Dragons deny in Astana to snap losing streak

29 October 2024

Barys Astana 0 Kunlun Red Star 2

The skid is history. After five losses, the Dragons got back to winning ways with victory over Barys. Our guys built on a strong performance against CSKA last Friday to blank the resurgent Kazakhs in their own building and move off the foot of the Western Conference.

There was a boost ahead of the game with news that captain Spencer Foo was back on the team. He joined his brother Parker on the third line, centered by Colin Campbell. Like Spencer, Campbell has also recently returned from injury and the pair brings some much-needed experience to the offense. Austin Wong was the man to make way, while Jeremy Smith’s return to the starting goalie role was the only other change from last week’s OT loss against CSKA.

Smitty enjoyed some great protection from his defense today. Our guys blocked 21 shots, limiting Barys to just 19 shots on target. That went a long way to securing Smitty first shut-out in 11 months – last time was on Nov. 23 last year against Ak Bars – and our second of this season. The second period was especially impressive: Barys was held to a solitary shot on goal through 20 minutes, while at the other end Nikita Boyarkin faced 17 attempts from our guys.

That pressure led to the breakthrough in a tight game. Late in that middle frame, Red Star got ahead on a Rourke Chartier goal. Previously noted as a power play specialist, Rourke potted his first of the season at equal strength, dinking the puck over Boyarkin’s outstretched pad after Ian McCoshen’s thunderous shot cannoned back off the boards.

It was just reward for a committed and disciplined display. As well as all those blocked shots, our guys did a great job of staying out of the box: one early indiscretion from Adam Clendening aside, we got through this game without allowing Barys power play chances.

Of course, over 60 minutes of hockey you have to expect the opposition to get a clear scoring chance or two. And that’s where Smith jumped into action. When called upon, he got the job done – and never more significantly than midway through the third when he slid across the crease to pouch Ilya Khokhlov’s one-timer from the left-hand circle. It says much for Smitty’s concentration that he faced no shots in the previous three minutes, nor in the next four, but was still able to jump right into the play when required.

If there was one thing missing from the Red Star performance, it was the inability to finish the game. A second goal early in the final stanza would surely have sunk a Barys team still dealing with the shock of a third head coach and a major overhaul of the roster. Instead, a combination of missed chances and good goaltending from Boyarkin (who finished with 30 saves) meant that the game remained live until the end. However, once Boyarkin went to the bench and Barys prepared a final storm, Doyle Somerby put his first of the season into the empty net to seal the deal with 18 seconds on the clock. And it was one for the empty net connoisseur, with Somerby gathering in a broken play behind his own net and spotting a shooting lane from his own goal line to end home resistance and secure the win.