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