Zvyagin’s first goal sets up second win over Ufa
11 February 2025
Kunlun Red Star 4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2
Stepan Zvyagin, take a bow! Our on-loan Belarusian forward picked a great time to score his first goal for the Dragons, restoring our lead late in the second period. Zvyagin’s effort turned out to be the game-winner as Red Star snapped a four-game skid and faced down one of the KHL’s in-form offenses. It also completed a double over Viktor Kozlov’s team following our 5-2 win in Bashkortostan early in the season.
There was a familiar look to the line-up for Tuesday’s game. Jeremy Smith, back home after All-Star duty in Novosibirsk, again served as understudy to Patrik Rybar in goal while Hudson Elynuik sat this one out. His place on the fourth line went to Zvyagin, elevated from 13th forward.
And we got off to a strong start. Ufa took the first penalty of the game and Luke Lockhart produced a neat redirect on Spencer Foo’s shot to give us a third-minute lead. There were more chances to come in the first; Austin Wong, Danny O’Regan, Jan Drozg and, foreshadowing what was to come, Zvyagin all went close. And that pressure got its reward late in the session when Drozg doubled the lead off a no-look O’Regan helper.
Salavat Yulaev was missing Josh Leivo, the free-scoring Canadian with an eye on Sergei Mozyakin’s record of 48 goals in a regular season. But in recent games, Sheldon Rempal has also been in blistering form and he played his part in a double strike. The first blow came 20 seconds after our second goal when Dennis Yan halved the deficit. Then, right on the hooter, Alexander Chmelevski’s power play tally tied the game. Rempal assisted on both and suddenly a two-goal lead had evaporated in a couple of minutes.
So, at the start of the second period, we had to do it all over again. Colin Campbell hit the post and, throughout the frame, we kept asking questions of Alexander Samonov in the Ufa net. And the goalie was all out of answers in the 39th minute when Zvyagin’s big moment arrived. Harrying and hassling in the Salavat zone kept our attack alive and when Doyle Somerby banged in a shot from the blue line, Zvyagin was between the hash marks to get a crucial touch and take the puck away from Samonov’s grasp.
A penalty on Wong early in the third put us under pressure and when the puck fell for Rempal all alone on the doorstep, a goal seemed inevitable. But Rybar came up big, getting a pad behind the shot and preserving our lead. Not surprisingly, Salavat did not let things rest there. The visitor piled on the pressure in the final stanza as it sought the tying goal that could lift it to second place in the Eastern Conference.
But there were chances at both ends. Tyler Graovac hit the bar, and then seven minutes into the action Kyle Rau potted his second goal for the club. And did so in some style. Adam Clendenning drilled a feed into the danger zone, where Rau extended his stick to steer a fast-moving puck up over Samonov’s shoulder and into the top corner. That’s a play you’ll be seeing plenty of times in this week’s highlight reel, and the 4-2 lead gave us some much-needed breathing space.
There was more to come at both ends. O’Regan danced through the visiting defense and almost added a fifth, before Yaroslav Likhachyov bravely threw himself in the path of Alexei Vasilevsky’s shot to deny Salavat a way back into the game. A sore ankle is a small price to pay for a win that keeps those playoff hopes alive and ramps up the ante ahead of Thursday’s battle against Torpedo.
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