Penalty shot stunts and a spectacular winner

6 September 2024

Kunlun Red Star 5 Admiral Vladivostok 4 OT

Coach, what should I do with a penalty shot? Oh, I dunno, Tomas, how about ambling down the ice until you feel like you want to just batter it past the goalie?

OK, you might not find it in any coaching manual, but this was a stylish way for our Slovak star to open the scoring on Admiral in the Dragons’ first home game of the season. And, while there’s endless scope to discuss the aesthetic merits of deke and dangle when it comes to these things, the big thing is to put the puck in the net. Vasily Demchenko was as surprised as everyone else as the rubber ripped past him and Red Star had the all-important goal midway through the first period.

Jurco’s opener wasn’t the final word in an entertaining game; an almost immediate Admiral equalizer ensured that. But it was perhaps the most memorable moment of an enthralling clash in Mytishchi.

Of course, our offense was not only about an unconventional penalty shot. At the start of the second period, Colin Campbell and Nail Yakupov scored twice in the space of 69 seconds to open a 3-1 lead. For both, it was the second of the season after finding the Dynamo net in Wednesday’s opener. Campbell made it 2-1, picking up a loose puck in center ice, bringing it forward and unleashing a devastating angled shot from the left-hand circle. Then Yakupov banged home a one-timer from a similar spot after Tyler Graovac’s face-off win. Demchenko left the game, Ilya Konovalov came in for his Admiral debut.

Against Dynamo, 3-1 was good enough to win it. Against Admiral, there was rather more to do: a power play goal from Petukhov midway through the game kept things tight.

Then came a dramatic third period. Austin Wong thought he had made it 4-2 in the 53^rd minute when he tipped home a Kyle Wood shot. That was called back, but seconds later Jurco rifled home a Rourke Chartier feed to open a two-goal lead for the first time in the game. That might have been enough to sink some teams, but the Sailors suddenly got the wind in their sails. Petukhov grabbed two late goals, one on the power play, and the Dragons were in choppy waters again.

But another masterclass from Yakupov secured the win. After a spectacular goal at Dynamo, our man produced one of the assists of the season here. Collecting the puck at the top of the circle, he set off on a tour of the Admiral zone, pulling the defense this way and that before firing in a backhand shot for Graovac to redirect into the net. A special goal to settle a special game – and extend our winning start to the season.