Monday 9 - Ak Bars @ Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5-0
Vladimir Tkachyov fired a hat-trick as Ak Bars enjoyed a crushing victory at Torpedo. The Eastern Conference leader took control early. Justin Azevedo and Vasily Tokranov scored within 48 seconds of each other before the game reached the first ad break. Torpedo replaced starting goalie Ivan Lisutin with 22-year-old Nikolai Molkov, but the youngster’s second career appearance in the KHL proved to be a brief affair. Molkov had already been beaten once, only for Ak Bars’ third to be ruled out for kicking at the start of the second period. But it wasn’t long before Tkachyov opened his account for the night with a 25th minute power play marker. That brought Lisutin back to the crease, but Tkachyov demonstrated that he had the measure of the (re)starting goalie as well, scoring in the 39th and 60th minutes.
Torpedo’s goal-tending problems were underlined by the shot count. Ak Bars had just 17 shots on the net, and scored five. Torpedo tested Emil Garipov 38 times, but could not beat the visiting goalie.
Wednesday 11 - Ak Bars @ Dynamo Moscow 2-3 SO
Mikhail Varnakov waited until his former club came to town before grabbing his first goals for Dynamo. The forward, who enjoyed four seasons in Kazan, struck twice in this one as the teams took it to overtime. Then he finished his day by grabbing the shoot-out winner to snap Dynamo’s four-game losing streak. Varnakov opened the scoring late in the first period, looping the puck over Emil Garipov’s grasp after Juuso Hietanen slid it into the danger zone. Then, after Vasily Tokranov tied the game early in the second, Varnakov struck again. This time, he had just emerged from the box at the right time to collect Yakov Rylov’s pass from deep in Dynamo territory. Through one-on-one with Garipov, Varnakov won the duel to reinstate his team’s lead. Ak Bars responded with a power play goal from Andrei Markov but neither team could break the deadlock without a shoot-out.
In the 58th minute the referee handed a major plus game misconduct penalty (5+20 minutes) to Kazan forward Stanislav Galiyev for spearing and injuring an opponent. After reviewing the incident, the KHL Disciplinary Committee supported the decision, and ruled that Galiyev must pay a fine and serve a one-game suspension.
Friday 13 - Ak Bars @ Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2-6
Since appointing Dmitry Kvartalnov as head coach, Lokomotiv’s fortunes have enjoyed an upswing. Friday’s victory was the third in four games under the new boss as Loko impressively defeated Eastern Conference leader Ak Bars.
The home team took an early lead when Daniil Apalkov fired home a wrist shot as Ak Bars struggled to clear after a face-off, but it was the second period that really decided the course of the game. Alexander Polunin converted Rushan Rafikov’s pass to double the lead, then Yegor Korshkov added two more as Loko jumped to a 4-0 advantage. Andrei Markov got a goal back for Ak Bars as the second intermission approached and the veteran defenseman had a helper as Mikhail Glukhov made it 2-4 after 47 minutes. For a moment, the fightback seemed to be on, but Dmitry Lugin settled home nerves when he stuffed home the rebound from Denis Alexeyev’s shot a couple of minutes later. Jakub Nakladal completed an emphatic victory with Loko’s sixth of the night.
In the 58th minute the referee handed out a major plus game misconduct penalty (5+20 minutes) to Kazan defenseman Roman Abrosimov for tripping and injuring home team defenseman Rushan Rafikov. Following the incident, during a heated exchange with a Lokomotiv player, Abrosimov shoved a linesman who was trying to diffuse the conflict. As a result, the player received a game misconduct penalty (20 minutes) for unsporting behaviour toward a match official. The KHL Disciplinary Committee has investigated the two episodes, and in each case supports the match official's decision. Such offenses are subject to additional disciplinary measures. In this case, the player receives a fine and a one-game supension for the foul on Rafikov, plus a fine and a five-game suspension for the push on the linesman. Roman Abrosimov is therefore banned for a total of six games.
Sunday 15 - Ak Bars @ SKA 3-2 OT
Vladimir Tkachyov, a player on the fringes of Russia’s national team, delivered a reminder to the country’s head coach Oleg Znarok with a game-winning performance in St. Petersburg. The 24-year-old decided this match-up of the two conference leaders with one goal in regulation and another in overtime, taking his tally for the season to 17 (11+6) points and frustrating Znarok in his other role behind the bench at SKA. His winning goal came on the power play, with Ilya Kovalchuk sitting out a holding call. Tkachyov exchanged passes with Stanislav Galiyev before letting rip with a one-timer from the top of the circle. For SKA, unbeaten in its first 20 games, that meant two losses in three, although Znarok’s team has yet to lose in regulation this season. This summit clash was a typically tight affair. Goalless for 39 minutes, the game exploded in the final minute of the second period with Tkachyov putting Ak Bars ahead only for Kovalchuk to respond immediately with a power play goal of his own. SKA then went in front early in the third when Sergei Kalinin forced home the rebound after Nikita Gusev’s attempt was saved. Fyodor Malykhin tied it up with 11 minutes of regulation remaining
Vladimir A. Tkachyov was voted best forward of the week, the 24-year-old Russian sniper was in lethal form, ending the week with a +1, firing off 11 shots, and scoring 8 (5+3) points (more than any other player in the KHL). Tkachyov's impressive haul included a hat-trick on the road at Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and a double in Saint Petersburg, where his overtime goal sealed victory for the Kazan Men over League leaders SKA
Tuesday 17 - Ak Bars @ Jokerit 1-3
Ak Bars ended Ryan Zapolski’s impressive shut-out streak after 245 minutes, 36 seconds, but Jiri Sekac’s goal was too little to deny the Finns a 15th successive victory. By the time the Czech found a way past Zapolski, Jokerit was already 2-0 up. The opening goal came on the first power play of the night, with Matt Gilroy’s close range slap shot making it 1-0. Peter Regin’s helper on that play made it six games in a row that the Dane has been among the points. The Finns were in complete control of the early stages – the first-period shot count finished 14-2 in Jokerit’s favor – and Antti Pihlstrom soon doubled the lead.
Ak Bars improved in the middle stanza, and stepped up another gear in the third. Deep into the final session, Jokerit had yet to force a single face-off at its opponent’s end of the ice. It had also seen Sekac reduce the deficit in the 51st minute. But Marko Anttila added a third goal for the host in the 57th minute, securing the victory and maintaining that winning run. Could SKA’s record be overtaken so soon?
Friday 20 - Ak Bars v Traktor Chelyabinsk 7-1
Vladimir Tkachyov dominated the game as Eastern Conference leader Ak Bars thrashed Traktor in Kazan. The forward finished with two goals and two assists in his team’s 7-1 victory, and had a hand in all of Ak Bars’ first three goals. First, he had a helper as Vasily Tokranov opened the scoring in the seventh minute. A minute later, Tkachyov got his second assist as Stanislav Galiyev converted the first power play of the night. Then, in the 10th minute, another PP ended with Tkachyov potting his first goal of the game and his 12th of the season. That was the end of Vasily Demchenko’s evening between the piping for Traktor, but Pavel Francouz didn’t have much more fun as Ak Bars scored three more before the first intermission. Another power play saw Damir Musin make it 4-0, then Mikhail Sidorov and Nikita Yazkov added two in 13 seconds as the visitor threatened to collapse to completed. Subsequently things improved for Traktor; indeed, they could hardly have got worse. Tkachyov made it 7-0 on 24 minutes, but that was the end of the home scoring as the visitor stayed out of the box for the rest of the game. There was even a late consolation goal for Alexei Kruchinin in the third period, putting a small blot on Timur Bilyalov’s 20-minute taste of action in the Ak Bars net.
Sunday 22 - Ak Bars v Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4-0Ak Bars strengthened its position at the top of the Eastern Conference with a resounding victory over Metallurg. The visitor, blanked by Emil Garipov, missed its opportunity to make up some valuable ground in a Conference where it has been dominant in recent seasons. Recent times have also seen Ak Bars struggle to claim home victories over this old rival, with Magnitka winning the last five encounters in Kazan. This time, things were about to change. The opening session was evenly-matched, but 53 seconds before the intermission Jiri Sekac raced away on the counter-attack to give Ak Bars the lead. To make matters worse for Magnitka, young defenseman Grigory Dronov suffered an injury in the same passage of play, adding to the pressures on Metallurg’s injury-hit blue line. The middle stanza began with Vladimir Tkachyov making it 2-0 with a shot from a tight angle, and Metallurg’s hopes were fading some time before Nikita Yazkov added a third midway through the final period. Sekac wrapped up the win with a fourth goal, Garipov made 29 saves for his second shut-out of the season.
Monday 24 - Ak Bars v Avtomobilist 1-2 SO
It took a shoot-out to separate Eastern Conference leader Ak Bars and Avtomobilist, seventh at the start of play. And the verdict went to the outsider, after Avto took advantage of its late equalizer to win the game thanks to Ilya Krikunov’s decisive attempt. The game went goalless until deep in the third period: Avto had the better of the opening stanza, Ak Bars responded in kind after the intermission, but Artyom Lukoyanov’s 52nd-minute effort finally gave the home team the lead. It wasn’t enough to win the game outright, though: Francis Pare converted a power play chance in the 56th minute, and it was off to overtime.
Thursday 27 - Ak Bars @ Kunlun Red Star 2-1
Red Star slipped to a fourth successive defeat despite a battling performance against the Eastern Conference leader. The opening exchanges were tight, with shots on goal at a premium in the first period. The home team made a brighter start to the second, and might have gone in front when Brandon DeFazio rattled the piping after dispossessing Andrei Markov, but Ak Bars eventually broke the deadlock in the deadlock thanks to Alexander Svitov’s power play effort. Red Star tied the game through DeFazio – a goal created by Wojtek Wolski’s hustling and harrying of Albert Yarullin behind the visitor’s net – but Ak Bars claimed the win thanks to youngster Nikita Yazkov’s fourth goal of the season.
The day before the game Metallurg and Ak Bars agreed to trade forwards, with 24-year-old Andrei Chibisov moving to Magnitogorsk and Russian international Yaroslav Kosov, also 24, heading to Kazan
Saturday 29 - Ak Bars @ Admiral Vladivostok 2-0
Conference leaders Ak Bars were given a tough test in Eastern Russia with a hard-fought victory. The early action brought no goals, but there was an intense confrontation with both goalies on top form. Admiral’s Igor Bobkov even pulled off a save from Artyom Lukoyanov’s penalty shot early in the second period after Jonathon Blum was called for hooking. The deadlock was finally broken late in the middle session when Atte Ohtamaa put the visitor in front. That prompted Admiral to step up its offense in the third period, but Emil Garipov was in unbeatable form, finishing the game with 30 saves for his third shut-out of the season. Ak Bars’ day was complete in the final second when Jiri Sekac shot into an empty net to complete the win.
Monday 31 - Ak Bars @ Amur 1-3
An early goal, an opponent reduced to five defensemen after two players were ejected from the game … but Ak Bars could not manage any more than a 1-3 reverse at Amur in a Hallowe’en shock. The first period belonged the visitor. Alexander Svitov opened the scoring in the third minute, and Amur’s Denis Kuzmin was sent back to the locker room after a swipe between an opponent’s legs in the 13th minute. But there was evidence of a ghost in the Ak Bars machine: that major penalty went unpunished, Amur got to the intermission just one goal behind. Then the nightmare began for Ak Bars. Tomas Zohorna tied the game on the power play early in the second, and Kirill Rasskazov put the home team in front shortly afterwards. Maxim Kondratyev was the second Amur player to be removed after a high hit in the 25th minute, but once again Ak Bars was unable to convert the power play. Back at full strength, the Ushenin twins combined for Alexander Gorshkov to make it 3-1. There was no way back. Juha Metsola held Ak Bars at bay in the final stanza; Jan Kolar’s late misconduct penalty took Amur’s penalty tally to 64 minutes, but there was no power play goal for the visitor
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