Lokomotiv wins Blinov Cup

Sunday’s action saw the conclusion of the Blinov Cup in Omsk. Lokomotiv needed victory over Barys in its final game to clinch the trophy ahead of Traktor. A 5-2 win was good enough to seal the deal, before Sibir rounded things off with an overtime win over Avangard.

At the Puchkov Tournament, SKA and Ak Bars went to a shoot-out before the host club took the verdict in Sunday’s big game.   Earlier in the day, Severstal thumped Kunlun Red Star 7-3. There were two warm-up games, with Spartak beating CSKA and Torpedo playing Norilsk for the second time in two days.

Blinov Cup

Barys Astana 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5 (0-0, 2-2, 0-3)

A three-point game from Alexander Radulov lifted Lokomotiv past Barys to secure this year’s Blinov Cup in Omsk. Going into Sunday’s play, the Railwaymen knew that any kind of victory would be good enough to push overnight leader Traktor into second place, while neither Avangard nor Sibir could crash the party in Sunday’s late game. Barys, meanwhile, was looking to finish with an elusive victory after losing every previous game here.

After a goalless first period, Barys opened the scoring slightly against the run of play in the second. Goalie Alexei Melnichuk was caught in possession behind his own net and Semyon Simonov set up Vsevolod Logvin for a simple finish. Lokomotiv then failed to convert a power play but managed to tie it up at equal strength. Daniil But’s latest powerful surge up the ice pulled two defensemen out of position. But took advantage and set up Radulov for the finish.

Although Loko continued to have the better of the play, Barys got the next goal after penalties invited Connor Smith to convert a five-on-three power play.

Two minutes later, it was 2-2. Radulov broke clear down the right, spotted Maxim Beryozkin open on the left and set him up for the tying goal.

That proved to be the springboard for a dominant third period that saw Lokomotiv win the game with something to spare. But scored on an early power, with Radulov among the assists. Then some great work from Nikita Kiryanov set up Alexander Polunin on the slot to make it 4-2. Pavel Kraskovsky wrapped it up with 10 to play, securing the game and the cup for Lokomotiv.

Avangard Omsk 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 0-1)

The final game of the tournament had no impact on the eventual winner. However, it was still a Siberian derby, with everything that implies for the teams and their fans.

Avangard started with Mikhail Berdin in goal. It was only the second appearance of the summer for the team’s recent signing from Sochi. He didn’t allow a goal, but left the game halfway through after sustaining an injury.

Earlier, the home team made a strong start. Cole Kassels missed a good opportunity, Darren Dietz fired against the crossbar and the Hawks dominated territory and possession. However, Anton Krasotkin and his Sibir team-mates withstood the pressure and the first period finished goalless.

It wasn’t until the 27th minute that Avangard finally got ahead. Stanislav Galiyev picked up a rebound off the boards and fire the puck into Krasotkin’s pads, celebrating as the rebound bounced into the net.

Midway through the session, Berdin picked up a knock and was replaced by Igor Proskuryakov. Sibir responded by putting pressure on the new goalie, helped by a roughing call against Dietz. Avangard did not lose a goal, but did lose another player when defenseman Pavel Koledov was hurt blocking a shot.

During the second intermission, the home team had a rethink and began the third period playing good, possession-based hockey. Sibir wasn’t always in danger of allowing another goal, but it was hard to see any opportunity to tie the scores. However, as time wore on, the visitor gained a toehold in the game and, finally, Georgy Belousov found a goal in the 59th minute.

Overtime lasted just 13 seconds. A defensive error by Avangard presented Taylor Beck with the puck and he fired home the winning goal for Sibir.

Puchkov Tournament

Severstal Cherepovets 7 Kunlun Red Star 3 (2-2, 3-1, 2-0)

The Steelmen got their first win of the tournament, scoring seven on Red Star just a day after the Dragons blasted seven past Russia U23s.

For the first half-hour, this game was an even battle. Severstal got up three times on goals from Gleb Ivanov, Maxim Avramenko and Daniil Davydov. However, KRS hit back each time with two goals from Luke Lockhart and the best of the bunch from Tomas Jurco. The Slovak showed great stick-handling for an audacious one-handed finish to make it 3-3 midway through the second period.

After that, though, it was all Severstal. Emil Pyanov and Mark Marin opened a two-goal advantage late in the middle stanza. And, with the Dragons tiring in their second game in successive days, Vsevolod Nikitin and a second of the day for Davydov completed a big win.

SKA St. Petersburg 4 Ak Bars Kazan 3 SO (0-2, 2-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

The big game in Petersburg saw SKA take on Ak Bars. This had the potential to determine the outcome of the tournament: neither team had lost a game to date, and Sunday’s winner would be in pole position to take the trophy.

In its first two games, Ak Bars had not allowed a single goal. Such defensive excellence, albeit against offenses weaker than SKA’s, suggested that the home team would have a hard time if it fell behind. By the end of the first period, though, the visitor was absolutely in the ascendancy. Semyon Terekhov caught SKA on the counter in the 13th minute to open the scoring, then late in the frame Dmitrij Jaskin’s one-timer doubled the Kazan lead.

However, the middle frame brought a home fightback. SKA replaced young starting goalie Artemy Pleshkov with the more experience Nikita Serebryakov and that change sent a signal to the rest of the team. True, there was assistance from some Ak Bars ill-discipline. But after the host killed a three-on-five situation, SKA began to get back into the game. Midway through the frame, Valentin Zykov quickly converted a power play chance. Late in the session, he repeated the trick to tie the scores just before the hooter.

The game changed course in the 48th minute. At one end, Jaskin was close to restoring Kazan’s lead, only for his shot to clip the post and bounce to safety. Safety for SKA meant danger for Ak Bars: within a minute play was at the other end and Vasily Glotov was celebrating after putting his team up for the first time in the game with a fantastic solo effort.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Ak Bars tied it up again when Yegor Korshkov produced a solo goal of his own to make it 3-3 in the 54th minute. There were anxious moments for SKA in the closing stages after Ivan Vydrenkov’s high-sticking penalty invited Ak Bars to press in the final minutes. However, the home defense held firm to take the game to overtime.

In those extras, SKA had the bulk of the possession but struggled to produce scoring chances. The outcome, not surprisingly, was a shoot-out, in which Glotov won it for the home team.

Warm-up games

CSKA Moscow 3 Spartak Moscow 4 SO (1-0, 1-0, 1-3, 0-0, 0-1)

Neither of these Moscow rivals had been particularly busy in pre-season. The two teams played a combined total of just three warm-up games before this meeting. There will be more to come at the Mayor of Moscow Cup, but today’s game was another low-key, behind closed doors affair.

CSKA led 2-0 and 3-1 in this game with goals from Vladislav Kamenev, Prokhor Poltapov and Konstantin Okulov. However, Spartak turned things around in the third period to tie it up before Pavel Poryadin won it in the shoot-out.

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 5 HC Norilsk 2 (1-0, 2-2, 2-0)

After yesterday’s 4-5 loss against Norilsk, Torpedo tried again with three entirely new lines and a youngster – 17-year-old Vladimir Laptev – as 10th forward.

Today, Igor Larionov’s team had more luck against its VHL opponent. Instead of tiring in the closing stages, Torpedo carried a lead into the third period and built on it to claim a 5-2 victory. The home cause was helped by an early goal from defenseman Mikhail Glinkin, which proved to be the only tally of the first period.

After the intermission, Norilsk responded. Alexei Kirillov scored twice, but Torpedo stayed in front thanks to goals from Nikita Shavin and Vladislav Firstov. Early in the third Bogdan Konyushkov added a power play goal to make it 4-2 and Shavin completed the scoring in a comfortable win.