A Ural adventure

20 November 2024

The world looks different after a good win. Sunday’s shut-out success against Dinamo Minsk sees the Dragons looking forward to a tough road trip with greater optimism. This week we’re off to the Urals to take on the top two in the Eastern Conference before swinging home via Tatarstan and a game at Neftekhimik.

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (a), Nov. 21, 1700 Moscow Time

Last season: A 5-2 win at home to the Motormen snapped a long run of often heavy defeats against this opponent. That was a game of happy families: goals for Tyler and Austin Wong, points for both Spencer and Parker Foo. Now it’s time to snap a long run of losses in Yekaterinburg, where our last four visits have yielded just one goal.

Familiar faces: When Jesse Blacker joined the Dragons in 2017, it was the start of a long attachment to the KHL. After one year with us he moved on to Barys and has been a key part of Avto’s D-core since 2021.

Setting the scene: This could be Jan Drozg’s first game for the Dragons. The Slovenian international forward joined us on Monday from Amur, where he played since 2022. Jan, 25, had 6 (2+4) points in 23 games this season on a struggling Tigers team, but his career KHL tally is a rather healthier 58 (22+36) in 118, including five points in six playoff appearances last season.

If involved, Jan will face a test in his first game for his new club. Avtomobilist is cruising along in second place in the Eastern Conference, despite the end of its seven-game winning streak on Monday when it suffered a surprise loss at home to Neftekhimik. As usual, Stephane da Costa, Brooks Macek and crowd favorite Anatoly Golyshev are among the leading scorers in Yekaterinburg.

Traktor Chelyabinsk (a), Nov. 23, 1400 Moscow Time

Last season: Both our games against Traktor ended as 2-5 losses. The Dragons last defeated this opponent in overtime on Oct. 7, 2022.

Familiar faces: None

Setting the scene: When Traktor hired Benoit Groulx as head coach in the summer, the decision raised eyebrows in Russia. It wasn’t so much that Groulx lacks the credentials to coach at this level – his resume includes World Junior gold in 2014/15 and several years as a head coach in the AHL. It was more surprise that the club management was so willing to dispose of Alexei Zavarukhin’s services after he led the team to the conference final after taking over from Anvar Gatiyatulin in Nov. 2023.

However, three months into the season, few would question Groulx’s appointment. Shrugging off the usual issues of adaptation time for Canadian coaches, he’s got his Traktor team playing successful and attractive hockey. Traktor is third in scoring the KHL – only SKA and Torpedo have more goals – and it leads the Eastern standings, four points ahead of Avtomobilist. Much of the success is built on familiar contributors: Maxim Shabanov, Vladimir Tkachyov, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and goalie Zach Fucale have all impressed this season. But the addition of forward Andrei Svetlakov, combative center Alexander Kadeikin and defensive scoring leader Steven Kempfer has added a new dimension to Traktor’s play.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Nov. 25, 1900 Moscow Time

Last season: Our two games with the Wolves came in quick succession and both resulted in 4-3 wins for the away team. In Nizhnekamsk we were three seconds from victory in regulation but had to get through a shoot-out to secure the points. Luke Lockhart scored in the game and potted the deciding shot in the extras.

Familiar faces: This game promises to be a veritable reunion, with four ex-Dragons on the Neftekhimik roster. Goalie Artyom Zagidulin got his first serious KHL experience on loan with us in 2016/17, while forward German Tochilkin followed a similar path in 2022/23. Defenseman Nikita Khlystov had two spells in 2017/18 and 2021/22, while Slava Leshchenko probably made the biggest impact at KRS with 14 (8+6) points in 33 games during our troubled 2020/21 campaign.

Setting the scene: In the past two seasons, Neftekhimik started slowly and got steadily stronger. This term, it’s been almost the opposite for Oleg Leontyev’s team. After winning four of its first five games, times have been hard for the Wolves: a six-game losing streak and two five-game skids pushed the team down the standings. Despite this, Neftekhimik remains in seventh place in the East and has a five-point cushion over Sibir in ninth at the time of writing.

One striking factor is the frequency with which Neftekhimik’s games go to overtime. The last three games brought two OT losses before a win in regulation at Avtomobilist; in total, 11 from 29 games have gone beyond 60 minutes. So far, only three of those have ended in victory, but the eight points from losing in the extras currently represent much of the difference between Neftekhimik and KRS in the overall standings.