KHL - Round Up - September 15, 2017

Army Men sunk in naval battle
Admiral Vladivostok 3 CSKA Moscow 1 (1-1, 2-0, 0-0)
Admiral snapped CSKA’s nine-game winning streak as Vladimir Tkachyov got his first goal of the season. Tkachyov, not to be confused with his namesake at Ak Bars, is ranked as one of the brightest prospects in the Far East, but in the early stages of this season he was struggling for form along with the rest of his team. It was fitting, then, that his first goal of the campaign sealed Admiral’s most impressive performance to date.
He struck in the 24^th minute, dumping the puck into the corner for Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev to chase and heading to the net to collect his team-mate’s return pass and make it 3-1. That goal came two minutes after Krasnoslobodtsev had put Admiral back in front with an assist from Tkachyov.

In the first period, Maxim Kazakov gave the home team the lead on an early power play. Sergei Shirokov tied the game two seconds before the first intermission, but CSKA was felled by those two goals early in the third and struggled to get its offense going at the end of a long road trip.

Slovan gets first road win
Amur Khabarovsk 2 Slovan Bratislava 3 (1-0, 0-3, 1-0)
Slovan scored three goals in the second period to pick up its first success on the road this season in Khabarovsk. Juraj Mikus struck in the 23^rd minute to cancel out Denis Kuzmin’s opener for Amur, then Andrej Stastny and Michal Repik scored two in three minutes to open a 3-1 lead. Repik’s goal came on the power play. Despite Slovan’s clinical scoring, Amur had the better of the game: in that second period, the home team topped the shot count by 16-6. But there was no way back, despite Marek Kvapil reducing the arrears in the final stanza. Jakub Stepanek finished with 38 saves, Juha Metsola gave up three goals from 16 shots.

Hellberg’s second shut-out, Red Star’s second 2-0
Kunlun Red Star 2 Vityaz Podolsk 0 (1-0, 1-0, 0-0)
For the second time in three days, Kunlun recorded a 2-0 home victory. Swedish goalie Magnus Hellberg was the star, making 42 saves to keep Vityaz at bay. The visitor struggled early in the game but unleashed a storm of attacking play with 20 shots in the second period and a 14-1 shot-count in the third.
However, it all proved to be in vain. Red Star was 2-0 in front after 23 minutes thanks to Gilbert Brule and Zach Yuen. Brule, who left Traktor after just six games and no points, has blossomed on moving to China: he’s scored three in four and his latest opened the scoring here in the ninth minute.
Yuen, who achieved fame last season as the first player with Chinese roots to score in the KHL, is one of the few men to remain at the club following Mike Keenan’s arrival in the summer. He opened his account for the current campaign after Joonas Jarvinen – another who was with Kunlun last time around – saw his shot blocked.

Sibir silences Dawes, ends Barys’ winning run
Barys Astana 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 (0-0, 0-0, 1-3)
Sibir found a way to tame Nigel Dawes – and reaped the rewards with a 3-1 victory. Dawes had rattled off 12 goals in six games going into Friday’s meeting, but could not add to his tally against the visitor from Novosibirsk.
Indeed, for two periods neither team could find the back of the net; the opening goal came early in the third from Barys’ Matthew Frattin. The Canadian forward got his first goal of the season in the 42^nd minute, but Patrik Zackrisson soon tied it up for Sibir. Alexander Bergstrom put the visitor in front with nine minutes to play and Vyacheslav Osnovin sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the last second.

Loko’s late rush derails Traktor
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 (1-0, 0-1, 2-0)
Lokomotiv scored twice in the last three minutes to take victory against Traktor, with Staffan Kronwall making the difference. The Swedish defenseman snapped a 1-1 tie in the 58^th minute, scoring on the power play with a shot from a tight angle. Then he fed Max Talbot for an empty-net goal to secure the win.
Earlier, Denis Mosalyov put Loko ahead late in the first period, getting the vital touch on a Denis Osipov shot to claim his third goal in three games. Igor Polygalov was the Traktor player in the box at the time, and he atoned in the middle session with an equalizer after Ilya Lyubushkin took a major penalty for kneeing.

Welcome win for Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow 3 Lada Tolyatti 2 (0-0, 2-1, 1-1)
Dynamo Moscow snapped a four-game losing streak with victory over Lada.
A goalless first period offered few chances at either end, and the incident of note saw Andrei Kuteikin ejected from the game for boarding in  the eighth minute. Play opened up in the middle session. Dustin Boyd gave Dynamo the lead in the 23^rd minute, claiming his second goal for the Muscovites after his summer move from Barys. That was cancelled out by Igor Skorokhodov for Lada.
But the decisive play came either side of the second intermission. Dynamo forged ahead in the 40^thminute thanks to Nikita Komarov. Then Lada took a penalty that carried over to the final stanza, and Ilya Nikulin made it 3-1, with Boyd among the assists. Lada got a late goal back through Dmitry Kostromitin but could not save the game.

350 goals for Mozyakin, 11 wins for SKA
SKA St. Petersburg 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 OT (1-0, 2-1, 0-2, 1-0)
Sergei Mozyakin’s 350^th KHL goal was not enough to save Metallurg from defeat in this Gagarin Cup final rematch. Mozyakin scored for the sixth consecutive regular season game against SKA, tying the game at 1-1 in the 27^th minute with a characteristic finish from out wide on the left, but the defending champion once again proved too strong. Moyzakin’s goal cancelled out Viktor Tikhonov’s opener, but Magnitka was soon chasing the game after Evgeny Ketov’s short-handed goal. Ilya Samsonov and Yaroslav Kosov got in a muddle behind the net and Ilya Kablukov took full advantage to feed Ketov for his first goal of the season. Worse was to come for Metallurg when Pavel Datsyuk got a touch on Vladislav Gavrikov’s shot to make it 3-1 at the second intermission, but the ejection of Andrei Zubarev just before the second break offered the visitor a chance to get back into the game.
SKA survived that major penalty, but a call on Tikhonov extended the power play and Mozyakin obliged with his second of the night to bring the game back to 3-2. Then Metallurg’s captain provided an assist as Nikita Pivtsakin struck in the last minute to force overtime. But a penalty on Oskar Osala in the extras gave the initiative to SKA, and Patrik Hersley got the winner to make it 11 successive wins for the home team.


Avto halts Minsk revival
Dinamo Minsk 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (0-1, 0-1, 1-1)
Dinamo Minsk’s upturn in form came to an abrupt halt when Avtomobilist came to town. Avto went ahead in the fifth minute thanks to Alexei Mikhnov’s opening goal. Dinamo responded strongly, having the better of the first period, but could not get back on level terms.
The second period was a complete contrast, with Avtomobilist having more of the play. Anatoly Golyshev took advantage, scoring from close range off Ilya Krikunov’s pass to make it 2-0 in the 38^thminute. Dinamo finally found a way past Jakub Kovar in the 57^th minute when Justin Fontain reduced the deficit, but Francis Pare settled the outcome with an empty-net goal.