KHL - Round Up - September 18, 2017

Hudacek denies, Severstal springs surprise
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 0 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (0-0, 0-1, 0-1)
Last week saw Salavat Yulaev storm from eighth to first in the Eastern Conference; this week began with a surprise loss at home to Severstal.
Julius Hudacek was the visitor’s star man. He made 22 saves as Severstal brought an end to Linus Omark’s eight-game productive sequence and snapped a four-game winning streak for Salavat. But this was more than a backs-to-the-wall defensive display: Severstal outshot the host in all three periods on its way to a thoroughly deserved success. Alexander Bumagin got the opening goal in the 27th minute, ghosting in at the far post to convert a lightning counter-attack after a home raid broke down in front of Hudacek. Then Daniil Vovchenko added an empty-net goal in the last second to seal the deal for the Steelmen. 

Sekac leads Ak Bars to victory
Ak Bars Kazan 7 Dinamo Riga 2 (2-1, 3-1, 2-0)
A hat-trick from Czech forward Jiri Sekac paced the Ak Bars offense as Dinamo Riga’s unhappy run continues; this defeat in Kazan was the ninth in a row for Sandis Ozolins and his team.
It didn’t take long for the home team to seize the initiative. Ak Bars scored twice in the sixth minute, with Sekac getting the opener and Roman Abrosimov adding another 19 seconds later. The 23-year-old defenseman had scored once before in the KHL, back in 2015-16, but this was his first marker in more than 50 outings for Tatarstan’s favorite team. Danny Kristo scored for the second game running to get one back for the visitor and it was 2-1 at the end of the first period.
The middle stanza echoed the first. Ak Bars scored two quick goals, one from Sekac, one from a youngster. The Czech found the net for the second time in the 28th minute, Nikita Yazkov made it 4-1 in the 29th. Yazkov, a 21-year-old prospect from Metallurg Novokuznetsk, opened his account for his new club off a Fyodor Malykhin assist. Again, Dinamo got one back as Vitalijs Pavlovs scored, but Ak Bars added a fifth late on when Sekac assisted on Justin Azevedo’s 40th-minute goal.
Artyom Lukoyanov added a sixth for the home team in the 54th minute, and the final minute of play brought more misery for the Latvians. First, Gunars Skvorcovs was ejected from the game for leaving the bench to contest a penalty call, then Sekac took advantage of the power play to complete his treble.