Malkin and Ovechkin with assists in their KHL debut

20 Sep 2012 | Dennis Mende

The first NHL stars who came to Russia due to the lockout, have stepped on the ice but not all had an winning debut. As they all had only their first competitive match this season, there is still a lot to do for the NHlers to adjust to KHL fitness level.

Severstal Cherepovets earned their second win of the season by defeating Metallurg Novokuznetsk away with the score of 5-3. Metallurg was in front 1-0 and 3-1 but both teams went with a 3-3 into the second intermission. In the third period Gennady Stolyarov turned the result around before Mikko Lehtonen decided everything at 57:18.

On home ice Sibir Novosibirsk beat Vityaz Chekhov 3-2 after shootout and extended their winning streak to four games in a row. Stepan Sannikov had brought them in front at 16:31 before Brian Fahey and Alexander Korolyuk were succesful for Vityaz. At 46:27 Nikita Zaitsev let the game go to overtime. This stayed goalless and Sibir's Finnish forward Jori Lehtera as only goal scorer in the shootout won the extra point for Sibir that stays first in Chernyshyov Division with 14 points.

In the duel of Kharlamov Division's two bottom clubs Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg received Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk. When Denis Sokolov scored the 4-1 for Avtomobilist at 40:29 the game seemd pretty decided but until 47:19 a double of Dmitry Altaryov kept the result as close as to a one goal difference. In the end the small lead was enough for Avtomobilist to secure their second win of the season. With 6 seconds left to play Branislav Mezei and Dmitry Altaryov were punished with match penalties.

It was a close top game between Salavat Yulayev Ufa and Metallurg Magnitogorsk, with the better end for the hosts. Both lockout stars Evgeny Makin and Sergei Gonchar added an assist for Magnitogorsk. Especially the assists by Malkin to Enver Lisin was important as it was the equalizer for the 3-3 at 59:20 that secured the guests a point. At this time Magnitka already had played without their goalie Ari Ahonen and an additional attacker instead. But man of the match was an Ufa player. Sergei Zinovyev won the extra point for his side in overtime at 64:41. As he already had scored twice in the regular time he earned his first hat trick of the season.

In another classic Ak Bars Kazan crushed their opponents Traktor Chelyabinsk in the third period with four consecutive goals to regain the lead of Kharlamov Division. Within 8 1/2 minutes the home side made it 6-2 after the match was tied until the second intermission.

In his return to Dynamo Moscow, the club where he started his professional career, Alexander Ovechkin could celebrate a solid 7-2 win over Belarussian side Dinamo Minsk. The guests were even twice in front but six consecutive strikes let current Gagarin Cup holders Dynamo gain the advantage. Ovechkim himself gave an assist to Alexei Tsvetkov who had scored the 6-2 in power play at 55:22.

At the moment Czech KHL newcomers Lev Prague are just unstoppable. Against last year's Gagarin Cup finalists Avangard Omsk they gained their fifth consecutive win this season. Twice Jakub Klepis and Jiri Novotny scored for Lev while Alexander Nesterov had made it 1-1 for Avangard.

Still without their NHL reinforcements, CSKA Moscow lost at home 1-3 against Kazakh side Barys Astana. Denis Parshin at 21:41 scored the lead for CSKA but even before the second intermision Nigel Dawes and Dustin Boyd turned the match around. The two gave an assist to each others goal while Brandon Bochenski assisted in both strikes. In the last minute of play Konstantin Rudenko decided everything with an empty-netter. CSKA only won four points in the last four matches. Barys Astana now has eight points and changed spots with Avangard Omsk at the bottom of Chernyshyov Division.