The rise of Lokomotiv, the revival of Spartak and rumors about the resignation of Znark: the main events of the week in the KHL

Rescues of Bocharov and duplicates of Shalunov and Polunin

Given the busy schedule, the teams in the current season of the KHL regular championship often alternate successful segments with unsuccessful ones.

Lokomotiv was no exception, having spent the game week more productively than the others.

He changed his five-match losing streak to a three-match winning streak.

Including managed to put the squeeze on SKA on the road - 2:1.

The meeting turned out to be not the most productive, and in regular time the opponents scored only two goals.

Pavel Kraskovsky answered Marat Khusnutdinov's accurate throw.

As a result, the fate of the confrontation was decided in overtime, where the Petersburgers made a gross mistake.

Rushan Rafikov broke his stick, and the hosts got the opportunity to run away together against one Maxim Shalunov.

But Marat Khairullin made a loss near the boards, and Artur Kayumov converted a heads-up.

Prior to that, Yaroslavl did not leave Sochi a chance thanks to the double of the same Shalunov - 4: 1.

Both times the striker scored in the majority.

And for him, these goals were the 150th and 151st in the KHL.

With a difference of three goals, one of the strongest teams in the East, Sibir, was also beaten - 3:0.

And in this meeting also not without a double.

In the middle of the match, Alexander Polunin upset his opponent twice with an interval of less than two minutes and brought the number of goals this season to ten.

Ivan Bocharov also gave a great game, reflecting all 24 shots and holding the 23rd match to zero in the KHL.

Railroad workers, thanks to recent successes, climbed to third place in the Western Conference.

Reideborn failure and Gusev's benefit performance

Improved its position and SKA, which in November suffered a total of six defeats.

However, this week the misfire in the confrontation with Lokomotiv turned out to be the only one.

Petersburgers won the other two matches with the same score 6:2.

Of course, the focus was on the Derby of the two capitals with CSKA.

In the last draw of the Gagarin Cup, the opponents met in the final of the Western Conference, and the capital's army team turned out to be stronger in seven matches.

In the current season, the wards of Roman Rotenberg are still taking a convincing revenge.

On the road, they turned out to be stronger in overtime, and at home they completely defeated their principal rival.

Already by the 14th minute the hosts scored four unanswered goals.

Completely failed the debut of Adam Reideborn, who failed to save his partners and allowed Mikhail Vorobyov and Nikita Gusev to play rebounds in the episodes with the first two goals.

After the fourth, the Swede was replaced by Alexander Sharychenkov, but it was too late.

With a score of 0:5, the guests managed to score twice, but Dmitry Yashkin put an end to it.

And CSKA mentor Sergei Fedorov was so upset by the defeat that he refused to call the game that his wards demonstrated, especially in the starting period.

SKA and Torpedo under the leadership of Igor Larionov failed to cope.

And the main character of the meeting once again became Gusev.

Some fans feared that the striker's return would not pay off, as it would be difficult for him to fit into the team's power hockey.

But while Nikita is useful in every game.

In Nizhny Novgorod, he scored four points in the “goal + pass” system (2 + 2).

In total, he has 16 (8 + 8) in 11 meetings.

Grishin's success and Prince's hat-trick

Pleases the fans and Spartak.

The team started the season extremely unsuccessfully and in November decided to change their coach.

So far, this step is fully justified.

Led by Igor Grishin, Muscovites won five victories with one defeat - in the derby against CSKA.

However, after it they interrupted Avangard's nine-match successful streak, and turned out to be stronger in Omsk - 3:1.

And a few days later, the red-and-whites also left Barys no chance on the road - 4:1, although the game started for them with a puck conceded already in the eighth minute.

But Shane Prince was irresistible in the composition of the guests that evening.

Forward even before the break has implemented the majority, and immediately after put an end to a beautiful combination.

Finally, at the end of the second period, he scored his debut hat-trick in the KHL.

Team leader Alexander Khokhlachev also played an effective game, upsetting his opponent and assisting his partner twice.

Spartak not only rises higher in the table, but is also working to strengthen the squad.

At the beginning of the week, the most experienced defender Maxim Chudinov signed a contract with the club until the end of the season.

In the current KHL draw, he took part in only seven meetings for Ak Bars, and missed the last one due to injuries.

But in the most important confrontation with Avangard, Grishin not only threw the world champion and three-time Gagarin Cup winner into battle, but also gave him more than 20 minutes of time.

And he did not disappoint, throwing the third puck into the gates of Omsk.

“What have I changed by heading Spartak?

I think it's a psychological moment.

We have changed training, but there are very few of them in the season.

When there is a break in December, we will have the opportunity to work more ... I hope we will continue in the same spirit, ”the specialist shared the secrets of success.

Miftakhov's saves and Safonov's captaincy

Ak Bars is also getting closer to castling on the coaching bridge.

Last week, Kazan lost to Sibir in the most important match and dropped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

After that, information appeared in the media about the possible departure of Oleg Znark from his post at the end of the away series.

But in the next match with a direct competitor in the fight for tickets to the playoffs Barys, the team managed to get together and score the most important three points - 2:1.

Vadim Shipachev gave two assists, and Vyacheslav Voinov scored the decisive goal.

An equally significant contribution to the success was made by Amir Miftakhov, who repelled 34 throws.

At the same time, the fans were quite surprised by the choice of the captain.

In the absence of Danis Zaripov, it was not one of the experienced hockey players, but Ilya Safonov.

Thus, at the age of 21 years, 5 months and 24 days, he became the youngest owner of the armband in the history of the club.

Znarok explained his decision by the fact that the ward, despite his age, has leadership qualities.

Probably, an important victory can delay the resignation of the coach.

At least, according to media reports, it was he who conducted the morning workout on Friday.

And well-known journalist Aleksey Shevchenko said that the leadership had not yet found a "suitable candidate."

Fight between Fisenko and Timkin and praise from Kozlov

Things were not going well for Salavat Yulaev, who suffered six defeats in a row in November.

The last of them fell on a fundamental confrontation with Magnitogorsk Metallurg.

"Magnitogorsk" won a difficult victory with a score of 2: 1 thanks to 39 saves by Eddie Pasquale.

The confrontation was also remembered for the fight between Mikhail Fisenko and Evgeny Timkin.

The first managed to knock the opponent down, and as a result, both received five minutes of penalty.

The team simply had no right to lose the next meeting, since it fell on November 25, the 61st birthday of the club.

Moreover, the wards of Viktor Kozlov hosted Avtomobilist, which, on the contrary, won seven victories in a row.

However, in Ufa, the successful series of Ekaterinburgers ended.

The hosts twice went ahead of the regular time.

Danila Aimurzina and Shakira Mukhamadullina managed to hit someone else's goal, but the guests found the strength to recoup.

However, in overtime, the Yulaevites still put the squeeze on the opponent.

Sergey Shmelev caught the moment at the far post and sent the puck into the near corner.

The joy of the team knew no bounds, and after the final siren, the hockey players in the locker room even allowed themselves to taste a birthday cake with the numbers "6" and "1".

And Viktor Kozlov praised his wards for the first time in a long time.

“Today was an incredible motivation, everyone understood what a day it was in the city, how important it was to win for the club.

Everyone sacrificed themselves, lay down under the puck, were not afraid to take on the opponent’s blow, ”the coach emphasized.