Graovac scores twice on 200th KHL appearance

2 February 2025

Kunlun Red Star 3 Ak Bars Kazan 6

Tyler Graovac scored the second-fastest goal in KRS history as the Dragons made a flying start to Sunday’s game against Ak Bars. However, our guys could not build on that foundation and eventually fell to a 3-6 loss after an exciting game in Mytishchi.

In the previous game against Sochi, Red Star generated plenty of offense, only to be frustrated by the visiting goalie. Today, Mikhail Kravets decided to stick with the same line-up, apart from giving Patrik Rybar the start in goal ahead of Jeremy Smith. The hope was that our forwards would get the rewards they deserved on Friday – and that hope was fulfilled from the opening face-off.

Ak Bars tried to force an early opening, but lost the puck in our zone. Adam Clendening brought the puck away, Jayden Halbgewachs took it into the danger zone and Graovac circled the slot before scoring from close range. It was just the start our guys needed.

The goal was timed at 33 seconds: not quite as fast as Brandon Yip’s goal on Dynamo Moscow in 2022/23 (27 seconds for that one), but one second quicker than Alexei Toropchenko’s tally against CSKA.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to build on that early goal. Amir Miftakhov made a couple of big stops to prevent Halbgewachs or Foo extending the lead, and midway through the frame the visitor tied it up through Artemy Knyazev.

In the second period, Graovac got on the scoresheet again – and once again, it was a quick goal. This time, though, it was a quick response after Ak Bars went in front on the power play. The lead lasted just 38 seconds before Gravy fired home the rebound from Yaroslav Likhachyov’s shot.

After that, Foo almost profited from some lazy play by Miftakhyov, intercepting the puck behind the net and threatening a goal on the wraparound. However, the next goal came at the other end as Kirill Semyonov sent the visitor to the intermission with a 3-2 lead.

At the start of the third, Yegor Korshkov’s coast-to-coast play saw us down by two and we never really recovered. There were chances for Halbgewachs, and the Lockhart line might have pulled a goal back if Kyle Rau and Danny O’Regan hadn’t got in each other’s way as the puck bounced around the slot. Instead, the next goal came at the other end, killing the game off.

That Dmitrij Jaskin tally was not the final word, though. The teams traded goals in the last minute, and Lockhart’s power play goal six seconds before the hooter made the final score 3-6.

There isn’t much time for anyone to dwell on a couple of disappointing results here in Mytishchi. The action continues relentlessly, with our next game coming up on Tuesday when Avtomobilist is the visitor. Two days later, Dynamo Moscow is in town before a five-day lull gives a chance to regroup.

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