Penalty trouble sinks battling Dragons
13 February 2025
Kunlun Red Star 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4
In a must-win game, the Dragons more than matched Torpedo for long spells on Thursday. However, penalty trouble cost Red Star dearly. In a game that was destined to set the tone for the final lap of the race for the playoffs, Kunlun was enjoying the better of proceedings until the start of the third period. Then two power play goals in six minutes turned it away from us.
After Tuesday’s great win over Salavat Yulaev, Mikhail Kravets made no changes to the team. And that line-up made a strong start to this important game. There were regular chances in the first period. Danny O’Regan got an early breakaway, but could not beat Ivan Kulbakov. Then Danny set up Kyle Rau; again Kulbakov found the answer.
At the other end, Patrik Rybar had things to do as well. Early on he stoned Yegor Vinogradov from close range; later he stopped Nikita Shavin.
The breakthrough arrived in the 18th minute thanks to Luke Lockhart. Big battles call for warriors to step up, and throughout his long KRS career nobody could doubt that Locky is a true warrior for our cause. It started with O’Regan on the forecheck, harrying the visiting defense and forcing a turnover. Rau’s shot was spilled by Kulbakov and the rebound presented Lockhart with his favorite kind of chance on the slot.
That was all that separated the teams after an even first period and the second continued in similar vein – right down to the timing of the only goal. An interception by Yury Pautov gave O’Regan an early chance to double the lead, then Spencer Foo went close on the breakaway but fired into Kulbakov’s pads.
At the other end, Rybar was busy again, producing a flurry of saves. The rest of the team contributed on defense as well: Alexander Sharov had to be helped to the bench after taking a painful puck to the knee from Bogdan Konyushkov’s shot, and Adam Clendening did a great job to protect the lead when Rybar was caught out of position following a save and Vinogradov threatened to walk it in from behind the net.
However, after 38 minutes the resistance was broken. Torpedo got on a rare counterattack and Dmitry Kagarlitsky tied the game. Allowing a goal so close to the intermission is often a psychological blow – or a mental boost for the opposition – and today it proved costly. The third period began with a penalty on Ian McCoshen, and the power play saw Torpedo get in front on a goal from Slava Voynov.
That unhappy pattern repeated itself a few minutes later. This time, the Dragons took two penalties and Voynov converted the five-on-three power play to open a 3-1 lead. In the closing stages, our guys threw everything into trying to save the game. At times, Igor Larionov’s team – once noted for its commitment to attacking play – was forced to deploy, in effect, four defensemen to stem the tide. And, confirming that our luck was well and truly out, a crazy deflection off one of the officials gifted a fourth goal to visitor in the closing stages, giving the final score a flattering look for Torpedo.
The hooter leaves grim reading in the Western Conference standings. Torpedo now has an 11-point lead over Red Star, and games are starting to run out. Of course, there is still time enough in the season to turn things around, but as well as winning our games, we need the teams above us to suffer a serious loss of form. For now, though, the focus switches to Saturday and grabbing victory at home to Vityaz.
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