KHL - Moscow - Round Up February 01-18, 2017

CSKA

Traktor (a) 3-4 - Wednesday, February 01

Two goals from Paul Szczechura and three assists from Maxim Yakutsenya earned Traktor victory here, and puts the Chelyabinsk team one point away from confirming its post-season place. But the home team had to come from behind three times to subdue CSKA. Dmitry Kugryshev opened the scoring in the 24^thminute, assisted by former Traktor prodigy Valery Nichushkin, only for Yakutsenya to claim his first assist as another hotly-tipped youngster, Alexei Kruchinin, tied the game moments later. Kirill Petrov’s power play goal saw CSKA to the second intermission with a 2-1 advantage. That all changed in the third. Szczechura scored twice in barely two minutes, with Alexander Popov responding for CSKA in between. 3-3 with 14 minutes to play. After chances at both ends, Traktor won it in the 57^th minute. Yakutsenya’s pass from the blue line picked out Jiri Novotny and the Czech forward fired over Ilya Sorokin’s shoulder to claim the victory.
Ufa (a) 5-1 - Friday, February 03

A ninth successive loss for Salavat Yulaev piles the pressure on Igor Zakharkin and his team, and the upcoming pause in the KHL schedule might give time for a bit of reflection behind the scenes.
“We’re thinking about taking the team to church during the break,” the head coach said after this latest loss. “How can we avoid missing out on the playoffs? We need to resurrect our injured players, we need goalscorers, we need our first line back. We’ll have three days off, then we’ll start serious preparations for the remaining games.”
But there were words of consolation from visiting head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov, who reckoned goalie Viktor Fasth kept CSKA in the game in the second period. “We were really poor in the second period,” he said. “We scored, then the next 15 shots were all on our net. Vitka helped us and we wrapped it up in the third.”
By the time Fasth found himself seriously extended, though, the game was all but over. CSKA raced into a 2-0 lead with goals from Alexander Popov and Vladimir Zharkov in the first six minutes. Dmitry Makarov quickly replied for the host, but Greg Scott made it 3-1 at the first intermission and Valery Nichushkin added a fourth in the 21^st minute. Ivan Telegin completed the scoring in the 45^th minute. Salavat Yulaev, which has never previously missed a KHL playoff, is in sixth place with two games left. But even two victories would not guarantee that the team finished ahead of the chasing pack: all of the teams competing for a top eight finish have two games in hand, and no more than three points to make up.
Sochi (h) 4-3 - Tuesday, February 14

With two games left in the regular season, CSKA finds itself on course to claim its third successive Continental Cup. The Moscow team is level on points with its Petersburg rival, but holds the advantage thanks to winning more games in regulation this season. If Dmitry Kvartalnov’s men can match SKA’s results in the last two games, the regular season prize will be heading to Moscow once again. That’s due to a solid victory over an HC Sochi team still chasing a playoff place … and chasing this game from the moment Stephane Da Costa put CSKA ahead on the power play in the ninth minute. Andrei Kuzmenko doubled that lead midway though the second, before Sochi recovered to get back on level terms. Andrei Kostitsyn and Andre Petersson scored two goals in 73 seconds to startle the host, but Kuzmenko’s second got CSKA back on track. Alexander Popov made it 4-2 in 35^th minute and this time Sochi had no answer. Alexander Mereskin ensured the final stanza was competitive, pulling a goal back in the 43^rd minute, but CSKA held on to reclaim top spot.
Torpedo (h) 4-2 - Thursday, February 16

CSKA is still on track to top the regular season table for the third year in a row after seeing off Torpedo. Two goals in the latter half of the first period tipped the balance in the Army Men’s favor and leaves Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team just in front of SKA by virtue of winning more games in regulation. Maxim Mamin opened the scoring for the home team in the eighth minute, only for Kaspars Daugavins to tie the scores soon afterwards. Having scored on its first power play, CSKA regained the lead just as Brandon McMillan emerged from the sin bin, thanks to a fine piece of play from defenseman Igor Ozhiganov. Showing skills more typically associated with a forward, he lured goalie Ilya Proskuryakov a long way out of his net, dumped him on his backside and then fired the puck into the danger zone from behind the goalline, celebrating his score as it bounced into the net of a stray skate. Bogdan Kiselevich added a third in the 16^thminute and the game was already getting away from Torpedo. Visiting head coach Peteris Skudra replaced Proskuryakov at the intermission, even though his goalie had picked up an assist on Daugavins’ goal, but the change did little to affect the game. Greg Scott made it 4-1 midway through the second period and Nikolai Zherdev’s power play goal in the last second of the stanza proved to be little more than consolation.

Dynamo

Slovan (a) 2-1 - Thursday, February 02
Slovan’s playoff prospects took a big blow with this defeat at home to Dynamo, while the Blue-and-Whites made it five wins out of six. The visitor got in front early in the game. Alexander Rybakov and Artyom Podshendyalov made it 2-0 inside the first 10 minutes. After that, Slovan had more of the game, but failed to create sufficient chances to threaten Alexander Yeryomenko. Patrik Lusnak pulled a goal back in the 28^th minute, but the Slovaks could not find an equalizer. The defeat leaves Slovan in 10^th place, with 80 points from 57 games. Jokerit currently holds the last play-off place with 85 points, and has a game in hand on its Slovak rival.
Amur (h) 3-2 - Tuesday, February 14
The Blue-and-Whites are still in with a chance of claiming third place in the Western Conference, but it took a big fight-back to overcome Amur. The visitor went ahead in the 15^th minute through Vitaly Popov, then Ilya Gorokhov, due to retire at the end of the season, signed off his final visit to his former club with a power play goal early in the second. Dynamo rallied through Juuso Hietanen’s 12^th of the season before Maxim Solovyov got his first of the campaign to tie the scores. Martins Karsums won it with less than two minutes to play.
Admiral (h) 2-1 OT - Thursday, February 16
Admiral’s playoff push goes to the final game after it failed to hold on to a lead at Dynamo. The Far East team would have clinched a top-eight place with victory in regulation here, and things were looking good when Dmitry Sayustov converted a power play in the 30^th minute. But Dynamo was out to claim a top-four finish of its own and Maxim Karpov tied the game early in the third. That took this encounter to overtime where Martins Karsums settled the outcome. Dynamo will finish no lower than fourth in the West, Admiral needs at least a point from Vityaz to secure its playoff passage.
Kunlun (h) 2-1 - Saturday, February 18

Today big moment for many Kunlun fans wasn’t part of this game, but came in Yekaterinburg. Avtomobilist’s tying goal against Sibir was enough to guarantee a playoff spot for the Chinese team in its first ever season. That represents a huge achievement for a team which, 12 months ago, existed purely as an idea under discussion in Beijing and Moscow. The news may have filtered through to the team during the first intermission of this game. After a nervous first period, with the pressure of being so close seeming to weigh on Kunlun’s shoulders, the middle stanza saw a more relaxed, confident team. Tomi Sallinen put the visitor ahead in the 29^th minute and the second goal looked more likely to go to Red Star. A short-handed goal from Denis Kokarev changed all that, bringing Dynamo level and setting the home team on the way to victory. Martins Karsums got the decider early in the third period, meaning the Blue-and-Whites pipped Lokomotiv to third place and will face Torpedo in what looks like a highly competitive playoff series. For Kunlun, the first ever taste of playoff hockey will bring another big challenge – a match-up against defending champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Spartak

Sochi (h) 1-3 - Friday, February 03

Sochi kept up the pressure on the playoff places with victory at lowly Spartak.
The Black Sea trails Jokerit by three points but has a game in hand and would make the top eight if it wins its remaining games in regulation. At Spartak, Ilya Krikunov opened the scoring with a short-handed goal in the eighth minute, stealing the puck in his own zone and exchanging passes with Eric O’Dell before scoring. The Red-and-Whites tied it up in the second period through Viktor Bobrov, but a power play goal for Andre Petersson put Sochi back in front two minutes later. The home side struggled to create clear chances in the third period, and O’Dell wrapped it up with an empty net goal.
SKA (a) 4-2 - Tuesday, February 14

With nothing to play for except pride, Spartak travelled to title-chasing SKA and produced one of the shock results of the season. Weathering a storm in the early stages, the Red-and-Whites recovered from Evgeny Ketov’s early goal to claim a dramatic victory … and hand city rival CSKA the advantage in the race for top spot. Two goals in a minute midway through the first period saw Alexander Vasilyev and Yaroslav Dyblenko put Spartak in front. Then, after the intermission, the visitor scored twice more through Lukas Radil and Viktor Bobrov. A shock was brewing. SKA created chances to get back into it, but Markus Svensson was in fine form and only Ilya Kovalchuk’s 30^th of the season got past the visiting goalie. SKA can still win the Continental Cup, but must hope for a slip-up from CSKA in the remaining games.
Severstal (a) 1-2 OT - Thursday, February 16

This clash of two Western Conference outsiders needed overtime to separate the teams. The game began in a lively fashion, with Viktor Bobrov giving Spartak the lead in the seventh minute and Clay Wilson replying just 32 seconds later. But that was the end of the scoring until the home team got the winner in the 62^nd minute. Wilson’s second goal of the night confirms that the Steelmen will finish in 11^th place in the Western Conference
CSKA v Spartak - Saturday, February 18

CSKA knew that victory over city rival Spartak would clinch a third successive The Cup of Continent, regardless of SKA’s result at home to Torpedo, and the prospect of silverware inspired Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team. The two teams had met back in January, with CSKA handing a humiliating 6-1 defeat to its neighbor, and the Army Men started out in a mood that suggested a repeat was on the cards. Vitaly Nichushkin deflected a Semyon Koshelev shot into the net after 107 seconds, setting the stage for a Red-and-Blue procession. But there was a brief interruption: Sergei Shmelyov tied the game moments later with a solo breakaway effort before CSKA could consolidate its lead. Spartak’s joy was short-lived. A penalty for Viktor Bobrov allowed Dmitry Kugryshev to make it 2-1 in the seventh minute and this time the host was in no mood to allow its opponent another chance. Sergei Andronov, Grigory Panin and then Koshelev all found the net before the end of the first period. CSKA 5-1 ahead, the race for top spot was all but run. Now it was a question of how many, and whether Spartak could salvage some pride at the end of a miserable season for the Red-and-Whites. Mikhail Naumenkov made it 6-1 early in the second period, bringing up a repeat of last month’s painful scoreline. Soon afterwards, Spartak’s Denis Tolpeko was tossed from the game after leaving the team bench to wade into a fight with Artyom Sergeyev. A local derby should always be a fiery affair; that spat put 36 minutes on the penalty clock. It was also the last significant action of the game as CSKA wrapped up the regular season in style. Now the Army Men will hope to translate this success into a first ever Gagarin Cup triumph.