1
Spartak breathed life into its playoff hopes and dealt a heavy blow to one of its rivals for a top eight finish thanks to a 10-minute spell at the start of the second period. Sochi had the edge in the opening stanza but failed to score, and Spartak punished its host after the intermission. Lukas Radil converted a 23rd-minute power play before ex-Sochi man Denis Tolpeko fed Vsevolod Sorokin for number two. Another power play on the half-hour saw another Matt Gilroy shot deflected past Konstantin Barulin, with Ryan Stoa getting the crucial touch this time. The unmarked Igor Mirnov added a third goal on 32 minutes to put Spartak in complete control. The home team tried to find a way back and Ivan Zakharchuk forced the puck home from a tight angle to reduce the deficit late in the second period. But Spartak was in no mood to slacken its grip and defended stoutly in the final session to see out the win.
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