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.

Magnitogorsk Dismantles Riga Using the Powerplay

(Sorry for the delayed recap, "afternoon" games throw off my schedule)

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(9-0-4-3)

vs

Dynamo

Riga

(3-3-2-10)

Players You May Recognize

Viktor Ignatjev (assistant coach), Rob Schremp, Alexandre Giroux, Raitis Ivanans, Kaspars Daugavins

Recap

This really shouldn't have been a close game as Magnitogorsk visited last place Dynamo Riga, located in Latvia.  Shoddy defense and a very tightly called game kept the teams close though, ultimately helping Metallurg earn the 5-2 victory in the end after a shaky start.

Maybe Paul Maurice should hide his game plan better.

Despite a dismal record of 3-3-2-10, Riga's crowd was jubilant from the start and thought they had a reason to be when Riga appeared to take the lead less than a minute into the game.  The goal would be waived off because the puck last touched a player's hand, but Riga would score 3 minutes later anyways to take a 1-0 lead.  In a major defensive lapse, Magnitogorsk was caught pinching heavily in the offensive zone, leading to a 3 on 1 the other way where Sergei Gonchar was the only defenseman.  Gonchar played the cross-crease pass perfectly, but was helpless as the 3rd man in, Andris Dzherinsh, received the puck and flipped it over an outstretched Ari Ahonen in net.

Shortly thereafter, the tone of the game changed completely as penalty after penalty was called (a total of 24 in the game) and the pace died off altogether.  Magnitogorsk took advantage of their first powerplay in the first period after Evgeni Malkin drew an interference call in the offensive zone.  Sergei Mozyakin took the puck at the left point and fed it down to Malkin to the right of the net.  Malkin wasted no time and one-timed it past goalie Maris Yuchers.  The first period would end with 3 more penalties, but no more goals.

The second period started with 4 more penalties as the pace slowed to a crawl.  During a rare moment of 5 on 5 play, Riga simply embarrassed Magnitogorsk by taking the puck into the zone on a 2 on 3 break where both Riga players skated past all 3 defending players for a 2 on 0 chance against Ari Ahonen.  Ahonen was helpless as Kaspars Daugavins tapped in a cross-crease pass to give Riga the 2-1 lead.  More penalties followed as usual and Magnitogorsk used another powerplay to tie the game as Denis Platonov wristed a puck from the slot.  The second period ended with a "fight" featuring Alexandre Giroux and the third period would start with some 3 on 3 play.


The fight resulted in Giroux receiving a 5 minute major and Misharin only receiving a 2 minute minor.  On the ensuing powerplay, Magnitogorsk took the lead when Sergei Mozyakin one-timed a pass from Malkin into the net.  Shortly thereafter, Malkin would draw a hooking penalty as he drove towards the net and Magnitogorsk would score their 4th powerplay goal - Mozyakin from Malkin again.  The plethora of penalty calls would continue and Riga's Mathieu Carle would be sent to the locker room with a 5 minute major and game misconduct for abuse of the officials.  Though Riga made a last minute push despite the penalties, Nikolai Kulemin would finish the scoring with, of course, a powerplay goal assisted by Evgeni Malkin.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5  Dynamo Riga 2

Magnitogorsk improves to 10-0-4-3 and Riga drops to 3-3-2-11.

Player Notes

Four point Malkin is a happy Malkin.

Evgeni Malkin - A four point night finally moved Malkin past Cal O'Reilly in the Magnitogorsk scoring race and he now sits second on the team with 17 points in 13 games (behind Mozyakin who has 20 in 15).  In a game filled with frustration on both sides, Malkin stayed composed and only took one penalty for slashing while drawing two for hooking and interference.  He was the key to the powerplay, scoring 1 goal and earning the primary assist on 3 others.  He finished with 4 shots and went 14 for 25 in faceoffs in 21:35 of ice time to go with his 4 points and 2 PIM.

Sergei Gonchar - Though the powerplay was dominant and there was plenty of time with the extra man, Gonchar was nowhere to be seen.  He finished with no points and only one shot on net despite playing 21:44, much of it on the powerplay.  Gonchar didn't need to be flashy as Malkin took control of the powerplay and the game, but it is rare to see him do so little on the powerplay.

Others - Nikolai Kulemin had a quiet game despite his powerplay goal at the end.  Alexandre Giroux, who notoriously avoided contact in his AHL career, played a very physical game and took it all out on Georgi Misharin in their "fight".  Cal O'Reilly and Mats Zuccarello both assisted on Platonov's powerplay goal.  O'Reilly is now tied for 5th in assists (13) in the KHL with Ilya Kovalchuk.  

Next Game:  10/24, 12pm EST @ Donbass

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.