A Ural goal rush and Avto’s 11th win. September 27 round-up
27 September 2018
The Urals was the place to be in today’s KHL. While Avtomobilist was reeling off its 11th successive victory in Yekaterinburg, Metallurg and Dynamo shared 11 goals in Magnitogorsk. Elsewhere, CSKA beat Spartak in the Moscow derby, Sakari Manninen inspired Jokerit to victory at Slovan and there were road wins for Lokomotiv and Sochi.
Goal flurry in Magnitogorsk
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6 Dynamo Moscow 5 OT (3-2, 1-2, 1-1, 1-0)
A hugely entertaining game in Magnitogorsk ended in an overtime victory for the host – but only after the teams shared 10 goals in regulation.
Photo: 27.09.18. KHL Championship 2018-2019. Metallurg (Magnitogorsk) – Dynamo (Moscow)
Sergei Mozyakin, Matt Ellison and Vadim Shipachyov each scored twice in an absorbing encounter. Mozyakin opened the scoring early on, but Magnitka’s lead was followed by a goal flurry. In the space of four first-period minutes, the teams exchanged four goals. Miks Indrasis and Daniil Tarasov put Dynamo 2-1 up, Wojtek Wolski and Viktor Antipin swiftly restored Metallurg’s advantage.
Dynamo did not give up. Dmitry Kagarlitsky tied the scores early in the second, Ellison made it 4-3, then Shipachyov took us to the second intermission with the teams locked at 4-4. Mozyakin had Metallurg in front yet again midway through the final frame, but Shipachyov’s response was swift. Overtime was needed.
Finally, Ellison settled the outcome. Dynamo missed a great chance to win it, and Metallurg went up the ice and produced the decisive play. Ellison fired a shot against the bar, Maksim Matushkin collected the rebound and returned it to the Canadian, and Ellison’s second attempt was good.
11th win in a row for Avto
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 Severstal Cherepovets 0 (0-0, 2-0, 2-0)
Avtomobilist continued its winning start to the season with a 4-0 victory at home to Severstal. The visitor suffered a fifth loss in six games.
Photo: 27.09.18. KHL Championship 2018-2019. Avtomobilist (Yekaterinburg) – Severstal (Cherepovets)
The opening exchanges were tight: neither side found the net in the first period, and the teams shared 41 attempts between them over the first two sessions and Carter Ashton had two good opportunities for the visitor only to be denied by Jakub Kovar. However, by the second intermission, Avto had a 2-0 lead. First, Ivan Vishnevsky’s slap-shot had too much for Dominik Furch. Then Nigel Dawes added a power play tally.
In the third period the home team enjoyed greater control of the game. Stephane Da Costa contributed an eye-catching goal and Dawes got his second of the night, scoring from a tight angle to wrap up the 4-0 scoreline. Avtomobilist now has 11 successive wins.
Yurtaikin’s first goal help Loko to victory
Traktor Chleyabinsk 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (1-1, 0-1, 0-0)
Traktor resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes after another heavy loss on Monday, but could not avoid a four defeat in five games as Lokomotiv took this game.
The host opened the scoring in the sixth minute when defenseman Igor Isayev released Alexander Rybakov for a duel with Ilya Konovalov. Rybakov did the business, Traktor went in front. The lead lasted until late in the opening frame when Lokomotiv tied it up through Danil Yurtaikin’s first ever KHL goal. The 21-year-old forward had collected four assists from eight outings this season after failing to produce a point in 20 appearances for Loko and Amur last term.
Early in the third period, former Sibir forward Stepan Sannikov potted his third of the season to put Lokomotiv in front for the first time – and it proved to be the game winner. Traktor managed to improve its leaky defense – 23 goals allowed in four games prior to this one – but could not generate sufficient offense to take anything from the game.
Four points for Manninen as Jokerit hits back
Slovan Bratislava 3 Jokerit Helsinki 5 (2-1, 1-1, 0-3)
Sakari Manninen scored twice as Jokerit came from behind to win at Slovan.
The home team led at the end of the first and second periods before the Finns responded strongly in the third to seal the points. Slovan took an early lead through Rudolf Cerveny’s power play goal, only for Manninen to assist on Pekka Jormakka’s equalizer. Within two minutes, though, Slovan was back in front and this time Ivan Svarny got the goal.
Manninen scored his first of the night to make it 2-2 early in the middle frame, but the home team responded once again with Michal Sersen restoring the lead. Jeff Taffe collected his second assist of the night.
In the third period, Jokerit tied the game at 3-3 on a short-handed goal from Marko Anttila before another Manninen assist enabled Henri Ikonen to put the visitor up for the first time in the 45th minute. 58 seconds later, Manninen scored his second of the night to give Jokerit some breathing space.
Sochi stops high-flying Dinamo
Dinamo Riga 1 HC Sochi 4 (0-2, 0-0, 1-2)
Sochi surprised Dinamo Riga, and not even another goal from Linus Videll could save the Latvians from a heavy home defeat.
Kirill Kapustin gave the visitor the ideal start with a third-minute goal and Nikita Tochitsky made it 2-0 in the 11th minute. That saw Timur Bilyalov come on in place of Kristers Gudlevskis, but Dinamo was unable to find a foothold in the game. The second period saw Sochi have the better of the play and it wasn’t until the 56th minute that Videll – Dinamo’s game-winner on Monday – pull one back for the host.
There was no grandstand finish this time, though. Nikita Shchitov made it 3-1 on the power play and Damir Rakhimullin found the empty net for his first KHL goal to wrap up the win.
Grigorenko’s double defeats Spartak
CSKA Moscow 2 Spartak Moscow 1 (1-0, 1-0, 0-1)
Two power play goals from Mikhail Grigorenko gave CSKA the verdict in this Moscow derby – but it was a close affair as Spartak battled all the way against the Army Men.
Photo: 27.09.18. KHL Championship 2018-2019. CSKA (Moscow) – Spartak (Moscow)
The first period saw the host have the better of the play but struggle to carve out clear chances on Julius Hudacek’s net. The Slovak stopper was only beaten in the ninth minute when Grigorenko took advantage of a hooking call against Andrei Kuteikin. Another penalty early in the second saw Grigorenko double the lead, but again CSKA found it hard to generate good looks at Hudacek’s net despite enjoying plenty of possession in attacking areas.
That all meant that the game was very much alive going into the third period and when Alexander Khokhlachyov pulled one back for Spartak with 10 minutes to play, the home fans faced a nervous finale. At last the game became stretched, and there were more chances at both ends, but CSKA could not find a tying goal.
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