KHL - Moscow - Round Up January 11-19, 2017

CSKA

Metallurg Novokuznetsk (h) 2-0 - Wednesday, January 11, 2017

CSKA had little difficulty dispatching lowly Metallurg with a commanding performance in Moscow. The home team rattled in 51 shots on Vladislav Podyapolsky’s net as Metallurg struggled to make an impact on the game.
But the visiting goalie, just 21 years old and still seeking his first victory of the season, performed heroics to keep the scoreline down, even after giving up a fifth-minute goal to Grigory Panin. Podyapolsky’s form ensured that the game remained live, at least theoretically, until deep into the third period. CSKA, resting several key players including imports Geoff Platt and Greg Scott, and captain Denis Denisov, kept getting pucks to the net without forcing them over the line. Ultimately, though, Andrei Kuzmenko settled it with a 59^th-minute goal, while at the other end Viktor Fasth completed 23 saves for the shut-out. But while the Swede claimed the victory, his young Russian rival took most of the plaudits.
Sibir (h) 2-1 - Friday, January 13, 2017
Dmitry Kugryshev spent two seasons at Sibir, a period of time that saw him grow into a serious player in the KHL as the Novosibirsk club emerged as a stronghold in the Eastern Conference. Today, though, back at his native CSKA, Kugryshev’s late goal dealt another blow to Sibir’s faltering playoff prospects for 2017. The 26-year-old struck with barely five minutes left, snapping a 1-1 tie and condemning the Siberians to a defeat that leaves them two points and two places outside the playoff zone. Earlier in the game Maxim Mamin gave CSKA a first-period lead, but the Army Men were never able to settle. Sibir thought it had tied the game midway through the second period, only to be denied by the officials who spotted an infringement, something that irked visiting head coach Andrey Skabelka. He was happier in the 53^rd minute when Zach Boychuk finally managed to tie the scores, but his team could not see the game out and lost to Kugryshev’s effort. Dynamo (a) 0-1 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The Blue-and-White half of Moscow was singing the praises of goalie Alexander Yeryomenko after the experienced stopper produced his 81st career shut-out to win this derby game. Yeryomenko pulled off 44 saves to frustrate a CSKA team that missed the chance to close on the top of the KHL standings despite dominating long periods of this game. The Army Men began with a statement of intent from Valery Nichushkin, who launched a marauding raid on Yeryomenko’s net in the first minute. However, the visitor got a sense that it wasn’t to be its night as early as the 13th minute, when 63 seconds of 5-on-3 hockey failed to produce a goal. In addition, forward Andrei Svetlakov was forced to miss the rest of the game after getting Ilya Nikulin’s stick in his face; the Dynamo D-man sat out a 2+10 penalty. The winner came in 27th minute as Alexei Tereshchenko took advantage of a power play to beat Ilya Sorokin. Dynamo moved the puck carefully around the CSKA end until Juuso Hietanen slipped a delightful pass onto Tereshchenko’s stick right in front of the net. With an advantage to hold, Dynamo focused on rock-solid defense for the rest of the game. Although CSKA had more than twice as many shots as the host, Yeryomenko was rarely forced to deal with anything enormously challenging as the Blue-and-Whites’ concentration held until the final hooter.

Dynamo

Neftekhimik (h) 4-0 - Thursday, January 12, 2017

Dynamo wasted little time in taking control of this match, with two goals in the first four minutes setting the Blue-and-Whites on the road to victory. Yakov Rylov opened the scoring on the power play after 111 seconds and Artyom Podshendyalov doubled the lead on 3:54. Neftekhimik improved in the second period, having more of the chances but failing to beat Alexander Yeryomenko in the home net. Rylov got his second of the night in the 40^th minute to pu the game out of reach. The final stanza was played at a calm tempo, with relatively few clear chances at either end. Lukas Kaspar completed the scoring late on, Yeryomenko finished the game with 31 saves and yet another shut-out.
Lada (h) - Saturday, January 14, 2017

The Blue-and-Whites extended their winning streak to six games with a comfortable take-down of Lada. A second successive shut-out for Alexander Yeryomenko, who backstopped Thursday’s 4-0 victory over Neftekhimik, was the cornerstone of Dynamo’s latest success. Lada managed 17 shots on his net.
At the other end, visiting goalie Ilya Ezhov was under pressure from the start as Dynamo looked to seize control of the game early on. Martins Karsums opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Andrei Kuteikin doubled the lead before the first intermission. For experienced D-man Kuteikin, it was his first goal since November when he scored three in successive games shortly after arriving from Avangard. The second period was goalless, and largely free of major incident, but Maxim Karpov extended Dynamo’s lead on a power play early in the third. Then 19-year-old forward Nikolai Chebykin got his first ever KHL goal to make it 4-0 in the 52^nd minute before Juuso Hietanen wrapped up the scoring in the last minute.
Ak Bars (h) 1-2 - Monday, January 16, 2017
Two long streaks came to an end in this game: Ak Bars snapped a four-game run without a win, while Dynamo’s six-match winning streak was halted. As a result, Ak Bars became the second team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff place, reaching 97 points for the season. Home goalie Alexander Yeryomenko had not given up a goal in his previous two games, but last just 16 minutes here before Mikhail Sidorov found a way past him. His thunderous effort from the blue line rattled in and out of the net at high speed, but the video confirmed that the goal was good. Dynamo pushed hard for an equalizer, especially in the third period. Juuso Hietanen thought he’d tied the game in the 54^th minute, but the away bench appealed for goaltender interference and the review saw the effort ruled out. Then, as time was running out, Ak Bars extended its lead when Mikhail Glukhov beat Yeryomenko at the second attempt. The home team still had time to get one goal back thanks to Martins Karsums, but with just four seconds left on the clock his effort could not spark an unlikely recovery.

Spartak

Metallurg Magnitogorsk (a) 3-6 - Friday, January 13, 2017
Spartak missed the chance to make a little bit of history when it allowed Metallurg to recover from 0-3 down. That denied the Red-and-Whites their first ever victory in Magnitogorsk in top-flight hockey while Sergei Mozyakin scored twice to move to the brink of securing yet another record. In the first 22 minutes, the visitor seemed intent on turning the history books upside down. Sergei Shmelyov opened the scoring in the third minute, Alexander Vasilyev made it 2-0 on the power play in the 12^th, and Igor Mirnov added a third goal at the start of the second period. Then, just one minute after Mirnov’s goal, Metallurg’s Artyom Zhelezkov was ejected from the game for a headbutt. Spartak failed to add to its lead in the subsequent five-minute power play.
Then Magnitka responded. Mozyakin and Alexander Semin reduced the deficit before the end of the second period, but Spartak still had the advantage until the 53^rd minute. Then, abruptly, the rearguard action fell away. Yaroslav Kosov outwitted Markus Svensson to tie the game, Mozyakin got his second of the night on the power play to make it 4-3 and an empty-net goal from Tomas Filippi put the game out of reach. There was still time for Kosov to claim his second of the night and leave Spartak to ponder how a winning position ended in a heavy defeat.Traktor (a) 2-3 - Sunday, January 15, 2017

Traktor’s 70^th anniversary celebrations finally included a home victory after two shoot-out losses at the start of the seven-game festive sequence. Spartak pushed the home team hard, but never found its way into a winning position after Jiri Novotny put Traktor 1-0 up in the 18^thminute. Lukas Radil tied the game in the second period, but it took less than two minutes for Traktor to regain the lead. Nikolai Belov made it 2-1, then Artyom Penkovsky added a third shortly after the midway mark. Spartak’s Sergei Shmelyov got a goal back in the 47^th minute, but the Red-and-Whites could get no closer to salvaging anything from the game and fell to a sixth successive loss.
Slovan (h) 0-3 - Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Head coach Milos Riha, whose ever-engaging presence can now be found behind the bench at Slovan, is one of the most popular figures in Spartak’s recent history. His returns to Moscow with his subsequent charges have always earned him a warm welcome … and tonight that extended to events on the ice. Spartak failed to threaten Barry Brust’s net, while Igor Musatov grabbed two goals at the other end to send the Red-and-Whites spinning to a seventh successive defeat. Brust stopped 23 shots for his shut-out. Nick Plastino assisted on both of Musatov’s goals, which came in the seventh and 21^st minutes. Slovan’s third was something of a collector’s item: Tomas Kundratek scored in the 38^th minute during a rare passage of 4-on-3 play in regulation time. Slovan made it five wins in a row and is now just three points adrift of the playoff spots.
Sochi (a) 1-4 - Thursday, January 19, 2017
Sochi remains one point outside the playoff places despite a convincing victory over a Spartak team that has now lost eight in a row. The visitor managed to get a 12^th-minute lead thanks to Konstantin Glazachev, but little else went right for the Red-and-Whites. Alexei Pepelyayev tied the scores before the first intermission, and the rest of the game went Sochi’s way. Second-period goals from Igor Ignatushkin and Andrei Kostitsyn set the home team on the path to success, Kostitsyn’s was a gem of stick handling to weave his way through the defense. Finally, Igor Levitsky finished off a superb piece of play from the third line to make it 4-1 early in the third. Sochi stays in ninth, a point adrift of Jokerit and Vityaz with nine games to play.