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.

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/.

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.