Hawks snap skid, Barys woes continues. September 30 round-up

Avangard ended its seven-game losing streak, recovering from 0-2 at home to Sibir to win 3-2. However, the problems continue for Barys despite the appointment of a new head coach. Today’s game with Torpedo ended in a 1-7 drubbing, the Kazakh team’s worst of the season. Metallurg edged Lada in Monday’s other game.Fightback win ends losing runAvangard Omsk 3 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 (0-0, 1-2, 2-0)After seven successive losses, a derby win over Sibir was vital for Avangard. As a result, Sergei Zvyagin made changes to his roster. Ryan Spooner made his first appearance of the season after signing up for a return to Omsk earlier in the month. He joined Reid Boucher and Linden Vey on the first line.The early stages saw Avangard showing plenty of willingness to snap its losing streak. However, there were few scoring chances at either end until the 12th minute when the visitor’s Taylor Beck went clean through only to be denied by Pavel Khomchenko. At the other end, Boucher went even closer when he dinged one off the bar, but the first period finished goalless.In the middle frame, Sibir got ahead on a power play goal from Andy Andreoff. Not long after, a quick counter saw Georgy Belousov double that lead. In the build-up to the game, Avangard had promised a disgruntled support that things would change; as the midway point loomed, the home team was once again behind.However, it didn’t take long to start finding a way back. Semyon Chistyakov set up an attack, Nikita Kholodilin got into the Sibir zone and set up Igor Martynov to make it 1-2. Then, in the 33rd minute, another ill-judged line change from the visitor enabled Vey to bear down on goal. He opted against passing to a team-mate and put a wrister beyond Anton Krasotkin to tie the game.At the start of the third, Avangard was the more energetic team going forward. It was clear how much the home team wanted to get ahead and secure that long-awaited victory. There were chances, but no goals. As the clock ticked down, both teams grew more cautious and overtime seemed the likely outcome. However, Spooner had other idea. After the Hawks won an attacking face-off, he worked hard to force home the rebound after Boucher’s shot was stopped. Thus the Canadian forward marked his return to Omsk with the winning goal and, for the second time this season, the home crowd celebrating a derby win over Sibir.Memorable debut for OsipovichMetallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Lada Togliatti 1 (1-0, 1-0, 0-1)Today’s game in Magnitogorsk was a fundraiser for people living with cerebral palsy. To mark the occasion, the teams wore special uniforms with child-like text and logos and the player profiles boasted unique new portraits.Home head coach Andrei Razin made a few changes after Friday’s loss to Ak Bars. Makar Khabarov and Valery Sapozhnikov returned to the starting line-up, while Boris Osipovich got his first KHL start as a reward for a fine start to the VHL seasons.Lada snapped a losing streak in its last game but Oleg Bratash still made changes. Alexander Trushkov came in to give first-choice goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky a rest and defenseman Yegor Morozov made his Lada debut.One of Metallurg’s problems in the first month of the season has been a weak power play. Today, though, the Steelmen converted their first opportunity with a man advantage. Robin Press fired in a shot from the point and Alexander Petunin redirected it past Trushkov. The first period was largely controlled by the home team and Ilya Nabokov had little to do in the home net. However, Trushkov stood up well to the pressure and it was only 1-0 at the intermission.The second period started well for Metallurg. Osipovich celebrated his KHL debut with a goal, catching Trushkov by surprise with an early shot as he entered the zone. And the 19-year-old caught the eye regularly in his first game, although on one occasion his excitement got the better of him and he picked up a penalty. Lada could not take advantage, although Arkhip Nekolenko went close to hurting his former club. Magnitka might have added a third, but Nikita Mikhailis failed to convert a penalty shot and another power play late in the session also came to naught.With a two-goal lead, Metallurg might have hoped to close out the game with little alarm. However, Lada made a fight of it. Rafael Bikmullin almost forced a shot through Nabokov’s defenses, but the puck squirmed wide of the target. A five-on-four power play saw the Motormen spend almost a full two minutes in the home zone but could not bring a breakthrough. Then a five-on-three advantage, boosted to six-on-three, finally delivered a goal as Yegor Chernikov set up a tense finale. However, Metallurg held on to edge a 2-1 verdict.Torpedo humbles BarysBarys Astana 1 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 10 (1-2, 0-5, 0-3)A change in coaching looks like it might be only the start of the rebuild required at Barys. Game three of the Vyacheslav Butsayev era ended in a humiliating 10-1 loss at home to Torpedo. That’s the biggest winning margin of the season so far and the first time a team has hit double figures since Severstal produced the same scoreline against HC Sochi almost a year ago. Along the way, Dmitry Kagarlitsky posted his 500th KHL point.For Torpedo, it was bonus night. Ten different goalscorers, and 11 players claiming assists, made for a great opportunity for players to boost their individual figures.It all started when Kagarlitsky made it 1-0 on a power play midway through the first period. Nikita Artamonov doubled that lead a couple of minutes later – he would go on to add a couple of assists as the rout unfolded – but Barys replied thanks to Anton Burdasov first since joining the club. A scoreline of 1-2 at the first intermission wasn’t an astonishing outcome given the balance of play, and it seemed that the home team was well in the game.That changed around the halfway point. Mikhail Orlov made it 3-1 in the 29th minute and triggered a total collapse from Barys. By the end of the second period, it was 7-1 and things were getting embarrassing. Mikhail Abramov, Bobby Lynch and Nikita Shavin found the net at equal strength, then Denis Pochivalov followed up Saturday’s hat-trick with a short-handed goal late in the frame. In the midst of it all, Nikita Boyarkin left the game at 1-5; replacement goalie Johan Mattsson also allowed five during his time on the ice.The only remaining question was whether Barys could regain some pride in the final frame. While the home team did not play quite as badly as in the second, it still allowed three more unanswered goals: Sergei Goncharuk converted a five-on-three power play, then Vladislav Firstov and Evgeny Svechnikov completed the rout.