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 Two Points Lead Magnitogorsk to Victory

The Matchup:

Metallurg 

Magnitogorsk 

(7-0-4-3)

vs

Torpedo

Nizhny Novgorod

(7-0-4-3)

Players You May Recognize

Supposedly Anton Volchenkov was in this game on the 3rd defensive pairing (he just recently signed), but I couldn't find him all game.  Other former NHLers:  Petr Schastlivy and Robert Nilsson

UPDATED: Volchenkov apparently only played 3:36 in the first period and nothing after that.  I'm not sure why.

Recap

Despite a match-up between the 4th place teams in each conference (East - Magnitogorsk, West - Nizhny Novgorod), Metallurg head coach Paul Maurice opted to start backup goalie Georgi Gelashvili instead of starter Ari Ahonen, who currently leads the KHL in goals against average (1.55).  The move worked out fine  though as Magnitogorsk dominated the first half of the game and held on in the end for a 3-2 victory.

The first period was simply a 20 minute Metallurg onslaught as they outshot Torpedo 17-2.  However, the period would still end in a 1-1 tie due to a bad defensive zone turnover.  Enver Lisin opened the scoring 7 minutes into the game as he corralled a rebound off of a Justin Hodgman shot and wristed it past Torpedo goalie Vitaly Koval.  Magnitogorsk continued to put the pressure on Koval, but he was up to the task as he stopped Lisin later on a partial breakaway and Sergei Mozyakin alone in the slot.  A dominating first period was all for naught as Nikolai Kulemin turned the puck over in the defensive zone to Maksim Potapov, who sniped it past Gelashvili to tie the game with less than a minute left in the period.

Malkin drawing a defender over before feeding
Zuccarello.

Magnitogorsk started the second period dominating the offensive zone yet again and took the lead 5 minutes in as Evgeni Malkin skated along the goal line and fed the puck to Mats Zuccarello on the crease.  Zuccarello tapped the puck off of Koval and it proceeded to roll over his shoulder and fall into the net as players from both teams crashed the net.  Four minutes later, Magnitogorsk made it 3-1 as Nikolai Kulemin skated down the right side, pulled up, and passed the puck to Evgeni Malkin just inside the blue line.  Malkin immediately threw a wrist shot past Koval's blocker to score his 3rd goal of the season.  Metallurg spent the rest of the period in the defensive zone as they turned the puck over incessantly, but still escaped with a 3-1 lead.

The third period was all Nizhny Novgorod as they piled on 18 shots, many of which originated from inside the faceoff circles.  They pulled their goalie with over 2 minutes left in the game and then drew a boarding penalty on Yevgeny Biryukov.  With a 6 on 4 advantage, Michael Varnakov scored to cut the lead to 3-2 with just 34 seconds left.  Although there was a late scramble for the puck, Magnitogorsk managed to hold on for the victory.

Final Score:  Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3  Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2

Magnitogorsk improves to 8-0-4-3 and Nizhny Novgorod drops to 7-0-4-4.

Player Notes

Hi Geno, we miss you.

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin's mindset in this game was clearly shoot first as he registered 5 shots on net in the 1st period alone.  He would finish the game with 8 shots, recording a goal and an assist in 21:42 of ice time.  He also continued with his above average faceoff numbers, going 14 for 26.  Malkin now has 11 points (3g, 8a) in 11 games with Magnitogorsk (3rd behind Sergei Mozyakin and Cal O'Reilly).  He also leads the team with 57 shots despite playing 4 less games than most of the forwards (Denis Platonov is 2nd with 51 shots).

Sergei Gonchar - Gonchar was kept off the scoresheet in a very quiet game for him where he recorded only 1 shot.  He found his way to the penalty box for a cross-checking penalty, but it did not hurt his team in the end.  Despite the pointless day, Gonchar remains the top defensive scorer for Magnitogorsk with 8 points in 11 games.  To add a little perspective, the next defenseman has 3 points in 15 games.

Others - Cal O'Reilly had a quiet game in the offensive zone and was downright dismal in the defensive zone, especially in the 3rd period.  He lost 8 out of 10 faceoffs in the 3rd period and committed multiple turnovers on attempted clears.  Mats Zuccarello showed a different aspect to his game today, displaying crease presence despite his diminutive size.  He took a beating to score his goal on the crease.  Nikolai Kulemin may have had both the best play and worst play of the game.  He did a wonderful job backing defenders off with speed before dishing the puck to Malkin on the 3rd goal.  However, his turnover in the 1st period also single-handedly gave Torpedo hope in this game.

Next Game:  10/17, 9am EST vs Atlant Moscow Oblast

Links:

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