SKA sets record, loses game. September 28 round-up
28 September 2018
SKA set a new all-time Russian record shut-out streak before finally allowing a goal. But after Avangard stopped the clock at 326:27, the Army Men saw their seven-game winning streak halted in a shoot-out. Sibir, meanwhile, slumped to a 12th successive loss after a 1-5 mauling in Minsk. Torpedo edged Red Star in an overtime thriller, while Admiral beat Neftekhimik in a shoot-out. Ak Bars rallied to beat Amur and Vityaz snapped a four-game losing streak with success over Salavat Yulaev.
Parshin settles a thrilling battle
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Kunlun Red Star 2 OT (0-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0)
Torpedo had to dig deep to escape a first-ever defeat against Red Star, eventually claiming the verdict on Denis Parshin’s goal 15 seconds into overtime. But that barely tells the story of a game that saw two visiting players ejected and left both teams feeling they could have won it in regulation.
If the first period was somewhat tepid, the action heated up in the second. Torpedo opened the scoring through Andrew Calof in the 24th minute before Red Star took two major penalties and still found time to level the scores.
Swedish forward Johan Sundstrom was the first to go, ejected from the game for slew footing after he took away Parshin’s standing leg in center ice. Within a minute, though, Torpedo lost its advantage after Andy Miele got a minor for cross-checking and Taylor Beck tied the scores in 4-on-4 play. The Canadian forward, who scored two in Kazan on Wednesday, conjured up something special as he glided from deep in his own zone to find a shooting lane at the other end and beat Denis Kostin.
Red Star was soon back in trouble with the officials, though. Victor Bartley flicked a stick at Anton Shenfeld as the pair jockeyed for position on the slot and the visiting defenseman joined Sundstrom in the locker room. As well as the loss of another player, Red Star had to contend with an extended passage of 5-on-3 play but Torpedo was unable to find a goal.
In the third period, Torpedo found itself in penalty trouble. Vladimir Galuzin took a double minor, Calof got a misconduct tariff, then Denis Barantsev and Yury Sergiyenko followed them into the box on further minor calls. The pressure built up and eventually paid off: Marty St.Pierre celebrated his Red Star debut with a power play goal, exchanging passes with Marc-Andre Gragnani before shooting into an open net. Four minutes later, though, Dmitry Semin tied the scores and that took the action into the extras for Parshin’s quick winner.
Konkov delivers victory for Admiral
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 Admiral Vladivostok 2 SO (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Sergei Konkov netted a shoot-out winner for Admiral as the visitor came from behind to win in Nizhnekamsk. It wasn’t just in regulation that the Sailors hit back: in that shoot-out, it needed a successful attempt from Vojtech Polak to deny Neftekhimik victory and extend the series into sudden death.
Neftekhimik handed a debut to Pavel Padakin, whose short spell at Ak Bars came to an end during the week. The former Sochi favorite enjoyed plenty of ice time and converted his first attempt in the shoot-out, but it was Andrej Nestrasil who supplied the scoring touch for the host.
The Czech, not long recovered from injury, got his first of the season in only his fourth appearance when he converted a power play in the first period. The host had the better of the opening stanza but could not add to its lead and was pegged back by Alexander Ugolnikov’s goal midway through the second period. The third was fairly even but neither side could find a winner without recourse to a shoot-out.
Ak Bars rotates roster, sees off Amur
Ak Bars Kazan 3 Amur Khabarovsk 1 (0-0, 0-1, 3-0)
Ak Bars rested Danis Zaripov and Andrei Markov – and almost paid the price against an Amur team that threatened to pull off a surprise win.
Although the home team enjoyed plenty of attacking play, it struggled to score. And, as so often happens, that was punished when Amur got a chance to go forward itself. Late in the second period Alexander Gorshkov took that chance and the visitor went ahead.
The goal stung the host into renewed action. Seconds into the final frame, Jiri Sekac tied the game. Then, in the 47th minute, the Czech picked up an assist as Anton Lander put Ak Bars in front. Alexander Burmistrov added a third late on to wrap up a victory that was, for a time, more difficult than the final scoreline suggests.
SKA sets shut-out record
SKA St. Petersburg 2 Avangard Omsk 3 SO (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
SKA took its current shut-out street past the 300-minute mark to set an all-time Russian record for blanking the opposition. After conceding a goal to Spartak’s Gleb Shashkov early in a 2-1 victory in Petersburg on Sep. 14, the Army Men recorded four successive shut-out victories to see off Severstal, Dynamo, Lokomotiv and Sibir and move to within eight-and-a-half minutes of Lada’s record of 305:56, set by Jiri Trvaj in 2003/04.
Photo: 28.09.18. KHL Championship 2018-2019. SKA (St.Petersburg) – Avangard (Omsk region)
It took Max Talbot’s 29th minute goal to snap the sequence. He pounced on a chance on the slot after David Desharnais did the hard work out on the boards. That stopped the clock at 326:27 since Shashkov’s goal. It also ended Magnus Hellberg’s individual shut-out streak at 206:27; Igor Shestyorkin played two games in the series and is currently on 132:20 since he was beaten by Sakari Manninen in a 4-3 overtime win against Jokerit.
Talbot’s goal cancelled out a first of the season from Jarno Koskiranta in the first period. In the third period, SKA went in front again thanks to Nail Yakupov, but Kirill Semyonov pegged the host back once again with a 54th-minute goal that sent the game to overtime after Alexander Perezhogin spared goalie Igor Bobkov’s blushes with a vital late intervention to deny Pavel Datsyuk a winner.
Overtime ended goalless and Avangard came out on top in the shoot-out thanks to Ilya Mikheyev’s successful attempt and Bobkov’s save from Nail Yakupov. Earlier, Datsyuk and ex-SKA forward Sergei Shirokov had converted their shots.
No end in sight for Sibir’s losing run
Dinamo Minsk 5 Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (2-0, 1-0, 2-1)
Sibir’s problems continue. After dispensing of the services of experienced forward Enver Lisin during the week, the club handed a debut to fit-again defenseman Alexander Loginov in Minsk. The Siberians were looking to snap a nightmare run of 11 straight losses. However, two quick goals in the ninth minute left Alexander Andriyevsky’s team with a mountain to climb and the record-breaking run stretched to 12 defeats since the start of the season.
The visitor might have made a perfect start: just 10 seconds into the game Sibir found itself on the power play. But Dinamo did well with its PK and there was little danger for Jhonas Enroth as Sergei Kostitsyn sat out his minor. By contrast, Minsk took its first power play opportunity, punishing a ‘too many men’ indiscretion as Teemu Pulkkinen potted his fifth of the season. Just 23 seconds later, Evgeny Lisovets made it 2-0 and Sibir had that familiar sinking feeling.
A second-period goal from Patrick Wiercioch, and another disciplined penalty kill for the host, took the game further away from Sibir. Dmitry Sayustov’s first for the club offered a lifeline early in the third frame, but Denis Kazionov added a fourth for Dinamo and Lisovets got his second of the night late on.
Reversal of fortunes
Vityaz Moscow Region 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (0-1, 2-1, 1-0)
Vityaz snapped a four-game losing streak – and ended Salavat Yulaev’s four-game winning run – thanks to a late goal from Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi.
Photo: 28.09.18. KHL Championship 2018-2019 Vityaz (Moscow Region) – Salavat Yulaev (Ufa)
The visitor took the lead in the first period through Vyacheslav Solodukhin. The 30-year-old former Vityaz man moved on to three goals in 10 games this season having mustered just eight in the two previous campaigns.
However, Vityaz turned the game around in the second period. Marek Hrivik tied it up, converting Alexander Yevseyenkov’s well-placed pass in the 23rd minute. Then Borna Rendulic put the home team in front seconds after a fight involving Igor Golovkov and the visitor’s Vladimir Zharkov.
That lead was short-lived: Vityaz took a penalty and Pyotr Khokhryakov made it 2-2. However, the home team was not to be denied. Late in the third period, Shvets-Rogovoi unleashed a wrister from the blue line and, with Juha Metsola screened by Pavel Chernov, the shot found its target.
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