KHL Results - February 04-07, 2017

Saturday, February 04, 2017

Sibir v Amur 1-3

Sibir’s five-game winning streak ground to a halt, and this loss dealt a serious blow to the team’s playoff hopes. It all started so well for the host, with Konstantin Okulov opening the scoring in the second minute to add to the two points his contributed in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Admiral. But Ilya Gorokhov soon equalized, and Oleg Li’s third goal in five games made it 2-1 at the first intermission. Amur, which retained a theoretical chance of making the playoffs before this game, managed to have the better of the middle stanza without extending its lead. But in the final session it was down to Juha Metsola to impress once again, standing firm in the face of Sibir pressure. Metsola finished the game with 42 saves; Amur made the points safe with an empty-net goal from Vitaly Atyushov. Sibir’s loss leaves it three points adrift of eighth-placed Salavat Yulaev. With three games left in its season, the team has little margin for error if it is to force its way into the playoff places.

Metallurg Novokuznetsk v Kunlun 2-4
Three goals on the power play led Kunlun to a win that lifts the Chinese team to sixth in the table, four points clear of ninth-placed Sibir. The visitor snapped a two-game losing streak thanks to an impressive second-period display, recovering from Kirill Semyonov’s opening goal just before the first intermission.
Linus Videll tied the scores in the 26^th minute, swooping onto Chad Rau’s pass and winning his duel with Rafael Khakimov. Then Kuznya ran into penalty trouble and conceded two power play goals in as many minutes. Tobias Viklund made it 2-1, crashing a shot against the underside of the bar and being credited with the goal after the video referee had a look at the play. Then Max Warn flashed home a one-timer off a Damien Fleury feed to make it 3-1. Metallurg tried to hit back and end its home campaign on a high note, but Timur Fatkullin’s goal early in the third period was as good as it got. Another Kunlun power play saw Videll get his second of the game to complete a valuable victory.
Avangard v Admiral 1-3
Admiral climbed to seventh place, overtaking Salavat Yulaev and opening a three-point gap over Sibir thanks to this win in Omsk. In a game where scuffles almost outnumbered shots, the visitor made a great start thank to Pavel Makarenko’s third-minute goal. The rest of the opening stanza was dominated by skirmishes among the players, Artur Lauta and Daniil Kurashov traded blows in one incident before Samvel Mnatsyan and Vitaly Menshikov picked up major penalties for their fight. Avangard equalized in the second period through Ilya Mikheyev, but Mikhail Fisenko reinstated Admiral’s lead in the 36^th minute, shortly after emerging from the penalty box. The visitor struggled to create many chances in the final period, mustering just three shots on target, but Avangard also found it difficult to really test Igor Bobkov at the other end. Damir Zhafyarov fired into an empty net in the 59^th minute to give Admiral the edge.
Neftekhimik v Lada 3-2
Neftekhimik kept its own playoff hopes alive with its fourth win in succession.
Both teams warmed up for this game with impressive victories over Ak Bars, but after those one-sided encounters last week, Saturday’s meeting was a tighter affair. Initially, Neftekhimik seemed to continue where it left off in Tuesday’s 8-2 win. Pavel Poryadin and Maxim Berezin scored for the second game running to make it 2-0 after 10 minutes. But Lada hit back in the second period thanks to a goal from Nikita Filatov, only for Pavel Zdunov to add to his first-period assist and make it 3-1 in the 25^th minute. Georgy Belousov’s strike early in the third made it a one-goal game again, but Neftekhimik held on to claim the win. The home team is now five points outside the playoff places with three games to play, but in such a tight race for the top eight Neftekhimik will feel it can still sneak in if it wins its remaining fixtures.

Sunday, February 05, 2017

Ugra v Minsk 2-3 SO

The ageless Alexander Materukhin grabbed the shoot-out winner here to secure playoff hockey in Belarus after a lively game in Khanty-Mansiysk. Dinamo was without head coach Craig Woodcroft, still serving a three-game ban, but his stand-in Ron Pasco helped his team recover from going behind early on to clinch the point it needed to secure a top-eight finish in the Western Conference. Then, come the shoot-out, Materukhin and Aaron Palushaj found the net, while Ben Scrivens made two saves to give his team the win. Earlier, though, Ugra made the brighter start. Evgeny Lapenkov opened the scoring after 14 seconds, and that lead lasted until deep into the second period. A high-sticking call on Alexander Makarov gave Dinamo the opportunity; Rob Klinkhammer converted the chance within seconds to tie the game. Dmitry Korobov gave the visitor the lead in the 46^th minute, but a penalty on Klinkhammer saw Roman Lyuduchin make it 2-2 with seven minutes left to play. Overtime saw Ugra enjoy another power play, but without success, before Dinamo claimed the verdict.


Medvescak v Vityaz 3-5
Vityaz wasted little time in putting its opponent under pressure. Miro Aaltonen opened the scoring in the sixth minute and, after killing a couple of penalties, the visitor doubled its advantage through Nikita Vyglazov in the 17^th minute. All seemed to be going to plan for the playoff chasing team. If the first period was a Vityaz success story, the second threatened to be quite the opposite. First, the visitor failed to capitalize on a long 5-on-3 power play after Alexandre Giroux, Derek Smith and then Mark Katic picked up minor penalties. Then, seconds after Medvescak got back to full strength, Giroux halved the deficit. Almost immediately the home team gained a 5-on-3 advantage of its own and after Vityaz killed the first of those penalties, Mike Glumac scored against four men to tie the game at 2-2. It wasn’t until the final seconds of the session that Vityaz got its power play sorted out and Alexei Makeyev made it 3-2. That wasn’t the end of Vityaz’ problems, Ilya Arkalov tied the scores at the start of the third period, but Makeyev and Vyglazov both scored for the second time on the night to move the Moscow Region team one step closer to the playoffs.
Vityaz moves to 92 points, remaining in seventh place with a seven-point cushion over HC Sochi.

Monday, February 06, 2017

Sochi v Torpedo 4-2

HC Sochi, currently third in the three-horse race to clinch the two remaining playoff places in the West, knew that there was no margin for error coming into Monday’s game. The Black Sea team started out six points adrift of eighth-placed Jokerit, and with four games left to play, defeat at home to Torpedo would demand a fightback comparable to the Patriots’ revival in Sunday night’s Superbowl if Sochi was going to extend its season. Torpedo, meanwhile, was also embroiled in a three-way battle, taking on Lokomotiv and Dynamo Moscow in search of a top-four finish and home ice advantage at the start of the playoffs. Less existential, perhaps, than Sochi’s need for points, but nonetheless significant. The early exchanges favored Torpedo, with Konstantin Barulin kept busy from the first minute, but Sochi opened the scoring against the run of play. Pavel Padakin got the goal off a Ben Maxwell feed. The visitor recovered to tie it up through Kaspars Daugavins at the end of the opening stanza. Two quick goals from Andre Petersson and Eric O’Dell, the latter on the power play, put Sochi in a strong position and saw Mikhail Biryukov replace Ilya Proskuryakov in the Torpedo net. Dmitry Semin quickly pulled one back with a power play goal for Torpedo, ushering in another period in which the visitor forced Barulin to be at his best. But the decisive goal came at the other end when Ilya Krikunov scored into an empty net. Sochi moves to within three points of Jokerit, and still has a game in hand on the Finns. The race for the playoffs is going down to the wire.

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Minsk v Vityaz 4-3 SO

After clinching its playoff spot on Sunday with a shoot-out win over Ugra, Dinamo repeated that trick today to snap Vityaz’ eight-game winning streak.
Aaron Palushaj settled the outcome after an entertaining 3-3 tie took these teams’ tally to 29 goals in four KHL meetings this season. Dinamo made the better start, opening a 2-0 lead in the first period. A penalty on Mario Kempe after eight minutes gave the Belarusians its first big opportunity, and Alexander Kulakov converted the power play after an extended spell of pressure on Igor Saprykin’s net. Then, in the last minute of the session, another power play saw Rob Klinkhammer extend the lead, with Kulakov providing the helper. Penalties also shaped the second period, though, as Vityaz hit back. Evgeny Lisovets was ejected from the game in the 22^nd minute for tripping, and Miro Aaltonen halved the deficit as that major ticked down. Aaltonen then turned provider, claiming an assist as Alexei Kopekin scored the fourth PP goal of the game just after the half-hour to tie the scores. Dinamo finally got its game going at full strength toward the end of the middle stanza, with Saprykin pulling off a string of saves before Ilya Shinkevich made it 3-2 in the 39^th minute. But penalty trouble struck almost immediately when Fredrick Pettersson took a minor for high sticking just before the intermission, and Roman Horak converted the power play shortly after the restart. Vityaz, which was hoping to extend its advantage in seventh place, picked up one point for the tie and moves to 93 points from 57 games, five better off than ninth-placed Sochi with three games of the regular season left to play. A top-eight finish for the Moscow Region team would bring playoff hockey to the club for the first time in the KHL era. Dinamo achieves 100 points in a season for the second year running.