Avtomobilist with half a dozen

When the second-worst team in a league receives the best it is not very likely that there is going to be a surprise and this also wasn't the case today. Still the guests Dynamo Moscow needed a penalty shot - which was transformed by Konstantin Kasyanchuk - to open the score during their visit to Amur Khabarovsk at 14:25. In a middle period full of penalties Alexander Ovechkin earned the game-winner at 36:21. Denis Kokarev even extended the Dynamo lead another time. The only unhappy Dynamo player should be Alexander Sharychenkov as only six seconds were missing for a shutout - instead Nikita Gusev managed to score the consolation goal for Amur which now stayed even without a single point during their last six matches. For Dynamo it was the 6th win in the last 7 matches.

SKA St. Petersburg also continued their winning streak to stay in contact with Dynamo by defeating Sibir Novosibirsk away with 2-1. Patrick Thoresen and Petr Prucha already made it 2-0 for the guests until 07:13. SKA went on to concentrate on their defense while Sibir only could answer by cutting the lead to the half through Viktor Drugov at 56:59.

League newcomers Lev Prague were not able to close the gap towards their rivals Slovan Bratislava but at least saved a valuable point when they received Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk today. Tomas Rachunek put Lev in front early in the first period but around "half time" Stanislav Alshevsky was able to tie the game for Neftekhimik. When Alshevsky sat in the penalty box it was Igor Polygalov who turned the result around for Neftekhimik late at 58:10 with a shorthander and the guests looked like the sure winner. Now Lev risked everything by pulling out their goalie Tomas Pöpperle for an additional forward and this was rewarded with the equalizer through Nicklas Danielsson with just 11 seconds left to play on the clock. In the overtime Pyotr Khokhryakov used Neftekhimik's dominance to give his team the extra point with his strike at 62:32.

Ukrainian side Donbass Donetsk lay behind with two goals after the first period against top team Avangard Omsk. Andrei Ivanov and Tomas Zaborsky had scored for the guests. Donbass dominated the following two periods but found no way past the strong Karri Ramo who earned a shutout with a total of 40 saves. For Avangard the three points meant the return to the top of Eastern Conference.

Bottom side Spartak Moscow showed another terrible performance of their forwards but at least they broke a four-game non-scoring streak. Late in the second Nigel Dawes brought guests Barys Astana from Kazakhstan in front before Mikhail Yunkov used a power play situation to save the hosts a point late at 55:03. After a scoreless overtime, Nigel Dawes also transformed the decisive penalty to give the extra point to Barys in the third round of shootout.

CSKA Moscow used the bad momentum of today's opponents Salavat Yualyev Ufa to defeat them 4-1. After the early home lead through Andrei Sergeyev in power play, the guests scored the equalizer at 16:30 shorthanded, only to see how CSKA restored the lead in the same power play just 39 seconds later. Mikhail Grabosky doubled the lead for CSKA in the middle period before Oleg Kvasha made everythign clear with his empty netter with exactly one minute left. For Ufa it was the third consecutive loss during their current road trip and they received 10 (!) goals against in the last two matches - unfortunately for them they'll continue the season with another two away games in January.

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, best known as by far last in the KHL table, showed a lot of offensive power during today's visit to Atlant Moscow Oblast and finnished with them winning 6-2. Vasily Streltsov and Stanislav Zhmakin with a double let Avtomobilist run away with a three-goal lead after the first 20 minutes before Roman Rukavishnikov brought some hope back for Atlant in the middle period. Alexei Makeyev, Branislav Mezei and Rastislav Spirko destroyed these hopes fast at the begin of the third period. With five minutes left on the clock Viktor Stalberg only managed to make the result a little bit more fiendly for the hosts. After a small high at the end of November their 5th consecutive loss - three of them on home ice - let the playoffs move far away for Atlant.

In the top duel of the day Lokomotiv Yaroslavl received Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Although Sergei Plotnikov made it 1-0 for Loko already after 21 seconds on a rebound and the hosts were the better team during the begin of the match, they completely lost the controll over the game after the equalizer for Magnitka out of nowhere when Mats Zuccarello received a pass from Justin Hodgman from behind the goal to fire the puck into the wide open net. Denis Platonov gave Magnitka the lead for the first time at 24:04 before several penalties on both sides avoided the game action to develop further. Still a double through Ryan O'Reilly and Mats Zuccarello with the end of the middle period meant the early decision in favour of the guests. Sergei Bernatsky even added another one in the last 20 minutes. Metallurg ended their three-game road trip with wins only and 15 (!) goals scored.

Last but not least Traktor Chelyabinsk couldn't use their lead at the end of the first period during their visit to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod through Maxim Karpov. Instead the home side came back within the first five minutes of the middle period with goals through Alexander Semin and Peter Schastlivy. With three seconds left to play in regulation Mikhail Varnakov used an empty netter for the 3-1. The win was even more important for Torpedo as they re-entered the playoff spots in the West by getting past Donbass Donetsk.

 

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