Final KHL Recap: Magnitogorsk Loses in a Shootout as NHL Lockout Ends

It was a fun ride Geno, time to bring it back here.

With the end of the NHL Lockout, this will be my final post about the KHL and Metallurg Magnitogorsk as NHL players return back to North America.  It has been a fun ride and I must admit that following the KHL was far more enjoyable than I expected.  Thank you to onhockey.ru (@onhockey) for providing streams online and promoting my blog.  Of course, thank you all for reading these KHL recaps and following as well.  I hope you continue to read along as Evgeni Malkin takes his dominant play back to Pittsburgh.

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(24-0-9-7)

@

Slovan

Bratislava

(14-6-5-14)

NHL/Former NHL Players You May Recognize

Lubomir Visnovski, Andrej Sekera, Miroslav Satan (injured)

Pregame Notes

• Magnitogorsk assistant coach Tom Barrasso was fined for "abuse of the officials" in the previous game:  http://en.khl.ru/news/2013/1/6/24976.html
• Standings Update: Magnitogorsk sits in 3rd place in the West with 81 points.  Bratislava is 5th in the East with 59 points.
• KHL Scoring Race Update:  Mozyakin entered tonight's game with the lead (65), 3 points ahead of Malkin (52) and 15 points ahead of Alexander Radulov (50).
• Starting goalies: Jaroslav Janus for Chelyabinsk and Ari Ahonen for Magnitogorsk.
• Injury report remains the same: Cal O'Reilly, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Evgeny Biryukov out.
• Of course, with the NHL Lockout ending, this is likely the last game for Evgeni Malkin, Nikolai Kulemin, and Sergei Gonchar.  Ryan O'Reilly's situation remains to be seen as an NHL restricted free agent.

Recap

Paul Maurice *tear*

Though Evgeni Malkin found out the NHL Lockout was ending before this game started, he opted to play one more game for Magnitogorsk along with Sergei Gonchar and Nikolai Kulemin before their KHL journey ended.  Coming off of a 3 game stretch at home where Magnitogorsk had outscored opponents 16-0 in front of 3 consecutive Ari Ahonen shutouts, there was hope that the team could have one more dominant win together.  Unfortunately, for Magnitogorsk fans and the team, all good things must come to an end.

As the puck dropped and I began chanting "please don't get hurt", it was clear Magnitogorsk would get off to a sluggish start.  Within the first shift, both Malkin and Kulemin avoided traffic with the puck and it made you wonder how much effort they were actually going to put in.  The teams played a seemingly contact-free game for the first 5 minutes before Slovan defender Andrej Sekera (of the Buffalo Sabres) took a tripping penalty.  Metallurg dominated the offensive zone but had very few chances on the powerplay, which ended early as Kulemin took an interference penalty trying to retrieve a rebound.  Slovan capitalized on their powerplay as Viktor Antipin fell a step behind Milan Bartovic, who proceeded to tap a perfect pass from Libor Hudacek into the net.

A few minutes later, Yaroslav Khabarov put Slovan back on the powerplay when he covered the puck with his hands for a delay of game penalty.  Bratislava scored with the man advantage yet again on a wrist shot from the left side by Hudacek.  The period ended 2-0 in favor of Slovan and Malkin's finale looked like a dud early on.

He wasn't going out without a fight.

Magnitogorsk came out in the 2nd period with much more firepower and a completely different attitude than in the first.  They outshot Bratislava 15-6 in the period, though it took them until the final minute to finally score.  Jaroslav Janus made several spectacular saves before succumbing to an onslaught in the final minute of the period after Sekera was sent off for a cross-checking penalty.  With less than a minute left in the period and Magnitogorsk on the powerplay, Kulemin took a pass from Sergei Mozyakin down to the left faceoff dot by Janus.  As Kulemin drew the eyes of both defensemen, he slipped a pass into the slot to Malkin, who performed a half spin-o-rama away from the nearest defenseman and backhanded the puck past Janus to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The top line struck again just seconds later as Malkin won the faceoff, Kulemin skated the puck into the offensive zone and passed it across the ice to Mozyakin, and Mozyakin one-timed it into an almost empty net as Janus could not react quickly enough.   In a span of 12 seconds in the finale minute of the period, Magnitogorsk took a 2-0 deficit and turned it into a tie game in front of a stunned Slovan crowd.

It was a nice try, Antipin.

Bratislava came out hard in the 3rd period and Magnitogorsk gave them a couple more powerplay chances, which was one too many.  With Evgeni Malkin in the box for tripping (which he argued fervently), Slovan caught Ari Ahonen completely out of position and fired a shot past Viktor Antipin who attempted to play goalie temporarily.  Malkin was livid after the goal and put his focus into tying the game, which would happen  4 minutes later.  With the top line out on an extended shift, Malkin carried the puck along the offensive blue line as Mozyakin went deep into the zone.  Slovan defenders lost track of Mozyakin and Malkin fired a pass down to him at the crease where he easily beat Janus with a one-timer to tie the game at 3.  Both Malkin and Enver Lisin had breakaway chances to win the game in the final minute, but were stymied by some clutch saves.

Overtime came and went with barely any chances.  Slovan had the best shot but Ahonen fought it off with his blocker easily.  As Magnitogorsk carried their 0-9 overtime record to a shootout, the ending was rather clear.  Ryan O'Reilly missed on his first chance while Mario Bliznak scored for Slovan.  Both Evgeni Malkin and Jan Lipiansky were stopped in the second round.  Sergei Mozyakin came up with a shootout tying goal in the 3rd round and Ahonen stopped Michal Vondrka to keep the game alive.  However, Mozyakin was unable to score on his chance in the 4th round and Mario Bliznak scored his second of the shootout to win it for Slovan.  Make that 0-10 in overtime.

Final Score:  Slovan Bratislava 4  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (SO)

Box Score: http://text.khl.ru/en/35139.html

Magnitogorsk drops to 24-0-10-7 and Bratislava improves to 14-7-5-14.

Player Notes

The last of many Gonchar-Malkin-Mozyakin celebrations.

Evgeni Malkin

Malkin finished the game with 1 goal, 2 assists, 7 shots, 11 for 26 (42.3%) in faceoffs and 2 PIM in 23:21 of ice time.  After a slow start, his competitive fire erupted as he figured in to every Magnitogorsk goal of the day.  As usual, Sergei Mozyakin also figured into every goal, so Malkin finishes his KHL season still in 2nd place in scoring, behind Mozyakin.  I hate to see those two broken up, there was incredibly chemistry between them and it was really something special to watch.

Malkin's Final KHL Stats:  37 games, 23 goals, 42 assists, (65 points), +23, 58 PIM, 226 shots, 10.2% shooting, 492/899 faceoffs (54.7%), and averaging 22:26 TOI.
Goal breakdown was 12 even strength, 10 powerplay, 1 shorthanded

Nikolai Kulemin

Kulemin added 3 assists in this game and, as usual, was the perfect 3rd musketeer for the Malkin-Mozyakin combination.  He helped create space for both players, frequently chased down loose pucks, and kept defensemen honest.

Kulemin's Final KHL Stats:  36 games, 14 goals, 24 assists, (38 points), +25, 26 PIM, 98 shots, 14.3% shooting, 11/21 faceoffs (52.4%), and averaging 19:27 TOI.
Goal breakdown: 7 even strength, 7 powerplay

Sergei Gonchar

Gonchar went pointless in his final Magnitogorsk game, but also was not on for any of the PP goals against at least.  He played on the 2nd pairing as usual and made a quiet exit out of the KHL.

Gonchar's Final KHL Stats:  37 games, 3 goals, 26 assists, (29 points), +20, 40 PIM, 92 shots, 3.3% shooting, and averaging 21.39 TOI.
Goal breakdown: 2 even strength, 1 powerplay

Next Game:  1/8, 1pm EST @ Lev Praha

The rest of the Magnitogorsk schedule is here:  http://en.khl.ru/calendar/222/01/3995/.

Good luck to Metallurg Magnitogorsk and their fans!!  Thanks for everything!

Malkin's Hat Trick Leads Metallurg to First Place

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(23-0-9-7)

vs

Traktor

Chelyabinsk

(21-3-6-9)

NHL/Former NHL Players You May Recognize

Jan Bulis, Andrei Kostitsyn, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Deron Quint, Stanislav Chistov, Michael Garnett

Pregame Notes

• Evgeni Malkin was named attacker of the month and Sergei Gonchar was named defenseman of the month for December:  http://en.khl.ru/news/2013/01/01/24966.html
• Sergei Mozyakin was named attacker of the week for Week 15:  http://en.khl.ru/news/2013/01/01/24964.html
• Standings Update: Magnitogorsk sits in 3rd place in the West with 78 points.  Chelyabinsk is 4th in the West with 75 points.  Big game in the standings.
• KHL Scoring Race Update:  Mozyakin entered tonight's game with the lead (63), 4 points ahead of Malkin (59) and 15 points ahead of Alexander Radulov (48).
• Starting goalies: Michael Garnett for Chelyabinsk and Ari Ahonen for Magnitogorsk.
• Injury report remains the same: Cal O'Reilly, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Evgeny Biryukov out.

Recap

After a mini-break for the New Year (the KHL apparently has a break every 3 weeks), Magnitogorsk returned to the ice hoping to steamroll their third opponent in a row.  After a 6-0 win over Novokuznetsk, followed by a 7-0 win over Khabarovsk, it was easy to assume Metallurg would have a more difficult task in front of them with a MUCH better team in Traktor Chelyabinsk.  As I continually learn in the KHL, assumptions are wrong. Ari Ahonen and Metallurg extended their team shutout streak to 3 games with a dominant 3-0 win over Traktor.

Inseparable

The game began at a furious pace through the first four minutes, but neither team had much of a scoring chance during their rushes up and down the ice.  On a bad line change amidst the rushes, Traktor's Evgeny Katichev was forced into taking a holding penalty which ultimately led to the first goal.  Though the description changes, you can always guess the powerplay goal:  Evgeni Malkin from Sergei Mozyakin and Sergei Gonchar.  This one was mostly on Malkin's own effort as he received a pass from the neutral zone, cut across a defender and cut across the slot to throw a backhander past Traktor goalie Michael Garnett.

The rest of the first period continued along quietly with each team getting a powerplay chance but failing to convert.  Metallurg finished the 1st leading 9-6 in shots, which did not include a beautiful chance for Malkin with 18 seconds left where he shot the puck over a wide open net from two feet away.  Geno was left staring to the heavens in wonderment as the period came to a close.  Also of note, Washington Capitals' prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov (26th pick in 2010) had 4 of Traktor's 6 shots in the period.

Magnitogorsk started the second period with back to back powerplays as forward Konstantin Panov was called for tripping, came out of the box after the penalty was killed, and was called for tripping again.  Unfortunately they were unable to capitalize on either chance with Malkin ringing a slapshot off the post at the end of the second powerplay.  After the two kills, Traktor had a chance to tie the game with Malkin in the penalty box for hooking, but they only managed 1 shot on the powerplay.

Geno ROAR.

Malkin promptly made them pay for not taking advantage of the opportunity.  Just as Malkin exited the box, Mozyakin and Nikolai Kulemin jumped on to the ice to unite the first line in an effort to shift momentum.  Mozyakin skated out of the corner in the offensive zone with the puck and dished it to Kulemin at the left faceoff circle.  Kulemin passed it to the crease, where Malkin skated laterally with Garnett already down and slid the puck into a virtually empty net for a 2-0 lead.  Magnitogorsk had a few more chances in the period led by the line of Lisin-Hodgman-Zuccarello, but Garnett held strong and kept the score 2-0 through 2 periods.

Traktor had one more strong chance to get into the game early in the 3rd period with Mikhail Yakubov in the box for holding, but Metallurg's penalty kill was too aggressive for Traktor to handle.  A few minutes after the penalty was killed, Malkin finished his natural hat trick and capped off the scoring with a fanned shot that dribbled into the net.  Enver Lisin created the chance by skating the puck behind the net and attempting a wrap-around that sailed across the crease.  Mozyakin attempted to corral the puck, missed it, and let it slide to Malkin.  Malkin then fanned on the shot but still hit the puck hard enough that it slid past Garnett who was left scrambling.

With a 3-0 lead midway through the 3rd, the only things left to do were clean up the hats and preserve Ahonen's third shutout in a row.  Traktor never put a scare into the goalie as Metallurg kept all shots to the perimeter and cleared the front of the net to perfection.  With that, Magnitogorsk won the game and jumped into 1st place in the West with 81 points, 1 point ahead of Avangard Omsk and Ak Bars Kazan.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3  Traktor Chelyabinsk 0

Box Score: http://text.khl.ru/en/35122.html

Magnitogorsk improves to 24-0-9-7 and Chelyabinsk drops to 21-3-6-10.

Player Notes

Things I miss: Geno celebrations

Evgeni Malkin - I don't have enough words to praise Malkin in this game.  He could have had 5 goals since he missed an open net and also beat Garnett but hit the post.  His final stat line was 3 goals on 6 shots, 7 for 16 (43.8%) on faceoffs, and 2 PIM in 23:02 of ice time.  Geno did a masterful job of creating space for himself with head fakes and speed changes throughout the game and simply looked in peak form.  He even played a strong defensive game, denying two Traktor forwards of chances in front of the net with perfectly timed stick lifts.  This may have been the best all around game Malkin has played all season.

Gonchar's inevitable reaction to Pens fan debates

Others (Metallurg) - Sergei Mozyakin, of course, assisted on all 3 of Malkin's goals and remains the KHL scoring leader.  The chemistry between the two players is a sight to behold as they perfectly measure where each other will be ahead of the play.  Gonchar, Kulemin, and Lisin also added assists in this game.  Mats Zuccarello had a plethora of chances but was robbed by Garnett on multiple occasions  Ryan O'Reilly went 12 for 16 in faceoffs.  Ari Ahonen is rising back into the Top 5 for goalie stats with his 3rd shutout in a row as both he and Metallurg's defense look impenetrable right now.

A couple more years of seasoning makes more sense now.

Others (Traktor) - Admittedly, the only Traktor player I focused on was Evgeny Kuznetsov, who looked like the focal point of Traktor's offense but was kept to the perimeter at all times.  Though he had 7 of the team's 23 shots, I was less than impressed with his willingness to drive with the puck into traffic.  He clearly seemed more interested in deking to the outside than inside against this Magnitogorsk team.

Next Game:  1/6, 11am EST @ Slovan Bratislava

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/.

Look for Ahonen stats too.

Top Line Destroys Khabarovsk Behind Mozyakin's 4 Goals

The Matchup (from 12/30):

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(22-0-9-7)

vs

Amur

Khabarovsk

(9-3-1-25)

Stats

• Evgeni Malkin - 1 goal, 4 assists, 2 PIM, 7 shots, 18 for 29 (62.1%) in faceoffs in 20:43 of ice time
• Sergei Mozyakin - 4 goals, 1 assist, 10 shots in 19:05 of ice time
• Nikolai Kulemin - 4 assists, 1 shot in 19:13 of ice time
• Sergei Gonchar - 1 assist, 1 shot in 21:50 of ice time
• Ari Ahonen - 26 saves on 26 shots, 2nd consecutive shutout

Highlight Videos

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7  Amur Khabarovsk 0

Box Score: http://en.khl.ru/report/222/?idgame=35116

Magnitogorsk improves to 23-0-9-7 and Khabarovsk drops to 9-3-1-26.

Next Game:  1/4, 6am EST vs Traktor Chelyabinsk

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/.

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.

Malkin's Penalty in Overtime Leads to a Loss

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(16-0-7-5)

@

HC Vityaz
Chekhov

(4-6-6-12)

Players You May Recognize

Alexei Zhamnov (General Manager), Trevor Gillies, Alexander Korolyuk, Daniil Markov, Brian Fahey, Andrei Markov

Recap

Oh, KHL streams...

A quick note on some changes over the past couple games.  Denis Platonov is no longer wearing the C, it was given to Evgeni Malkin when Platonov missed a game and Malkin kept it today with Platonov in the lineup.  Also, the new first line is Mozyakin-Malkin-Kulemin.  Now onto the game!

HC Vityaz Chekhov has had a miserable November so far, going winless for the month.  Their last win was October 31st in a shootout and they only have 4 regulation wins all season.  Despite that, I guess a team has to win eventually...

The first period started quite slow with a lot of neutral zone play and a few turnovers.  The game livened up significantly around the 10 minute mark when Metallurg's Justin Hodgman slashed goaltender Ivan Lisutin while trying to chip at a rebound.  Vityaz defenseman Daniil Markov took exception to this and flat out attacked Hodgman, jumping him from behind and repeatedly punching him with his gloves off.  Markov was given a double minor for roughing, a 10 minute misconduct, and ejected with a game misconduct.

A look at the scoreboard in Chekhov with no jumbotron.

Magnitogorsk did not score on the ensuing powerplay, but scoring chances increased for both teams as the pace picked up.  Mats Zuccarello opened up the scoring for Metallurg when he took a pass from Hodgman and skated across the crease to backhand a shot under a diving Lisutin.  Chekhov would tie the game less than 2 minutes later while Oleg Tverdovsky was in the penalty box for slashing.  Evgeni Malkin tried to pass the puck back to Georgi Misharin in his own end, but Misharin was not ready and the puck bounced off of his skate.  Alexander Korolyuk took the puck for a wide open chance in the slot and put a slapshot past goalie Ari Ahonen.

The second period was dominated by tight play and obstruction penalties as each team had two powerplay chances.  Neither team scored on their powerplays though and it looked like the period would pass along quietly until Aleksey Badyukov wristed a puck past Ahonen to give Chekhov a 2-1 lead.  With the period winding down and Magnitogorsk facing a 1 goal deficit, Sergei Mozyakin threw a slapshot at the net from the blue line with less than 10 seconds left.  The rebound came out perfectly to Nikolai Kulemin, who quickly shot the puck past Lisutin to tie the game with 5 seconds left in the 2nd period.

Maurice knew OT was trouble.

HC Vityaz Chekhov took the lead just over a minute into the 3rd period when Yakov Seleznyov shot a backhander from the slot past Ahonen, who did not look ready for the shot.  The period continued on quietly as Magnitogorsk could not mount much of an attack with Chekhov keeping 3 players back at all times.  Metallurg finally earned a break though when Korolyuk was called for slashing with less than 4 minutes left.  The powerplay succeeded and Victor Antipin tied the game as he backhanded a bouncing puck in the slot past Lisutin.

As the game went to overtime, not many could expect a Magnitogorsk win based on their 0-7 overtime record this season.  True to form, Evgeni Malkin was called for kneeing with 1:34 left in overtime and Brian Fahey scored on the first shot of the powerplay to give Chekhov the overtime win.  Malkin vehemently argued with the refs after the game about the call and received an additional 10 minute misconduct for abuse of officials after the fact.  Make that 0-8 in overtime.

Final Score:  HC Vityaz Chekhov 4  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (OT)

Magnitogorsk drops to 16-0-8-5 despite outshooting Vityaz 49-20 and Chekhov improves to 4-7-6-12.

Player Notes

Not your best night, Captain Geno.

Evgeni Malkin - Geno registered 11 shots with no points, was 11 for 28 in faceoffs, and was given 12 PIM in 23:22 of ice time.  Many of those shots were bad angle shots on the powerplay and he was simply not his creative self today.  He was seen arguing with the refs over icing calls early in the 3rd and then again after his penalty at the end of the game, which absolutely was a penalty regardless of his argument.  This was not a great day as Captain for Geno and I'm sure Paul Maurice isn't happy with it.

Others - Sergei Mozyakin added 2 assists to boost his league leading point total to 41 and move him back into the assists lead with 25.  His stickhandling was beautiful today as he played keep away from Chekhov players multiple times in the offensive zone.  Nikolai Kulemin and Mats Zuccarello also put together strong performances with a goal each.  Both players spent a significant amount of time causing havoc around the Vityaz net.  Sergei Gonchar had a quiet game, recording just 3 shots, and he had an easy night in the defensive end.  

Next Game:  11/30, 11am EST @ Dynamo Minsk

If you haven't looked at it yet, check out my previous post to see an interview with Paul Maurice, who talks about Malkin's spin-around backhand goal against Cam Ward in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2009.

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.

Karri Ramo baffles Magnitogorsk in a 2-1 Game.

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(15-0-6-4)

vs

Avangard
Omsk

(11-7-3-6)

Players You May Recognize

Karri Ramo, Sergei Kostitsyn, Nikita Nikitin, Alexander Frolov, Alexander Perezhogin

Recap

A week ago, the Euro Hockey Tour break ended and Magnitogorsk visited Omsk in their first game after the break.  The game was built up as a heavyweight match between two of the top teams in the East and featured on ESPN 3.  Magnitogorsk lost that game in overtime, 3-2.  Unfortunately, the result was similar in today's match as Magnitogorsk lost 2-1 in regulation at home despite a plethora of chances to tie the game.

Karri Ramo started in net for Avangard Omsk and somehow that spelled the end for Magnitogorsk instantly.  Ramo played a fantastic game, stopping 32 of 33 shots including numerous breakaways and point blank chances.  Ari Ahonen stopped 29 of 31 shots for Magnitogorsk, but it wasn't enough for the snake-bitten offense to overcome.

Avangard Omsk took the lead early on a fluke play as Alexander Frolov streaked down the right side of the ice and tried to backhand a pass towards the crease.  His pass worked out better than anticipated as it deflected off of Sergei Gonchar's skate and into the air past Ari Ahonen for a 1-0 lead.

Both teams traded chances for the rest of the period, including three 2 on 1 breaks within the last two minutes, but the period ended 1-0.  Evgeni Malkin and Nikolai Kulemin looked fantastic after the first, but Karri Ramo was already the star of the game through one.

The second period started quickly with an Enver Lisin breakaway that was stopped by Ramo.  The ref proceeded to call a penalty shot because Lisin was partially slashed even though he got the shot off.  Ramo stopped Lisin yet again on the penalty shot to preserve the 1-0 lead.  The teams traded powerplays through a mostly quiet 2nd period before the energy skyrocketed again towards the end.

With four minutes left in the period, Igor Volkov snuck past both Metallurg defenders and received a breakaway pass at the blue line.  All it took was a quick forehand to backhand deke and Volkov lifted the puck past a diving Ari Ahonen for a 2-0 lead.  Less than 2 minutes later, Malkin worked his own offensive magic for Magnitogorsk.  Geno skated in and around two Avangard defenders before dishing a perfect pass to Sergei Gonchar across the slot.  Gonchar one-timed the puck past Karri Ramo to cut the lead down to 2-1.

The third period started with more insanity when Avangard received a penalty shot because Sergei Mozyakin covered the puck in the crease during a crazy scrum.  Ari Ahonen was up to the task and stopped the penalty shot to keep it at a one goal game.  Unfortunately Magnitogorsk was unable to find a tying goal as Ramo continued to dazzle in net.

Final Score:  Avangard Omsk 2  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1

Metallurg drops to 15-0-6-5 and Avangard improves to 12-7-3-6.

Player Notes

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin finished with 1 assist, 5 shots, 18 for 26 in faceoffs, and 21:22 of ice time.  He skated like he was shot out of a cannon all night and had some beautiful puck-handling moves in the offensive zone.  Despite the small offensive output, Malkin was a force in most of his shifts and created chances all over the ice with Kulemin.

Sergei Gonchar - Gonchar finished with 1 goal on 4 shots in 20:15 of ice time.  Gonchar's one-timer was beautiful, though his overall play was marred by the accidental 1st goal and being on the ice for the breakaway goal against.  Also, his reluctance to shoot on the powerplay and preference to feed it to Malkin on the half-boards is getting rather predictable for penalty killers to adjust to.

Other Players - Oleg Tverdovsky, who missed several games before the break with an injury, looked back up to speed and played quite well throughout the game. He had a great shot in front of the net but was stopped by the amazing Karri Ramo.  Enver Lisin and Justin Hodgman both had awful games in terms of turnovers and general positioning.  Nikolai Kulemin looked fantastic with Malkin but was robbed a couple times by Ramo and then missed the net on two tough chances.

Next Game:  11/23, 8am EST vs Barys Astana

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.