Wednesday, February 01, 2017
Avtomobilist v Minsk 2-3A fifth successive victory puts Dinamo one point away from confirming its playoff place, while Avtomobilist’s hopes in the Eastern Conference are fading towards the theoretical. The home team went ahead in the 24th minute when Evgeny Chesalin deflected the puck home off his skate. It was the third time the puck found the net in the second period, but the first to get the approval of the video officials after both teams saw an effort chalked off. Dinamo responded with two goals either side of the half-hour mark. Aaron Palushaj’s power play effort tied the game before Alexander Materukhin made it 2-1. Then Alexander Pavlovich’s empty net marker made the points safe for the visitor, despite Michal Cajkovsky’s last-minute goal.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk v Severstal 6-4
This game was all about Sergei Mozyakin. Having already set a clutch of records this season, his two goals put him top of yet another pile. This time his haul lifted him to 81 points for the season (44 goals, 37 assists), beating the 80-point return that Alexander Radulov delivered for Salavat Yulaev in 2010-11.
The goals came with Magnitka already well on top in the game: Mozyakin made it 5-1 in the 32nd minute and then 6-3 in the 39th, securing his third major record of the season after previously beating Steve Moses’ 36-goal regular season haul for Jokerit and overtaking Boris Mikhailov’s 428 goals in top level Russian hockey. The next big target for the forward is the 1,000-point barrier, something he could plausibly achieve before the playoffs see him try to help Metallurg become the first team to win three Gagarin Cups.
Metallurg head coach Ilya Vorobyov paid tribute to his star forward after the game. “For the third game running he’s scored two goals,” he said. “Everyone is talking about his records and there’s really nothing more to say. This season he’s achieved every record he could possibly have reached. Good for him!”
Magnitka took control of the game early on. Chris Lee opened the scoring in the sixth minute, Denis Kazionov doubled the lead and Tomas Filippi added a third early in the second period. Adam Masuhr’s power play goal got the visitor on the scoreboard, but Oskar Osala added a fourth before Mozyakin started scoring.
Severstal attempted a rally, with Clay Wilson and Maxim Trunyov reducing the deficit to 3-5, but there was no way back despite a first career goal for 20-year-old Sergei Lapin.
Torpedo v Sochi 1-2 SO
HC Sochi came from behind to claim a valuable win at Torpedo and maintain control of its playoff destiny. Two points from this game sees the Black Sea team lose ground on Jokerit, but with a game in hand on the Finns a 100% record in the last five games of the season would guarantee Sochi a top-eight finish regardless of other results. The winner came from Vadim Shchegolkov, who settled the shoot-out here. The 22-year-old has spent much of the season playing second tier hockey for Dinamo St. Petersburg, but made a vital contribution in this game, scoring on shoot-out specialist Ilya Proskuryakov to earn his team a crucial additional point. Torpedo took the lead on six minutes through Dmitry Semin, but Eric O’Dell tied the game late in the second period.
Thursday, February 02, 2017
Sibir v Admiral 5-1Sibir moved level with Admiral thanks to a thumping home victory. The home team’s fifth successive win lifts it right into playoff contention with just four games left to play. Stepan Sannikov, scorer of the only goal in Tuesday’s vital victory over Kunlun, opened the scoring here after just 16 seconds with Maxim Shalunov and Joonas Kemppainen again providing the assists. But the game only came under the home team’s control in the second period, when Alexei Glukhov and Konstantin Okulov stretched that lead to 3-0. Denis Alexeyev got one back for Admiral, but hopes of a revival was sunk in the final stanza. Glukhov added a second before Vladislav Naumov completed the scoring in the 57th minute. Admiral currently holds eighth place, but only by virtue of having more regulation-time wins than Sibir this season. Both teams are on 79 points, but could join fifth-placed Salavat Yulaev on 82 with a victory in their next game.
Metallurg Novokuznetsk v Amur 0-1
Juha Metsola posted his seventh shut-out of the season to help Amur to its third successive victory in this clash of the Eastern Conference outsiders. The Finnish goalie made 29 saves to frustrate the home team, while Kirill Kapustin’s maker early in the third period was enough to separate the two teams.
Avangard v Kunlun 3-1
After four successive losses, Avangard got back to winning ways at home to playoff-chasing Kunlun. The key moments came late in the second period, with three goals in four minutes shaping the outcome of this game. The opener came in the 33rd minute during a passage of four-on-four play. Avangard made better use of the empty space and Jonas Ahnelov found the perfect pass for Pyotr Khokhryakov to score at the far post. Two minutes later and a similar play saw Khokhryakov turn provider for Anton Burdasov to make it 2-0. But Kunlun replied immediately, with Sean Collins scoring a well-worked goal to score just three seconds into a power play. Kunlun had its chances in the third, but was caught out in the closing seconds and gave up an empty-net goal to Alexander Perezhogin as Avangard sealed the win.
Medvescak v Lokomotiv 4-7
Connor Cameron became the KHL’s youngest ever head coach when he stood behind Medvescak’s bench for the first time today, but the 31-year-old could not inspire his charges to a victorious start. Cameron, who steps in for the Swiss-bound Gordie Dwyer until at least the end of the season, suffered a horrible start to his new role. Lokomotiv spotted the chance to bully the new kid, and grasped it enthusiastically from the off. 0-2 after three minutes became 0-5 early in the second period, and Medvescak was staring at a humiliation on home ice. There was also the small matter of 45 PIMs in the first period, with Thomas Larkin picking up a 5+20 and Lukas Lessio getting a 2+10 in separate incidents. Loko even felt confident enough to recall starting goalie Alexei Murygin in the 25th minute, offering game time to 19-year-old prospect Anton Krasotkin. Grim as the start was, though, Medvescak found the courage to fight back. Reassured by the steady presence of Michael Garnett between the piping, the penalty count tapered away to nothing and the offense started to click. Mike Glumac scored on the power play, Kirill Voronin made it 2-6 after Brandon Kozun added another for Loko. Then, in the third, Lessio’s power play strike and Ilya Arkalov’s unassisted effort made it 4-6 with 10 minutes left. Suddenly Lokomotiv was in a real game. It didn’t last. Blake Parlett picked up 30 penalty minutes late on after seeming to manhandle one of the officials and Kozun pocketed his second of the game in the 59th minute to secure Loko’s victory.
Friday, February 03, 2017
Barys v Minsk 5-1Barys took a big stride towards securing a playoff spot with a convincing victory, while Dinamo still needs another point to confirm its post-season place. Two goals apiece for Brandon Bochenski and Corey Trivino led the way for the Kazakh team, which dominated the game after a tight first period was tied at 1-1. Kirill Panyukov got the fifth goal for the host, Aaron Palushaj’s 18th-minute effort was Dinamo’s only marker. Barys climbs to fifth in the Eastern Conference and enjoys a five-point cushion over ninth-placed Sibir.
Traktor v Severstal 1-0
Traktor confirmed its playoff spot thanks to this victory, but had to rely on Pavel Francouz’s shut-out to secure the win. A first-period goal from Jiri Novotny proved enough to separate these two teams as Francouz made 26 saves to frustrate Severstal. Traktor might have made it easier for itself if Maxim Yakutsenya had scored with a penalty shot in the 18th minute, but after Sergei Lapin illegally handled his original attempt, Yakutsenya failed to beat Jakub Kovar. And the Czech goalie distinguished himself again to make a spectacular double save, first pad, then glove – to deny Paul Szczechura.
Slovan v Vityaz 1-6
At the game against Vityaz, the home team took to the ice in special purple uniforms in support of children suffering from cancer. Ivan Yatsenko was the star man for Vityaz as the Moscow Region club picked up its seventh successive victory. The 24-year-old got his first points for Vityaz, two goals and an assist, as his disjointed season finally gains some traction. Yatsenko started the campaign at Spartak, moved to Neftekhimik after one game, and then went on to HC Sochi. He left the Black Sea in December and was playing his eighth game for Vityaz tonight. It was also his most successful to date, as he opened his tally for the club with an assist on Alexei Kopeikin’s fourth-minute goal. Patrik Lusnak cancelled that out, but Yatsenko scored two of his own in the second period to give Vityaz a 3-1 lead. The final period saw the visitor make the game safe: Maxim Afinogenov made it 4-1, Alexander Pankov added a fifth and Mario Kempe completed the scoring. Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi picked up his third assist of the game as Slovan’s chances of reaching the playoffs came to an end. For Vityaz, though, a playoff campaign seems all but assured. The team is in seventh place, four clear of HC Sochi in ninth, and has five games left in the regular season. If it makes it over the line, this will be the first time in the KHL era that the club has made it into post-season.
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