Surprise Wednesday in KHL

The matchday started traditionally in Khabarovsk as it is always the case during their home games due to the huge time difference towards the rest of the league. And Amur also seemed to be more awake than a terribly weak playing Slovan Bratislava. Still the hosts had to wait until 22:42 before Alexander Yunkov opened the score for them. Dmitry Lugin and Janne Lahti made everything clear with their third period strikes. Amur goalie Alexei Murygin earned a shutout but it was not too difficult for him as he only faced 14 shots on goal. For Amur, which is currently in the middle of a five-game home stint, it was the third consecutive three-point win that brings them even closer again to the playoff spots.

Also Lev Prague stayed without points at the start of their road trip but they showed a far better performance against Sibir Novosibirsk. Konstantin Glazachev and Jori Lehterä had pathed the way for the Sibir home win with their goals until 23:36 before Marcel Hossa cut this lead to the half. Despite several good efforts on both sides the result didn't change anymore during the rest of the match.

CSKA Moscow was the better team in the first period away against Metallurg Novokuznetsk but they were behind after an early goal by Nikita Vyglazov. Only minutes later though gave Sergei Barbashev the fast answer for the guests from the capital. In the middle period CSKA kept the pressure high and turned the game around through Sergei Shirokov before Janis Sprukts and Vladimir Zharkov made it a solid 4-1 away win for them.

For Severstal Cherepovets it was the second consecutive 4-3 win after shootout when they defeated the favourites from Traktor Chelyabinsk at home. Vadim Shipachyov and Vadim Berdnikov had gained an early two-goal lead for Severstal before Maxim Karpov, Yegor Dugin and Evgeny Katichev turned the result around in favour of the guests until "half time". In the last minute of the second period though Nikita Alexeyev scored the deserved equalizer for Severstal in power play. After a goalless third period and overtime the shootout had to find a winner. There Konstantin Panov and Maxim Yakutsenya missed for the guests while Vadim Berdnikov and Denis Kazionov scored for Severstal for the fast decision after only two rounds to give Severstal the extra point.

Ak Kars Kazan earned the leadership in the Eastern Conference after defeating Lokomotiv Yaroslavl away with 3-2, taking revenge for their home loss against Lokomotiv earlier this season. Already at 09:55 Emil Galimov brought the hosts from Yaroslavl in front but this goal didn't help the game much to become high-class due to many penalties on both sides. One of them led to the equalizer through Alexei Morozov at 23:29 in a 5 on 3 power play. Still Ak Bars wasn't able to stay out of the penalty box themselves and also Lokomotiv scored in a 5 on 3 through Artyom Anisimov just two minuets later to restore the lead. Another power play also led to the third period equalizer by Ak Bars. This time Janne Pesonen found the net. When the game was completely open and every outcome was possible, a strange goal by Danis Zaripov brought the late game winner for Ak  Bars at 58:52. His shot from almost the same height as the Lokomotiv goal from the left wing found its way through the pads of Loko goalie Curtis Sanford. For Loko it was the third loss in a row without a single point.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk was able to consolidate their playoff position in their away match against Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod. In the first period Matt Ellison and Martin Thörnberg had turned around the initial guest lead through Renat Mamashev for the Torpedo. This was followed by a stellar performance of Czech Petr Koukal whose three consecutive strikes not only earned him a hat trick but also Neftekhimik a two-goal lead. Top talent Nail Yakupov assisted in two of the three goals. At 51:57 Alexei Vasilyev cut the lead to the half for Torpedo but the small 4-3 lead was enough for Neftekhimik to take all three points with them.

Bottom side Atlant Moscow Oblast is in a good form currently. After a long losing strea ended for them on Monday with a surprise win away against current Gagarin Cup holders Dynamo Moscow, they also gained three points at home against Salavat Yulayev Ufa. Nikolai Zherdev opened the score for the hosts at 38:24 who afterwards defended with a lot of passion. When Ufa had to risk everything by pulling out their goalie Iiro Tarkki for another attacker, again Zherdev scored the empty netter to decide the match at 58:34. Anton Khudobin had 26 saves for his shutout.

Vityaz Chekhov was very close to beat one of the big ones in KHL several times during the last two weeks but now they finally managed to do so. At home they defeated the star-filled team of Metallurg Magnitogorsk in overtime. Mats Zuccarello opened the score for Metallurg at 15:02 before Alexander Korolyuk answered for Vityaz in power play not even two minutes later. In the second period it was quite the opposite. First Vityaz scored through Alexei Badyukov at 38:02 before Nikolai Kulemin found the net for Magnitka with only five seconds left on the clock. Outsiders Vityaz kept the game open despite being outshot significantly and at the begin of the third period Nikita Dvurechensky even restored the lead for them. When Alexander Korolyuk had to sit in the penalty box for slashing, the guests from Magnitogorsk called a time out and were rewarded at 57:39 with a power play strike by Viktor Antipin to extend the game to overtime. Instead of giving away another good chance for a surprise win, Vityaz this time won the match through Brian Fahey who used a power play when Magnitka's superstar Evgeny Malkin was out for two minutes for kneeing. But not only enough having made possible the game winner for the opponent, the frustration was so big for Malkin that he earned himself another ten minute penalty for abuse of officials and unsportsmanlike conduct just after the final whistle. After now five losses in November Metallurg at least sees the end of the month waiting.

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg still can win ! In their away game against Dinamo Minsk they not only earned their fifth win of the season but also they ended a month long losing streak with 14 (!!!) consecutive losses. The early Avtomobilist lead through Alexander Streltsov was turned around in the first period by Dinamo's Joe Pavelski and Janne Niskala. Instead of falling apart for another time, the guests had a superb middle period that they finished with four consecutive goals through Rastislav Spirko, Vasily Streltsov, Joffrey Lupul and again Alexander Streltsov. A power play strike through Tim Stapleton cut the Avtomobilist lead to two but they didn't get nervous anymore and instead Evgeny Lapenkov used an empty netter for the early decision at 58:18.

Earlier this week SKA St. Petersburg had fired their head coach Milos Ryha as his team would not play well enough. Well, at least they had won their games and they had become first in the KHL table. In the first match without Ryha the team received a 2-3 away loss again Ukrainian league newcomers Donbass Donetsk that ended a three-game winning streak by SKA. Top star Ilya Kovalchuk scored the early first goal for the favourites from St. Petersburg already at 03:14 but Donbass went on to score three consecutive goals through Tuomas Kiiskinen, Fredrik Pettersson and Clay Wilson for a solid 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Maxim Rybin cut the lead for SKA at 53:25 but they couldn't avoid the loss anymore.

 

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