Magnitogorsk Dismantles the "Other" Metallurg Team

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(21-0-9-7)

vs

Metallurg

Novokuznetsk

(11-3-4-18)

NHL/Former NHL Players You May Recognize

Randy Robitaille, Chris Simon, Brent Sopel

Pregame Notes

• The ceremony preceding Wednesday's game was for Sergei Mozyakin being named player of the month.
• Standings Update: Magnitogorsk sits in 3rd place in the West with 72 points.  Novokuznetsk is in 10th in the East with 43 points.
• KHL Scoring Race Update:  Mozyakin entered tonight's game with the lead (56), 5 points ahead of Malkin (51) and 10 points ahead of Alexander Radulov (46).
• Starting goalies: Yury Klyuchnikov for Novokuznetsk and Ari Ahonen for Magnitogorsk.
• Injury report remains the same: Cal O'Reilly, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Evgeny Biryukov out.
• Enver Lisin finally returned to the lineup, joining Justin Hodgman's line with Mats Zuccarello

Recap

Novokuznetsk was helped by a few key shot blocks
in the first period.

Coming off of a disappointing loss to Sibir Novosibirsk, Magnitogorsk made a tremendous effort to take control of this game early and they never let go.  A dominant performance began early as Magnitogorsk spent a majority of the first 6 minutes cycling in the Novokuznetsk zone.  Their efforts paid off with an offensive zone faceoff that led to the first goal of the game.  It started when Evgeni Malkin won a faceoff cleanly back to Sergei Gonchar at the point.  As Gonchar received the puck, Sergei Mozyakin skated back to the blueline across from Gonchar and opened up for a one-timer.  Gonchar's pass was perfectly timed and Mozyakin's shot hit the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.  The rest of the period was dominated by special teams play as each team took 3 penalties, but neither powerplay could manage a goal.  Novokuznetsk looked very strong on the penalty kill and played very aggressively and physically on defense.  Meanwhile, Magnitogorsk managed to control the puck on the penalty kill more than their opponent did.

Magnitogorsk then opened up the second period with a quick goal to double their lead as Alexei Bondarev found Mats Zuccarello streaking up the ice for a breakaway.  Zuccarello deked to his backhand and then forehand to get goalie Yury Klyuchnikov sprawling out of position as he slid the puck into the net.  Klyuchnikov steadied the ship for Novokuznetsk for a few minutes as Magnitogorsk continued an onslaught of shots (outshooting Novokuznetsk 12-3 in the period), but it was only a matter of time before the lead would increase.

It was a tough day for Klyuchnikov, who dealt with
traffic in his crease constantly.

Halfway through the period, Malkin carried the puck down the left side boards at full speed backing off both Novokuznetsk defenders.  As the defenders backed off, he dropped the puck off for Mozyakin, who skated through Malkin's wake directly to the crease.  As Klyuchnikov anticipated a shot, Mozyakin dished the puck to Kulemin, who was uncovered on the left side of the crease and had a wide open net to shoot at for a 3-0 lead.  Less than two minutes later, Ryan O'Reilly increased the lead to 4-0 as he streaked down the right side and simply fired a wrist shot that beat Klyuchnikov on his glove side.  Though Novokuznetsk's goalie looked angry and irritated after the 4th goal, he remained in the game.  Each team had another powerplay towards the end of the period, but both penalty kills were up to the task again.

Malkin was all smiles after 3 points in an easy win.

Magnitogorsk began the 3rd period on the powerplay after defender Brent Sopel knocked the net off of its moorings intentionally with 3 seconds left in the 2nd.  Though the final result was pretty much set, the penalty was still costly as Malkin added a goal of his own on a one-timer set up by Gonchar.  Facing a 5-0 deficit, Novokuznetsk gave up the fight as Magnitogorsk dominated in time of possession and looked like they were on a powerplay during 5 on 5 play.  Ryan O'Reilly capped off the scoring 5 minutes into the period by getting his 2nd of the night when he knocked a rebound past Klyuchnikov.  With a 6-0 score, the only excitement the rest of the way was a fight between Enver Lisin and Stanislav Romanov, for which both were given double minors for roughing.  Ari Ahonen was barely challenged as he recorded 22 saves to earn a shutout.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 6  Metallurg Novokuznetsk 0

Box Score: http://text.khl.ru/en/35104.html

Magnitogorsk drops to 22-0-9-7 and Novosibirsk improves to 11-3-4-19.

Player Notes

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin finished with 1 goal, 2 assists, 5 shots, and 13 for 22 (59.1%) in faceoffs in only 21:24 of ice time.  He had some dazzling moves against a weaker Novokuznetsk defense, once deking through 3 players and also almost completing a pylon drill around 4 players before drawing a slashing penalty.  He looked relaxed, confident, and happy in a complete game for him and his teammates.

Others (Metallurg) - Ryan O'Reilly continues to make the KHL look easy as he scored his 3rd and 4th goals in 6 games and added an assist.  The most impressive part is O'Reilly isn't getting much time on the powerplay or in the offensive zone but he is being very productive with his chances.  Mats Zuccarello and Enver Lisin had instant chemistry with each other while Justin Hodgman had a quiet game on that line.  Zuccarello and Lisin had multiple 2 on 1 chances and timed their attacks very well together.  Sergei Mozyakin "only" had 2 points to allow Malkin to gain some ground on him.  Nikolai Kulemin showed some very aggressive play to go along with his goal, racking up 8 PIM in this game.

Next Game:  12/30, 6am EST vs Amur Khabarovsk

**I might miss this one but will at least post highlights and stats if I do miss it**

Links:

Thank you to onhockey.ru (@onhockey on Twitter).  Not only have they been dependable for KHL streams, but they even named my blog on the stream for this game (as you can see in the screencaps).

Keep track of Malkin and the KHL scoring race here:  http://en.khl.ru/stat/leaders/222/.

Mozyakin from Malkin Isn't Enough for Magnitogorsk

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(21-0-9-6)

vs

Sibir

Novosibirsk

(13-5-4-13)

NHL/Former NHL Players You May Recognize

Petr Skudra (assistant coach)

Pregame Notes

A little electric guitar and a Malkin jersey for the anthem.

• Here's a little Magnitogorsk fun to start off the day (link courtesy of @MarkFrane)
• The full All Star teams have been announced.  Paul Maurice has been named one of the coaches for Team East, joining players Evgeni Malkin (starter), Sergei Gonchar (starter), and Sergei Mozyakin (2nd line) from Metallurg.
• Other (former) NHL players added: Aleksey Morozov and Victor Hedman to Team East.  Artem Anisimov, Mikhail Grabovski, and Nicklas Backstrom to Team West.
• Standings Update: Magnitogorsk sits in 3rd place in the West with 72 points.  Sibir is in 8th in the East with 53 points.
• KHL Scoring Race Update:  Mozyakin entered tonight's game with the lead (53), 4 points ahead of Malkin (49) and 9 points ahead of Alexander Radulov (44).
• Starting goalies: Sergei Gaiduchenko for Sibir and Ari Ahonen for Metallurg.
• Injury report remains the same: Cal O'Reilly, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Evgeny Biryukov out.

Recap

Might as well have been an empty net.

In what has become an alarming trend as of late for Metallurg, they fell behind early for the 3rd straight game.  Unfortunately, they would not be able to come from behind for a victory this time.  The teams played physical from the start and it led to the first big chance for Sibir as Georgi Misharin was sent to the penalty box for high sticking.  Sibir capitalized on the chance for a 1-0 lead when Viktor Drugov received a pass across the slot and quickly wristed a shot into the net before Ari Ahonen could slide into position.  Magnitogorsk tied the game shortly afterwards on their first powerplay when, let's all say it together: Sergei Mozyakin one-timed a pass from Evgeni Malkin.  It started with Sergei Gonchar at the point passing to Malkin on the right half boards.  Malkin then threaded a pass to Mozyakin on the other side of the ice and Gaiduchenko wasn't even close to getting in front of the one-timer.

Metallurg gained a significant amount of momentum off of Mozyakin's goal and the crowd continued to go wild as defenseman Sergei Bernatsky dropped the gloves with Arturs Kulda.  The air would be sucked out of the arena quickly though after Viktor Bobrov gave Novosibirsk a 2-1 lead.  Bobrov entered the Magnitogorsk zone 1 on 1 with a defenseman and fired a wrist shot from just inside the blue line.  Ahonen appeared to misread the puck and missed the save for a weak goal against.  Magnitogorsk fought back towards the end of the period, but couldn't find an equalizer before the horn sounded.

The second period started as dismally as everything has been starting for Magnitogorsk lately.  12 seconds into the period, Magnitogorsk lined up in the defensive zone for a faceoff.  Malkin was waived out and Nikolai Kulemin stepped in to lose the draw cleanly.  In a matter of three seconds, Jori Lehtera skated behind the net with the puck and fed Sibir captain Maxim Krivonozkhin in front.  His shot went unchallenged by any defenseman and he beat Ahonen for a 3-1 Sibir lead.

Luckily for Magnitogorsk, Ivan Velichkin was given a 4 minute double minor for high sticking just a minute later and Metallurg had a chance to get back into the game.  Though the first line was unsuccessful on the first powerplay, Dmitri Kazionov found a way to jam the puck in towards the end of the second powerplay to bring the score back to 3-2.  The teams spent the majority of the period trading chances back and forth with Metallurg getting quite a few more shots on net (19-8).  It finally paid off with three minutes left in the period when, together again: Sergei Mozyakin one-timed a pass from Evgeni Malkin.  This time, Malkin stood behind the net with the puck and waited patiently as Mozyakin steamrolled through the slot.  The pass and shot happened so fast that the slow motion camera angles even had issues picking it up on the stream.

Maurice was livid as he watched the game
slip away in the 3rd.

With a 3-3 tie after 2 periods, momentum favored Metallurg heavily and it looked like they were well on their way to yet another come from behind victory.  Krivonozkhin had other ideas though, as did Ari Ahonen apparently since he allowed a very weak short-side goal to the Sibir captain, who had taken a bad angle shot from the boards below the faceoff circle.  Magnitogorsk fought through the period trying to tie it up and had quite a few chances in front of the net but couldn't get a lucky bounce.  With less than 3 minutes left in the game, Sergei Bernatsky took a necessary but brutal hooking penalty in front of Ahonen to save a goal.  Jonas Enlund scored just 16 seconds into the Sibir powerplay, all but assuring Magnitogorsk of defeat.  Ahonen was pulled in favor of an extra attacker, but Gaiduchenko stood strong in net.

Final Score:  Sibir Novosibirsk 5  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3

Magnitogorsk drops to 21-0-9-7 and Novosibirsk improves to 14-5-4-13.

Player Notes

A pair that should never be broken up...
(hint hint, Ray Shero)

Evgeni Malkin - The chemistry between Sergei Mozyakin and Evgeni Malkin is something very special to watch.  The two have an enormous amount of trust in each other and read the play quite well together.  Malkin finished with 2 assists, 6 shots, and an astounding 19 for 24 (79.2%) in faceoffs in 25:23 of ice time.  He looked healthy and dominant again to put away any worries from last game.  Of course, continually feeding Mozyakin also means he didn't gain any ground in the scoring race.

Others (Metallurg) - Ari Ahonen had a dismal game compared to his usual stellar play, allowing 5 goals on just 28 shots.  Ryan O'Reilly had another strong game but failed to get on the scoresheet despite having 5 shots.  He is quickly developing chemistry with Kazionov.  Nikolai Kulemin also played well, recording an assist on Mozyakin's second goal and 6 shots.  Kulemin deserves a great deal of credit for preventing defenders from focusing solely on Malkin and Mozyakin on the top line.

Next Game:  12/28, 8am EST vs Metallurg Novokuznetsk

Links:

Thank you to onhockey.ru (@onhockey on Twitter).  Not only have they been dependable for KHL streams, but they even named my blog on the stream for this game (as you can see in the screencaps).

Keep track of Malkin and the KHL scoring race here:  http://en.khl.ru/stat/leaders/222/.

Secondary Scoring Leads Metallurg to Victory

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(20-0-9-6)

@

Lokomotiv

Yaroslavl

(18-8-0-9)

Players You May Recognize

Dmitri Kulikov, Niklas Hagman, Sami Lepisto, Semyon Varlamov, Curtis Sanford, Artem Anisimov

Pregame Notes

Will Dan Potash do these interviews again?

• Back in the NHL world, Penguins fans were buzzing yesterday as rumors floated around that Ray Shero may be interested in reacquiring Sergei Gonchar.
• Evgeni Malkin is slowly but surely catching up to teammate Sergei Mozyakin in the KHL scoring race.  Malkin entered the game with 48 points, Mozyakin with 52.  For comparison's sake, third on the team is Nikolai Kulemin with 27 points.
• Metallurg spent yesterday visiting the Lokomotiv memorial in honor of the players who lost their lives in last year's plane crash.
• This is the final stop of a 3 game road trip for Magnitogorsk before they return home for 4 games.
• Starting goalies: Curtis Sanford for Lokomotiv and Ari Ahonen for Metallurg.  Magnitogorsk catches a break not having to face All-Star starter Semyon Varlamov.
• Injury report remains the same: Cal O'Reilly, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Evgeny Biryukov out.

Recap

Fans first cheered for a tribute to players lost in the crash,
and then had a goal celebration just seconds later.

After a terrible start and a come from behind victory in Friday's game, it was easy to assume that Magnitogorsk would come out focused and strong against a top tier Lokomotiv team.  Assumptions don't usually pan out though - it took just 21 seconds for Lokomotiv to take a 1-0 lead.  Forward Sergei Plotnikov had the puck behind Metallurg's net and was looking for an open pass.  Instead of a passing lane, he found Ari Ahonen cheating off the right post and banked the puck in off of Ahonen's leg.  The early goal inspired both teams to continually look for similar plays originating from behind the net.

Luckily for Ahonen and Magnitogorsk, the goalie on the other side of the ice would also make a poor play on his post later in the period.  Justin Hodgman skated the puck deep into the offensive zone and made an abrupt decision to circle behind the net after taking a path towards the crease.  Curtis Sanford went out to challenge Hodgman and was caught completely out of position as Hodgman looped behind the net and passed the puck in front to Mats Zuccarello.  Sanford had no chance to get back in position as Zuccarello tied the game easily.

The PK also looks better when abandoned sticks
help out.

Magnitogorsk had a chance to take the lead late in the first, but was unable to capitalize on a 5 on 3 powerplay opportunity.  When the second period began, the team quickly realized that they were better off at even strength.  Just like with the first 2 goals, this time Dmitry Kazionov took the puck behind the net and found Denis Platonov in front for an easy tap-in to make it 2-1 Magnitogorsk.  A few minutes later, they found themselves on another 5 on 3 which they could not score on.  Lokomotiv played exceptionally well on the penalty kill, keeping 3 men in the slot at all times and forcing all shots and passes to the outside.  Their PK style looked very similar to the New York Rangers.

After the second 5 on 3 was over for Metallurg, Lokomotiv had back to back powerplay chances but failed to score due to some very aggressive penalty kill work at the points.  Once play returned to 5 on 5, Magnitogorsk finished the second period with 2 daggers that would take all of the fight out of Lokomotiv.  With 2:24 left in the second period, Sanford made a sprawling save on Zuccarello.  The puck bounced to Ryan O'Reilly in front and Sanford was still laying on the ice as O'Reilly chipped it over him for a 3-1 lead.  Then with just 19 seconds left in the period, Viktor Antipin threw a puck into the slot towards Zuccarello and Malkin.  Though neither player got a clean shot off, the puck ended up glancing off of Zuccarello's stick and sliding past Sanford.

After the back-breaking 4th goal at the end of the second period, both Lokomotiv and Metallurg looked disinterested throughout the third.  Magnitogorsk upped the score to 5-1 roughly 5 minutes into the period as Sergei Bernatsky one-timed a shot past Sanford and both teams essentially just traded penalties for the rest of the game.  Semyon Varlamov came in for Lokomotiv after the 5th goal and allowed no goals in his short stint of play.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5  Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1

Magnitogorsk improves to 21-0-9-6 and Yaroslavl drops to 18-8-0-10.

Player Notes

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin had a very subpar game and simply looked sluggish and tired all night.  He finished with 1 assist, 9 shots, and 11 for 20 (55%) in faceoffs in 22:17 of ice time.  The high shot total is very misleading since most of it came during the 5 on 3 opportunities that Metallurg had.  None of the 9 were extremely challenging by any means.  Perhaps Geno was just sick (or hungover?) or just out of it for this game, but his speed, skating, and stickhandling were pretty much absent all game.

It will be interesting to see if Zuccarello gets
another NHL shot eventually.

Others (Metallurg) - Yet again, Justin Hodgman and Mats Zuccarello shined on the second line.  Their ice time has risen significantly towards the 15 minute mark as they continue to add secondary scoring for Magnitogorsk.  Sergei Mozyakin was held to 1 assist and still maintains a 4 point lead over Malkin in the KHL scoring race.  Ryan O'Reilly had his 2nd goal in as many games and looks more and more comfortable with each shift.

Others (Lokomotiv) - Dmitri Kulikov was the standout for Lokomotiv, neutralizing the first line on defense and playing a significant role on the penalty kill.  Niklas Hagman had a below average game, recording 0 shots and getting caught up in physical play frequently instead of paying attention to the puck.  Artem Anisimov had 4 shots but was rather quiet throughout the night.  Finally, goalie Curtis Sanford played much better than his 5 goals allowed might suggest, stopping 32 of 37 shots.  Sanford really fell victim to bad bounces and defensive lapses in front of him.

Next Game:  12/26, 8am EST vs Sibir Novosibirsk

Links:

Thank you to onhockey.ru (@onhockey on Twitter).  Not only have they been dependable for KHL streams, but they even named my blog on the stream for this game (as you can see in the screencaps).

Keep track of Malkin and the KHL scoring race here:  http://en.khl.ru/stat/leaders/222/.

Magnitogorsk Finds Magic Late to Steal a Win

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(19-0-9-6)

@

Torpedo

Nizhny Novgorod

(13-1-5-14)

Players You May Recognize

Petr Schastlivy, Anton Volchenkov, Alexander Semin

Pregame Notes

• Evgeni Malkin misses Sidney Crosby
• With Cal O'Reilly and Oleg Tverdovsky already out with injuries, Magnitogorsk added Evgeny Biryukov to the injured list.  He left the previous game early after getting his face (cheek) smashed into the boards.
• With Biryukov out of the lineup, Sergei Gonchar received the 2nd "A" on his jersey, joining Sergei Mozyakin.
• Mozyakin has been named to the Team East All-Star team.  He was voted in by journalists for the 2nd line.  Other notable NHLers added were Andrei Markov, Alexander Radulov, and Evgenii Dadonov for Team West.  The full rosters will be unveiled on the 24th and fans can vote for team captains starting January 7th.
• Enver Lisin is still out of the lineup.  I still don't know why, but he's not on the injured list at least.

Recap

As Ari Ahonen fell out of the Top 5 for most goaltending stats over the past month, head coach Paul Maurice started using backup Georgi Gelashvili more frequently.  The move almost cost his team a win tonight against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.  Gelashvili gave up 3 goals in the first 12 minutes of the game before getting pulled in favor of Ahonen.  The rest would be up to Magnitogorsk's offense.

Semin has been average in the KHL with 12 pts in 15 games

Both teams started at a slow, quiet pace before a scoring frenzy erupted in the first period.  3:09 into the game, Torpedo struck first as Maxim Potapov found Petr Schastlivy wide open in front of the net.  Schastlivy took his time and deked Gelashvili out of position before flipping a backhander over him for the 1-0 lead.  Just 28 seconds later, Metallurg tied the game when Nikolai Kulemin received a pass in the slot from Malkin and ripped a wrist shot past Torpedo goalie Vitaly Koval.  The frenzy wasn't over yet though as Mikhail Varnakov brought the puck into the Magnitogorsk zone with Alexander Semin on a 2 on 1.  Varnakov passed it across to Semin, who made it 2-1 Torpedo with a backhander.

The pace settled down considerably after Semin's goal and both teams kept their defensemen back to put an end to the odd man rushes.  It wasn't enough for Magnitogorsk though.  With Gelashvili flailing like a fish out of water, Radek Smolenak out-battled Sergei Gonchar in front of the net to chip a puck over the goalie's leg pads half way through the period.  This marked the end for Gelashvili as Ari Ahonen took over in net.  This also marked the end for Torpedo's offense.

The teams traded powerplay opportunities for the rest of the 1st period but the score remained 3-1.  After a dismal penalty killing effort in the previous game, Magnitogorsk changed their PK lines and added Ryan O'Reilly which worked nicely.

The second period was a display of more solid penalty killing for both teams, a goal for Magnitogorsk, and a fight for Evgeni Malkin.  Each team had 2 powerplays but neither managed much in the way of shots let alone a goal.  Roughly halfway through the period, Mats Zuccarello and Justin Hodgman entered the neutral zone 2 on 3 against Torpedo.  Zuccarello made a brilliant pass to open ice on the left side where only Hodgman could catch up to it.  As Hodgman sped up to get the puck, he also blew past the closest defender and cut across the crease to beat Koval and cut the deficit to 3-2.  Even the Russian announcers described it with "bravo" and "fantastic!"

Gorbunov was saved by the refs from angry Geno

Late in the period, Malkin stole the show with his fists instead of his skills.  Back behind the play, [the announcers said something about someone doing something to Gonchar], and Evgeni Malkin dropped the gloves with Vladimir Gorbunov.  Gorbunov, a 2000 draft pick of the New York Islanders, didn't get much of a chance to fight though as Malkin fell on him and the refs intervened very quickly.  Both players were given double minors for roughing.  The period ended shortly after with Ryan O'Reilly being pulled away from a shoving match by refs as tempers escalated.  Magnitogorsk outshot Torpedo 14-2 in the second period, but was definitely outhit by Torpedo, who seemed to be targeting O'Reilly especially.

Pure elation for Kulemin after scoring the go ahead goal.

Most of the third period flew by very quickly with few whistles and fewer chances.  Each team had an unsuccessful powerplay and it appeared that Torpedo would hold on for the victory with less than 3 minutes to go.  With just 2:22 remaining in the 3rd period, everything fell apart for Nizhny Novgorod though.  It started with a breakdown in the slot where Ryan O'Reilly was left with a huge opening to receive a pass from Alexei Bondarev and rip a wrist shot past Koval to tie the game.  Just over a minute later, Torpedo had a defensive breakdown in the exact same area of the slot and Nikolai Kulemin was left wide open to take a Sergei Mozyakin pass and fire an identical wrist shot past Koval to take the lead.

Nizhny Novgorod called timeout down 4-3 with 1:16 left in the game, but the damage was done.  Evgeni Malkin soon finished the game off with an empty netter assisted by O'Reilly, and Magnitogorsk stole a regulation win with 3 goals in the last 2:22.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5  Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3

Magnitogorsk improves to 20-0-9-6 and Nizhny Novgorod drops to 13-1-5-15.

Player Notes

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin finished with 1 goal, 1 assist, 7 shots, 9 for 19 (47.4%) in faceoffs, and 4 PIM in 20:21 of ice time.  He looked superb skating through the offensive zone and made defenseman and Torpedo captain Dmitry Bykov look foolish multiple times.  His offensive production was more valuable than his stats show since Vitaly Koval played a solid game, especially in the second period.  While Geno has never been one to shy away from physical contact, he certainly sought it out tonight, culminating in his short fight.

O'Reilly's 1st KHL goal was a significant one.

Others (Metallurg) - Ryan O'Reilly was targeted heavily in the hitting game but broke free of it in the 3rd period for a goal and an assist.  I wonder if it was in the Torpedo game plan to "welcome" him to the KHL in such a manner and that bothers me if Crosby eventually joins the KHL.  Regardless, O'Reilly improved drastically in his 2nd KHL game and he won't be on the 3rd line for long at this rate.  Mats Zuccarello and Justin Hodgman continued to play very well together and clearly have a lot of chemistry.  Hodgman's goal in the 2nd period was a huge turning point for Magnitogorsk and Zuccarello's pass and vision was exceptional.

Others (Torpedo) - Anton Volchenkov had a quiet game, amassing 2 PIMs and no shots.  He was only on the ice for 16:24 which is far less than I expected to see.  Alexander Semin reminded me of just how great his hands and stick-handling ability are.  There is no questioning his skill but I don't believe the bigger ice surface is a big advantage for him.  Magnitogorsk defensemen were able to back off from him instead of getting flat out burned by tricky moves.  

Next Game:  12/23, 8am EST @ Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Links:

A huge thank you to onhockey.ru (@onhockey on Twitter).  Not only have they been dependable for KHL streams, but they even named my blog on the stream for this game (as you can see in the screencaps).

Keep track of Malkin and the KHL scoring race here:  http://en.khl.ru/stat/leaders/222/.

Malkin's Hat Trick Leads Magnitogorsk to a Win

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(18-0-9-6)

@

Atlant

Moscow Oblast

(9-3-4-17)

Players You May Recognize

Anton Khudobin, Jonas Andersson, Fedor Tyutin, Viktor Stalberg, Nikolai Zherdev, Konstantin Koltsov, Sandis Ozolinsh, Maxim Mayorov

Recap

Here are a few notes and reminders coming off of the December break for Magnitogorsk:

Malkin has become an instant fan favorite in the KHL.

• Entering tonight's game, Sergei Mozyakin led the KHL with 48 points in 31 games.  Evgeni Malkin was second with 42 points in 29 games.
• Ryan O'Reilly was signed by Magnitogorsk just before the break and has joined the team officially.
• Fans voted on the All-Star starting lineups over the break.  Evgeni Malkin received the most votes of any player (40,569) and will start for Team East along with Sergei Kostitsyn, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Sergei Gonchar, Ilya Nikulin, and Michael Garnett in net.
• Team West is an NHL powerhouse, starting Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Zdeno Chara, and Alexander Ryazantsev with Semyon Varlamov in net.
• Journalists are currently voting for the second lines for each All-Star team.
• Finally, the lines have undergone some changes as Cal O'Reilly is injured and Yaroslav Kosov has joined the Russian team for the World Junior Championship.  Mozyakin is now on the 1st line (Lisin was scratched) and Ryan O'Reilly debuted on the 3rd line.

Now on to the actual recap!  After 10 days off, Metallurg kicked off a road trip with a visit to the Moscow Oblast region of Russia.  The team struggled following their November break and looked to avoid similar issues against a bottom feeder team like Atlant.  Things started poorly though when Mikhail Glukhov gave Atlant a 1-0 lead.  Defenseman Rafael Batyrshin took the puck deep into the offensive zone, drawing the eyes of all 5 Metallurg players on the ice.  Batyrshin threw the puck out in front of the net for Glukhov, who actually fanned on the shot, but still brushed it enough to score on Ari Ahonen who was off of his angle.

This looks fair, right?

Evgeni Malkin "scored" the tying goal just a few minutes later on a play that probably should have been called goalie interference.  Sergei Mozyakin fired a shot from a tough angle against the boards that hit goalie Anton Khudobin in the shoulder.  As the puck ricocheted off of Khudobin, Malkin crashed the crease with a defender and sent the puck into the net off of his arm/stick while laying on top of the goalie.  The teams each had one more quality chance (Malkin stopped after splitting the defense, Koltsov stopped on a semi-breakaway) before the period ended 1-1.

The second period started even worse than the first for Magnitogorsk.  Malkin was sent to the penalty box on the opening shift for "handling the puck with his hands" (quoted from the box score) and Glukhov scored his 2nd of the night to give Atlant a 2-1 lead on the powerplay.  Former NHL defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh sent the puck in deep to Maxim Semyonov, who had his pass deflect into the slot.  Magnitogorsk defenseman Georgi Misharin was within reach of clearing the puck, but Glukhov made a magnificent effort to dive and swat at the puck with his stick, causing it to deflect off of Misharin's stick and fly over Ahonen's shoulder into the net.

Leg kick FTW.

Yet again, Evgeni Malkin tied the game for Magnitogorsk minutes later.  With a 6 on 5 advantage due to a delayed penalty on Atlant, Metallurg worked the puck around the offensive zone as Justin Hodgman rushed to the ice in place of goaltender Ari Ahonen.  Hodgman promptly received the puck and passed it to the left point where Sergei Mozyakin stood wide open.  Instead of shooting, Mozyakin threaded a pass to Malkin on the right side of the crease where he was left 1 on 1 with Khudobin.  Khudobin tried to skate towards Malkin to cut off any angles but Malkin slid the puck around him to tie the game.

Atlant would regain the lead before the period ended after Mikhail Yakubov was called for holding.  On the ensuing powerplay, Atlant forward Andreas Engqvist received the puck by the goalpost and proceeded to jam the puck under Ahonen until it slid through.  Ahonen originally had his pads on the ice for the first stop, but he lifted them just enough for the puck to get jammed through after a few pokes by Engqvist.  With that, the second period ended with a 3-2 Atlant lead.

With 2 goals on the night already, Mikhail Glukhov played a major factor in how the game ended much to the dismay of his head coach.  Roughly 7 minutes into the 3rd period, with Atlant looking very comfortable with a one goal lead, Glukhov hit Evgeny Biryukov from behind, putting his face into the dashers and sending him to the dressing room.  Glukhov also went to the dressing room as he was given a 5 minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.

By the end of the 5 minute major, Magnitogorsk had a lead they would not relinquish.  Justin Hodgman tied the game with a backhander that handcuffed Khudobin as he tried to slide across the crease.  Sergei Mozyakin scored another powerplay goal less than a minute later as Khudobin slid post to post to cover a cross-crease pass by Kulemin.  Khudobin covered everything low, but Mozyakin stayed patient and shot the puck right over his shoulder.

Atlant had a couple solid chances to tie the game with back to back powerplays late in the 3rd period, but Magnitogorsk's penalty kill held strong after a dismal start.  Evgeni Malkin finished the game off by netting an empty netter to give him the hat trick and send Magnitogorsk to their 19th win of the season.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5  Atlant Moscow Oblast 3

Magnitogorsk improves to 19-0-9-6 and Atlant drops to 9-3-4-18.

Player Notes

4 point night = postgame interview

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin finished with 3 goals, 1 assist, 8 shots, 12/23 (52.2%) in faceoffs, and 2 PIM in 22:54 of ice time.  Clearly with the 4 point night, Malkin's offensive output was fantastic, but his overall play was average.  He took a bad penalty to start the 2nd period which led to an Atlant goal.  He also was very blind-pass happy for the first half of the game.  After Magnitogorsk fell behind 3-2, he stopped attempting blind passes and was much more efficient with his game.  If this was Malkin shaking off some rust, then good luck KHL.  He now has 16 goals and 30 assists (league leader) in 30 games.

Others (Metallurg) - Sergei Mozyakin had a goal and 2 assists to boost his league leading point total to 51 points in 32 games.  Malkin can't seem to catch up to him because they figure into each other's goals almost every time.  Ryan O'Reilly had 4 shots and played 18:31 in his Magnitogorsk debut but he wasn't very noticeable through the game.  I imagine it will take a couple weeks for him to get up to speed in the KHL.  Justin Hodgman and Mats Zuccarello both saw sharp decreases in ice time, down below 10 minutes.  Both played very well though as Hodgman registered a goal and an assist and Zuccarello had an assist.

Others (Atlant) - Konstantin Koltsov showed a great deal of speed as usual but shot directly into Ahonen's pads every time he had a decent chance.  Viktor Stalberg looked great with his physical game in the corners.  Sandis Ozolinsh (yes, he still plays) was given the assignment of covering Malkin's line to begin the game but as you can tell, it did not work out every well.

Next Game:  12/21, 10am EST @ Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

Metallurg Heads Into Break With a Loss

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(18-0-9-5)

vs

Donbass
Donetsk

(9-6-4-14)

Players You May Recognize

Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Erik Ersberg, Oskar Bartulis, Anton Babchuk, Evgeni Dadonov, Clay Wilson

Recap

And so...the blog continues...

Two days ago, Paul Maurice spoke about how negotiations were going well with the NHL and NHLPA.  Reporters asked him about the players he would be losing if the lockout ended, and with a sad smile, he acknowledged how lucky he was to have them in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season.  There will be no more sad smiles for Paul Maurice for the time being though.  It looks like he will keep his strong roster intact longer than he anticipated.

Magnitogorsk hosted Donbass Donetsk in their final game before the December Euro Hockey Tour break.  They received good news beforehand with the signing of Cal O'Reilly's brother, Ryan O'Reilly, formerly of the Colorado Avalanche.  Ryan signed through '13-'14 and is expected to join the team after the break.  Magnitogorsk will not hold him to his contract if he receives a better NHL offer though (assuming they ever play again).

Courtesy of @stapler_87

The good news ended there as Magnitogorsk suffered through a frustrating game filled with missed opportunities.  The first period was fast paced but the goalies stole the show early on.  Jan Laco started for Donetsk and made several key saves on Sergei Mozyakin and Dmitry Kazionov throughout the period.  He would finish with 30 saves on 31 shots.  The one shot that he did let in happened early in the 2nd period.  Roughly two minutes into the period, Mikhail Yakubov won a faceoff straight back to Sergei Bernatsky.  Bertnatsky immediately unloaded a slapshot that Laco missed through a partial screen.

Later in the second period, Magnitogorsk defenseman Georgi Misharin was called for delay of game after he cleared a puck over the glass.  Donetsk tied the game on the powerplay when Evgeni Dadonov took the puck into the corner and fed it out to Tuomas Kiiskinen.  Kiiskinen fired a quick wrist shot to tie the game at 1.  Magnitogorsk took control of the game for the rest of the second period but was unable to beat Laco.

Maurice's Asst Coach was too busy to help I guess

The third period was filled with powerplays for and special teams would be the deciding factor.  It started when Oskar Bartulis was given a 5 minute major and game misconduct for slashing Misharin.  Then, Magnitogorsk proceeded to take a hooking penalty and high sticking penalty to somehow end up on the wrong side of a 4 on 3 penalty kill.  They killed both penalties off and Evgeni Malkin drew a trip to create a 5 on 3 advantage.  Metallurg was unable to capitalize on the powerplay though.  They would have 3 more powerplay chances in the period and were unable to score on any of them.  Meanwhile, with 3:30 left in the game, Misharin was called for interference and Donetsk succeeded in taking the lead on the powerplay.  Peter Podhradsky fired a shot from the point that beat Ahonen and would stand as the game winning goal.

Magnitogorsk's loss can be blamed completely on the 0 for 5 powerplay number, especially with all 5 occurring in the 3rd period with the game tied at 1.

Final Score:  Donbass Donetsk 2  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1

Magnitogorsk drops to 18-0-9-6 and Donetsk improves to 10-6-4-14.

Player Notes

He even looked sad all game.

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin had a VERY quiet game, only registering 1 shot and no points in 23:43 of ice time.  He did well in the faceoff circle, finishing 14 for 22, but this was certainly one of his least impressive games.  Malkin simply was not very noticeable on the ice and was not around the puck much.  His whole line (Kulemin-Malkin-Lisin) was quiet in general today.

Next Game:  12/19, 10:30am EST @ Atlant

Links:

Go to onhockey.ru for all of your streaming needs.

If you want highlights for the games, check out http://www.youtube.com/user/KHLofficialvideo.

Malkin's 5 Point Effort Leads Metallurg to Victory

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(17-0-9-5)

vs

Dynamo

Riga

(7-3-2-19)

Players You May Recognize

Viktor Ignatjev (assistant coach), Mikael Tellqvist Alexandre Giroux, Raitis Ivanans, Kaspars Daugavins, Mathieu Carle, Paul Szczechura

Recap

As North America lives and dies on every word about the NHL lockout negotiations right now, Evgeni Malkin continues to show off his talents to Russia.  Facing last place Dynamo Riga with just 2 games before the KHL's December break, Magnitogorsk looked to stay on the winning track and make a statement.  The team was without Cal O'Reilly again and Paul Maurice stated that O'Reilly might be done for the season after taking a hit from behind (thanks @stapler_87).

Magnitogorsk started slowly until the physical game picked up.  Raitis Ivanans and Sergei Berntasky were sent to the box for roughing and Malkin alone had 3 chances during 4 on 4 play but could not capitalize.  Mathieu Carle was called for holding after 5 on 5 resumed to put Magnitogorsk on the powerplay.  The powerplay went awry though when Sergei Gonchar was caught out of position and Evgeni Malkin tried to stop Gints Meija on a 1 on 1 short-handed break.  Meija cut across Malkin and took a quick wrist shot that beat Ahonen for a 1-0 Riga lead.

Advice: Don't leave passing lanes that open.

Malkin would make up for his inability to stop Meija later in the period when he drew a hook from Alexandre Giroux.  The resulting man-advantage ended with a one-timer goal from the left faceoff circle by Sergei Mozyakin, assisted by Gonchar and Malkin.  Malkin and Gonchar would figure into the scoring again before the period ended as Geno skated the puck around the back of the net and threw a pass across the crease to Gonchar.  Gonchar immediately one-timed it past goalie Maris Jucers who could not cover the nearside post fast enough.  The first period ended with a 2-1 Magnitogorsk lead.

The 2nd period was rather dull as the teams skated up and down the ice without creating many quality chances.  They each added a goal to boost the score to 3-2.  Riga temporarily tied the game at 2 with four minutes left in the period when Yaroslav Kosov missed his assignment covering Robert Burkarts in the slot.  Burkarts took a pass from Meija and easily beat Ahonen glove side.  Nikolai Kulemin regained the lead for Magnitogorsk with just 7 seconds left in the period after Malkin found him wide open in the high slot on the powerplay.

Geno went full leg kick, yell, and stare down.

With a three point night through 2 periods, Malkin was far from done as Magnitogorsk turned this game into a blowout during the 3rd period.  They got off to a rough start, taking 2 high-sticking penalties and giving Riga a 5 on 3 chance within the first two minutes of the period.  Both penalties were killed though and Metallurg turned on the offense a few minutes later.  With 13 minutes left in the game, Magnitogorsk went on the powerplay thanks to a hooking call on Jamie Johnson.  Malkin scored his 13th goal of the season off of a Mozyakin pass as he was left uncovered by the back post.  Midway through the period, Metallurg scored their 4th powerplay goal of the game to make it 5-2.  Malkin found Gonchar at the point and he ripped a slapshot that was deflected in by Kulemin.

Just 35 seconds later, Sergei Mozyakin would get his second goal of the game on a shot that banked off of Jucers pads.  At 6-2, Dynamo Riga called a timeout but it was too late to change momentum or the result of the game.  Magnitogorsk added one last goal by Enver Lisin that deflected in off of a defenseman to make it 7-2.  Malkin finished with 5 points (1g, 4a) and Mozyakin with 4 (2g, 2a).

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7  Dynamo Riga 2

Magnitogorsk improves to 18-0-9-5 and Riga drops to 7-3-2-20.

Player Notes

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin's 5 point night moved him into second place in the KHL scoring race behind Mozyakin and ahead of Alexander Radulov.  Malkin now has 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points in 28 games.  He finished the game playing just over 22 minutes and went 13 for 24 in faceoffs while recording 8 shots.  Despite his high shot total, he still maintained a pass-first approach during powerplays and it worked to perfection.

Others - Sergei Mozyakin now has a 7 point lead in the scoring race over Malkin and I hope Geno brings him over to the US when the lockout ends.  Nikolai Kulemin had an easily overlooked 3 point night (2g, 1a).  Kulemin-Malkin-Mozyakin on the powerplay has simply been dominant all season.  Sergei Gonchar also had a 3 point night (1g, 2a) and had a strong game aside from the awful start with a short-handed goal allowed.  

Next Game:  12/7, 8am EST vs HC Donbass

Links:

ESPN has added a schedule and standings page for the KHL: http://espn.go.com/nhl/khl

Magnitogorsk has a twitter page: https://twitter.com/MetallurgMgn

Go to onhockey.ru for all of your streaming needs.

If you want highlights for the games, check out http://www.youtube.com/user/KHLofficialvideo.

Metallurg Survives a Wild 1st Period for a 7-4 Win

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(16-0-9-5)

vs

HC Spartak
Moscow

(7-3-5-15)

Players You May Recognize

Shaone Morrison, Oleg Petrov

Recap

The last time these two teams met, Magnitogorsk coasted to a very easy 7-2 win that was never in question. This game was just pure insanity throughout.  Cal O'Reilly did not dress, either for undisclosed reasons or disclosed reasons that were in Russian so I didn't understand them.  Backup Georgi Gelashvili started in net for Magnitogorsk against Sergei Borisov for HC Spartak Moscow.  Neither one would survive the start, though one would return.

Metallurg took control of the match early on due to a seemingly harmless shot from the point by Viktor Antipin.  Borisov attempted to glove the shot but deflected it behind him instead.  Thirty seconds later, Spartak forward Alexander Suglobov was called for slashing and Antipin scored his 2nd goal in a minute.  Nikolai Kulemin passed the puck from the high slot to Evgeni Malkin on the side boards. Malkin sent it right back to the crease where Antipin was waiting to deflect it in for a 2-0 lead.  Borisov was immediately pulled before the game was 5 minutes old and Alexei Yakhin (yes, Yakhin) went in for Spartak.

The goaltender change settled down Spartak and they drew a 5 on 3 after Gonchar was called for cross-checking and Khabarov for tripping, but they were unable to score.  Then with 5 minutes left in the period, all hell broke loose.

In the span of 1:41:
- Mikhail Yakubov was called for interference to put Spartak back on the powerplay.  Alexander Budkin cut the lead to 2-1 as he took a pass across the slot and slipped the puck under Gelashvili's pads.
- Anatoly Nikontsev then tied the game at two just 31 seconds later as he beat Gelashvili 5-hole trying to slide across the crease.
- Dmitry Kazionov put Magnitogorsk back in the lead 37 seconds later with a wrist shot from the point (assisted by Antipin) that was helped greatly by Platonov screening Yakhin.  Yakhin never even reacted to the shot.
- Andrei Ankudinov then scored off of an offensive zone faceoff (think of the James Neal play) 17 seconds later to tie the game 3-3.  Georgi Gelashvili was then pulled in favor of Ari Ahonen.

The period ended in a 3-3 tie as everyone tried to catch their breath from that 4 goal outburst.  It wouldn't take long for things to get fired up in the second period though.  Sergei Gonchar took a shot from the point which missed horribly wide, but bounced off the boards behind the net and back out to Kazionov at the faceoff circle.  Yakhin was not ready for the huge bounce to the other side and was completely out of position as Kazionov scored his 2nd of the game to make it 4-3, Metallurg.  A few minutes later, Mikhail Yunkov of Spartak was called for hooking and it took just seconds for Sergei Mozyakin to make it 5-3 with slapshot from the left point.

Yakhin was pulled and Borisov went back in net for Spartak after Mozyakin's goal.  The change didn't matter though as Mozyakin scored another powerplay goal a few minutes later to make it 6-3.  Malkin tried to make a centering pass to Mozyakin in the slot, but misfired on the pass and sent it straight to a defenseman.  The defenseman was not expecting the puck though and he tripped over himself and gave the puck up to Mozyakin all by himself in the slot.  Borisov had no chance to stop the quick wrister.

Malkin scored himself before scoring a goal later.

Spartak would stop the bleeding with a goal of their own when Nikolai Bushuyev found a loose puck on the crease just a minute later to make it 6-4 just before the end of the second period.  After magnificent scoring outbursts in the first and second, the third period went along rather quietly.  Enver Lisin had a penalty shot opportunity but fanned on his deke and then shot the puck straight up over the net.  Then, there was a big scare when Evgeni Malkin blocked a point shot off the faceoff.  Malkin remained down for a couple minutes but eventually skated off under his own power.  In dramatic fashion, Malkin came on for his next shift, took the puck, and skated through a Spartak defender before wristing a shot past Borisov for a 7-4 lead.  That would end the scoring and put the game away for Magnitogorsk.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7  HC Spartak Moscow 4

Magnitogorsk improves to 17-0-9-5 and Spartak drops to 7-3-5-16.

Player Notes

#C #C #C #C

Evgeni Malkin - Geno had by far his best game since taking over the captaincy a week ago. He finished with 1 goal, 2 assists, 4 shots, 16 for 27 in faceoffs, and 26:15 of ice time.  He was in pass-first mode during powerplays and stayed out of trouble in the physical game (hooray no stupid penalties!!).  Malkin is currently 3rd in points with 36 and 2nd in assists with 25.  Now hopefully he never blocks another shot until he returns to the NHL.

Others - Sergei Gonchar was named "Man of the Match" for Magnitogorsk despite being absurdly inaccurate with his shots today.  He finished with 2 assists and 4 shots on net, though he also had at least another 5 that missed the net (one turning into an assist).  Sergei Mozyakin had 2 goals to keep him in the KHL points and goals lead with 45 and 18 respectively.  He also leads the league in assists with 27.  Viktor Antipin had a 4 point night (2 goals, 2 assists) and Dmitry Kazionov had a 2 goal night after moving up to the 2nd line in Cal O'Reilly absence.

Next Game:  12/5, 8am EST vs. Dynamo Riga

Links:

ESPN has added a schedule and standings page for the KHL: http://espn.go.com/nhl/khl

Magnitogorsk has a twitter page: https://twitter.com/MetallurgMgn

Go to onhockey.ru for all of your streaming needs.

If you want highlights for the games, check out http://www.youtube.com/user/KHLofficialvideo.