SKA anti-record, Metallurg's rescue, Paquette's hat-trick in 370 seconds and Berdin's two passes: the main events of the week in the KHL

Serebryakov's failure and Boucher's hat-trick

One of the most exciting matches of February, and perhaps of the entire regular season, was between Avangard and SKA. Between them they scored 14 goals and almost repeated the season scoring record set in the December derby between Spartak and Dynamo (8:7). Moreover, the meeting started extremely unsuccessfully for the Omsk residents. Already in the third minute, Ivan Nikolishin violated the rules, and Arseniy Gritsyuk converted the majority.

However, in the middle of the starting period, Ivan Igumnov was allowed to restore his balance with a shot from the dime, and then Igor Martynov sent the puck between the pads of Nikita Serebryakov. In addition, after the break, Tomas Jurcho made an interception in the opponent's zone and shot through the goalkeeper. The Russian immediately went to the bench. The goalkeeper scored two shutouts at the end of January, but apparently was simply tired.

Already with Pavel Moisevich at the last turn, the guests made an impressive comeback. Marat Khairullin and Vasily Glotov upset Andrey Mishurov twice in 124 seconds. Among them, Roman Rotenberg’s players were angered by Nikita Kholodilin’s dangerous power move on Sergei Tolchinsky, after which their partner went to the locker room.

But SKA completely failed in the final period. To begin with, the best sniper of the regular season, Reed Boucher, hit Moisevich twice. The Belarusian lost his place in the lineup to Serebryakov. But he immediately missed the funny puck himself. After a throw from his own half by Artyom Chmykhov, Igumnov corrected the shot on the red line. And the goalkeeper unexpectedly allowed him to roll into the net. To the credit of the two-time Gagarin Cup winners, they continued to fight and even reduced the gap, but in the end they capitulated three more times. Boucher also scored a hat-trick. Thus, for the first time in history, the team from the Northern capital missed nine in the KHL.

Alas, today the “hawks” are not able to boast of stability. So, after an incredible victory over one of their main competitors, they lost at home to Spartak. The outcome of the confrontation was largely decided in the first 11 minutes, when the Muscovites scored three times. And at the equator of the game, Alexander Belyaev scored another one.

But the hosts almost performed a miracle thanks to Boucher's skill. The American scored shortly before the last break, and immediately after scored a double and brought the number of goals in the regular season to 44. Now he is separated from Sergei Mozyakin's record by only four. Soon, Ryan Spooner reduced the gap to a minimum, but Maxim Tsyplakov put the finishing touches, the second in Spartak after Nikolai Goldobin to surpass the 30-goal mark this season.

Nervous SKA matches in Ufa and Astana

Even a misfire in Omsk did not prevent SKA from leading the Western Conference table on the eve of moving to a new arena. The St. Petersburgers gained an amazing momentum and the defeat from Avangard remained their only one in the last seven meetings.

Among other things, we managed to defeat CSKA for the sixth time in a row in the current KHL competition and for the third time - to do it on the road. As in the match with the “hawks,” Rotenberg’s team quickly opened the scoring through the efforts of Mikhail Vorobyov. But in the 26th minute, Maxim Mamin correctly placed his stick on the heel and restored his balance.

And in the final period the guests also showed character. The red and blue stormed Serebryakov's possessions and turned over the opponent three times (15:5). But Nikita was incomparable that evening. But the army team from the Northern capital took advantage of perhaps the only opportunity - Khairullin and Artyom Zemchenok ran to the opposing goal, and the Belarusian hit the target.

But in the meetings with Salavat Yulaev and Barys, the favorite frayed the nerves of its fans. In Ufa, Rotenberg’s squad almost allowed their opponent to win back from a score of 0:4. In the end, Viktor Kozlov's team removed the goalkeeper and miraculously did not make a comeback. The guests' mentor even praised his colleague for his brave hockey. And in Astana, Alexander Nikishin saved SKA with a powerful wrist snap 42 seconds before the final siren. In the shootout, most of the attempts were surprisingly successful, but Moisevich still coped with the shots of Roman Starchenko and Pontus Oberg.

The two-time winners of the Gagarin Cup rose to first place, taking advantage of another unexpected misfire by Lokomotiv. The railway workers have already lost to Sochi (twice), Vityaz and Barys in their native walls, and now they have failed to cope with Admiral.

Dynamo's disappointing defeat from Lokomotiv

But for Dynamo the final part of the regular season is turning out to be difficult. This is largely due to a series of injuries. Leaders, such as Cedric Paquette, also dropped out. However, he has already returned to duty. And the leading three of blue and white are almost impossible to stop, especially when it comes to playing in unequal lineups.

Proof of this was the match with Lokomotiv, when the Canadian managed to score the fastest hat-trick in the history of the club in the first period - in six minutes and ten seconds. Moreover, in all cases, he competently substituted his stick on the dime for his partners’ attacks and twice did this in the majority. Moreover, this hat-trick was the striker’s second in 2024. In January, he showed his worth in a meeting with Torpedo.

However, Alexei Kudashov's team managed to lose their advantage. Moreover, one of the main heroes in the Yaroslavl team was defender Martin Gernat, who first beat Ilya Konovalov with a powerful flick, and then with a stunning pass from his own half brought him to a rendezvous with goalkeeper Daniil But. In the third period, a similar goal was scored by Stepan Nikulin, who managed to score while falling. In the “lottery” everything was also decided by his two successful attempts. And in the next match, the forward, who caught the courage, forced Siberia to take the puck out of their own goal three times.

Just a day later, Dynamo redeemed itself in front of the fans by defeating Avtomobilist, and the hosts’ other leading forward, Jordan Weale, scored a hat-trick. But the top scorer of both the team and the entire championship remains Nikita Gusev, who in the last two games gave five assists and brought the number of points to 78. Now only four separate the Russian from his personal record. And he has already set a new achievement for the blue and white in this indicator.

Four CSKA misfires in a row

Another capital giant CSKA still looks lackluster before the Gagarin Cup. While the current finalist of the Ak Bars tournament has picked up the pace in the new year, the three-time trophy winner looks slurred. So he started February with a series of four misfires in a row.

Although not in all matches the Muscovites deserved such an outcome. For example, in the home match with Avtomobilist, they made much more shots (44:31), but only sent it into overtime in the end thanks to the clicks of Anton Slepyshev and Pavel Karnaukhov. In the end, the hosts still lost in the shootout.

Then in Ufa they failed to upset the incredible Alexander Samonov. But in the end, Josh Livo and Nikita Zorkin snatched victory for Salavat Yulaev. By the way, Samonov also assisted his partner in the episode with the second goal.

And then the red-blues in Minsk ran into a wall in the person of Alexei Kolosov, who made 35 saves and conceded only once. The opponents upset Fedotov four times, who played another unimpressive match.

Unfortunately, the main problems of Sergei Fedorov’s squad remained unresolved. She does not convert chances in the best way, and the most productive snipers Mikhail Grigorenko and Mamin scored only 16 times each. There are also difficulties in defense. It is no coincidence that CSKA is in eighth place in terms of the number of goals conceded (148). And with a high degree of probability, one of the main favorites will not be able to rise above seventh position in the regular season and is guaranteed to receive a difficult opponent in the first round of the playoffs.

Metallurg's victory over its main competitor

In the East, Metallurg and Avangard continue to fight for first place. On February 2, their paths crossed at Arena-Metallurg. Magnitogorsk won a crucial victory in overtime and maintained its lead in the table.

Moreover, the main hero of the confrontation was Igor Geraskin, who scored four points (1 + 3). Last year, he played for the Omsk team and moved to the Ural team in December during a trilateral exchange with the participation of Damir Zhafyarov and Semyon Koshelev.

In his new place, the forward quickly became his own, and the meeting with his former squad turned out to be his best of the season. In the 12th minute he equalized the score himself, and after the break he took part in the scoring combination, which was scored by Daniil Vovchenko. But most importantly, 0.1 seconds before the end of regulation time, he made a stunning cross to Danila Yurov, who could not miss the empty corner. Finally, his performance did not go without one more assist in overtime.

In the guest roster, it is necessary to note Mishurov, who made 48 saves. And his partners very carefully took advantage of rare chances and in the 39th minute took the lead thanks to Semyon Chistyakov’s powerful shot from the blue – 3:2. But the Omsk team didn’t have enough to keep the score that suited them.

“Metallurg”, unlike “Lokomotiv”, defeated “Admiral”, distinguishing itself three times already in the starting period.

Sibir's attempt to challenge the deduction of four points

Meanwhile, Siberia is not giving up hope of challenging the deduction of four points. Let us remind you that she was awarded technical defeats in matches with Avangard, Avtomobilist and in two matches with Barys. The fault is that Fedor Gordeev took to the ice and violated the limit on foreign players. The defender was born in Omsk and as a child moved to Canada with his parents, where he began his career. At the same time, the young man still had a Russian passport. But the league decided that he did not have the right to play for domestic teams, and, therefore, was a foreigner.

The consideration of the case is so difficult that the disciplinary chamber of the FHR and KHL postponed the meeting on the club’s appeal from February 6 to the 9th. According to media reports, the league presented screenshots that show how, when trying to sign up a hockey player, a warning about exceeding the limit came on. Novosibirsk residents allegedly dispute their authenticity.

There was also room for a moment of humor. Gordeev arrived at the home match with Amur wearing a T-shirt with the inscription: “I am Russian.” And when it was shown on the cube, the composition of the same name by the famous artist Shaman began to play.

Berdin's assist double

“Sochi” does not please the fans and is in the penultimate line of the Western Conference. But Mikhail Berdin does everything to attract attention. Last week, the goalkeeper got into a fight with Kunlun striker Devin Brosseau, and in the meeting with Vityaz he showed himself as a forward, giving two assists at once.

The first one turned out to be especially amazing. The goalkeeper sent Matvey Michkov from his own line to a rendezvous with Dmitry Shikin, and he did not miss his chance. And at the beginning of the second segment, he took part in another combination, when he rolled into the right circle and made a pass with a rebound from the boards to the same Michkov. And the young talent, in turn, brought Artur Tyanulin to the throw.

Moreover, these are not the first assists for Berdin in the current KHL season. In October, in a confrontation with CSKA, he helped Marat Khusnutdinov close the gap. Thus, Mikhail, with three points, is now the most productive representative of his role in the regular season.