Day 2 of the 2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs takes place on March 9th. Today is the first day of Eastern Conference quarterfinals, while Western Conference teams will lace them for Game 2’s. MHL media relations department will keep you updated throughout the gameday.

MHL executive director Alexei Morozov visited Game 1 of the first round series between Omskie Yasterby and Sibirskie Snaipery, presented the home team with an award for winning Ural-Sibir Division and partook in the ceremonial puckdrop.

 

The fans were treated to a very cautious game in the opening frame as Omsk had a little advantage. Sibirskie Snaipery’s netminder Alexei Krasikov had a lot on his plate but his counterpart Vyacheslav Novitsky also had to make a few saves now and then. The second period of play followed the same scenario.

 

Home team continued to spend more time in the offensive end but they lacked good scoring chances. First goal of the night came rather suddenly. Artyom Manukyan took a regular shot on net on a powerplay, that was followed by chaos in the crease, the puck slid under Krasikov’s pad and Maxim Mineyev had no trouble stuffing it into the wide open four-by-six – 1-0 Omskie Yastreby.

 

At 50-25 Stanislav Tretiakov improved Yastreby’s lead to 2-0. He picked up the rebound in the slot and roofed it past Krasikov with neat backhander. Sibirskie Snaipery couldn’t get a single goal in the rest 10 minutes of regulation. Moreover, ‘the hawks’ could have added a few more goals to their lead but Krasikov made several huge saves, really coming to his teammates’ rescue, including stopping Omsk on a breakaway chance. Omskie Yastreby take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

 

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 1. Omsk, Russia

 

Omskie Yastreby Omsk Region – Sibirskie Snaipery Novosibirsk Region – 2-0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)

 

1-0 – Mineyev (Fischenko, Manukyan А.) – 38-31 PPG

2-0 – Tretiakov (Rozhkovsky, Bugrov) – 50-25

 

Goaltenders: Novitsky – Кrasikov

 

Statistics:

Shots: 62-48

Shots on goal: 40-20

Goals: 2-0

Face-offs: 35-32

Penalty Minutes: 12-6

 

Omskie Yastreby lead the series 1-0

Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk beat Kuznetskie Medvedi Novokuznetsk in a shootout and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

 

The teams got off to fast-paced hockey right off the bat and created a few great scoring chances early in the game. 12 minutes in Konstantin Parkhomenko rattled the crossbar with his shot and a few moments later Kirill Kaprizov found the back of the net. U20 Team Russia forward got a powerplay marker and put the visiting team in the lead.

 

In the second period the teams kept playing the fast-paced game but Magnitogorsk’s offensive rushes looked more dangerous. Stalnye Lisy’s top players Artur Boltanov and Vitaly Kudrin were in the spotlight. In the end ‘Steel Foxes’ got a goal but it was their other line who tied the game up. At 39-09 Alexander Shurygin got the puck in the slot and one-timed it past Ivan Starostin for a powerplay tally of his own.

 

Early in the third period of play home team pulled ahead. Artur Boltanov stole a puck at the offensive blue line, skated to the net and roofed it. Visiting team brought it all back to even again with 1-14 left to play in regulation. Dmitry Arsenyuk couldn’t beat Starostin on a breakaway chance and moments later Dmitry Starchenko sent it in for Novokuznetsk.

 

Overtime solved nothing and the game went to a shootout. Magnitogorsk had more experience in that regard in the regular season and that worked in their advantage. Kirill Kaprizov didn’t capitalize on his attempt, while Dmitry Arsenyuk sent one past Starostin and won Game 1 for Magnitogorsk.

 

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 1. Magnitogorsk, Russia

 

Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk – Kuznetskie Medvedi Novokuznetsk – 3-2 SO (0-1, 1-0. 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

 

0-1 – Kaprizov (Каravayev, Parkhomenko) – 11-26 PPG

1-1 – Shurygin (Shvyryov, Arsenyuk) – 39-09 PPG

2-1 – Boltanov (Unassisted) – 41-58

2-2 – Starchenko (Butuzov, Kamalov) – 58-46

3-2 – Arsenyuk – 65-00 SOW

 

Goaltenders: Zagidulin – Starostin

 

Statistics:

Shots: 54-50

Shots on goal: 30-28

Goals: 2-2

Face-offs Won: 25-26

Penalty Minutes: 16-14

 

Stalnye Lisy lead the series 1-0

Snezhnye Barsy Astana beat Tolpar Ufa in overtime on the road and stole the home ice advantage.

 

Tolpar got off to a good start, played hard, drew a penalty and capitalized on the ensuing powerplay – Gleb Kuzmin scored his 1^st career MHL playoffs goal. Early in the second period of play Artyom Pimenov doubled Tolpar’s lead, which in a twisted way came back to haunt him afterwards.

 

In the following six minutes Snezhnye Barsy scored four goals on Vladislav Bulygin, sending him to the bench. Kirill Panyukov, Andrei Loktev, Dmitry Grenz and Ilya Lobanov got the markers. Ufa swapped Bulygin for 16-year-old rookie Daniil Tarasov and pulled themselves together. Home team got a goal back before the second intermission. Notably, it came shorthanded – Kuzmin scored his second of the night at 34-57, just 12 seconds after Lobanov scored for Snezhnye Barsy.

 

Tolpar managed to even it up with less than five minutes left on the clock in regulation – Valentin Razumyak’s tally sent the game to overtime. Kirill Tsulygin took an unnecessary minor penalty in the extra frame but Tolpar survived it. However, just as Tsulygin left the penalty box, Astana’s top-scorer in the regular season Alikhan Asetov sent it in, bringing Snezhnye Barsy their first win of the series.

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 1. Ufa, Russia

 

Tolpar Ufa – Snezhnye Barsy Astana – 4-5 ОТ (1-0, 2-4, 1-0, 0-1)

 

1-0 – Kuzmin (Коtlyarevsky) – 05-25 PPG

2-0 – Pimenov (Маrgamov) – 24-29

2-1 – Panyukov (Grenz) – 27-53

2-2 – Loktev (Unassisted) – 31-43

2-3 – Grenz (Panyukov, Asetov) – 33-54

2-4 – Lobanov (Panyukov, Grenz) – 34-45 PPG

3-4 – Kuzmin (Unassisted) – 34-57 SHG

4-4 – Razumnyak (Mirgaliev) – 55-14

4-5 – Asetov (Gurkov) – 65-55

 

Goaltenders: Bulygin, Tarasov – Leontyev

 

Statistics:

Shots: 45-57

Shots on net: 25-31

Goals: 4-5

Face-offs Won: 31-34

Penalty Minutes: 14-6

 

Snezhnye Barsy lead the series 1-0

Krasnaya Armiya Moscow beat U18 Team Russia 1-0 and improved their lead to 2-0 in the best-of-five series. They are now just one win away from making it to the 2016 Kharlamov Cup Quarterfinals.

 

The visiting team had the momentum in the first period of play and they managed to convert their advantage on the shotclock to a goal – Artyom Chmykhov found the back of the net. In the second stanza the fans were treated to lots of physical battles, which sometimes was overlapped but dirty plays.

 

Krasnaya Armiya takes most credit for that, despite the score on the board. Yegor Ogienko got a minor penalty for kneeing, Vadim Kucherov was sent off for a deuce for boarding (luckily for Krasnaya Armiya they survived ensuing 5-on-3 penalty kill) and late in the period Alexei Sleptsov received a minor and a 10-minute misconduct for checking to the head.

 

Despite all these man-advantages Vitaly Prokhorov’s side couldn’t capitalize on either of them, even though they had their chances. However, the red-and-blue defensemen did their job well and when they failed Vyacheslav Volkov came to rescue. Krasnaya Armiya held on to the 1-0 lead and they now have U18 Team Russia pinned to the wall. ‘The juniors’ now have no room for mistake.

 

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 2. Moscow, Russia

 

U18 Team Russia – Krasnaya Armiya Moscow – 0-1 (0-1, 0-0, 0-0)

 

0-1 – Chmykhov (Podluboshnov, Myasischev) – 09-30

 

Goaltenders: Sukhachyov – Volkov

 

Statistics:

Shots: 49-47

Shots on goal: 21-28

Goals: 0-1

Face-offs Won: 37-26

Penalty Minutes: 12-24

 

Krasnaya Armiya lead the series 2-0

Chayka Nizhny Novgorod beat Reaktor Nizhnekamsk in Game 1 of the best-of-five series. Reigning champions had to overcome a 1-goal deficit twice to get a win in a shootout.

 

In the first period of play the teams traded goals. Pavel Poryadin opened up the scoring at 06-02 with an even strength tally, while Igor Rudenkov scored on a powerplay at 12-00. Just 38 seconds into the second frame MHL regular season top-scorer Raael Bikmullin scored his first career MHL playoffs goal to put Reaktor back in the lead.

 

In the third period the teams continued to play cautiously in their defensive end, although the score on the board forced Nizhny Novgorod to put a lot of effort into the offense. In the end their final push led to a marker by Roman Gorbunov with just 21 seconds left to play in regulation, thus forcing third overtime of the night!

 

Extra frame solved nothing once again, even though reigning Kharlamov Cup champions got a man-advantage as Anton Kudryavtsev was called for interference. The game went to a shootout and Denis Shurakov won it for Chayka. Nizhny Novgorod’s top-scorer of the regular season scored the third round and gave his team a 1-0 lead in the series.

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 1. Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

 

Chayka Nizhny Novgorod – Reaktor Nizhnekamsk – 3-2 SO (1-1, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

 

0-1 – Poryadin (Мukhametov) – 06-02

1-1 – Rudenkov (Rogov, Shurakov) – 12-00 PPG

1-2 – Bikmullin (Fazylzyanov, Ugolnikov) – 20-38

2-2 – Gorbunov (Belopashentsev, Shurakov) – 59-39

3-2 – Shurakov – 65-00 SOW

 

Goaltenders: Sukhanov – Fedotov

 

Statistics:

Shots: 54-47

Shots on goal: 28-30

Goals: 2-2

Face-offs Won: 40-28

Penalty Minutes: 4-10

 

Chayka leads the series 1-0

Loko Yaroslavl beat Amurskie Tigry Khabarovsk in Game 2. However, top team of the Western Conference had another difficult outing against ‘the tigers’.

 

‘Railway men’ opened up the scoring only early in the second period of play – Ivan Danilov was first to the puck on the rebound on Pavel Kudryavtsev’s shot and buried it past Sergei Bolshakov. Late in the period Pavel Kraskovsky got in on a breakaway but he couldn’t send it past Khabarovsk’s netminder.

 

This came back to haunt him at 42-49. Artyom Zub scored Amurskie Tigry’s first goal of the series with a beautiful one-timer on a powerplay. However, Loko kept the pressure on and got what they wanted late in regulation. At 53-51 Kudryavtsev put Yaroslavl back in the lead, picking up his second point of the night and third of the series.

 

Amurskie Tigry pulled Bolshakov for the extra attacker and Yegor Korshkov got an empty-netter out of it, setting the final score at 3-1. With this win Loko now lead 2-0 in the series and are a stone throw’s away from making it to the quarterfinals. However, they will have to travel to Khabarovsk for Game 3.

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 2. Yaroslavl, Russia

 

Loko Yaroslavl – Amurskie Tigry Khabarovsk – 3-1 (0-0, 1-0, 2-1)

 

1-0 – Danilov (Khisamutdinov, Kudryavtsev) – 21-14 PPG

1-1 – Zub (Tymchenko) – 41-49 PPG

2-1 – Кudryavtsev (Fateyev, Аlexeyev) – 53-51

3-1 – Korshkov (Rafikov, Polunin) – 58-31 EN

 

Goaltenders: Кrasotkin - Bolshakov

 

Statistics:

Shots: 60-46

Shots on goal: 34-23

Goals: 3-1

Face-offs Won: 46-25

Penalty Minutes: 10-4

 

Loko leads the series 2-0

MHC Spartak Moscow trailed three times in Game 2 against Dinamo St. Petersburg but they still managed to get a win and tie the series.

 

 

The first time the red-and-white managed to tie the game up only halfway through the second period. Pavel Novozhilov opened up the scoring at 01-35 and Sergei Klechkin tied it up at 27-55.

 

Key moments of the game took place in the last stanza. Artyom Nechayev buried another one past Nikita Lysenkov for his third of the series and that put Dinamo back in the lead at 45-05. This time it took Spartak less than two minutes to get it back – the puck went in off Yegor Yudov’s leg but the goal counted after a video review. In the very next shift Novozhilov scored his second of the night to make it 3-2 Dinamo.

 

Spartak had to come back from behind once again but they are more than used to at this point to turn things around in seemingly hopeless games. Nikita Li brought it all back to even again at 56-22 and then scored his second of the night on a powerplay with just 1-04 left to play in regulation. Spartak held on to the 1-goal lead, won Game 2 and tied the series. The teams now travel to Moscow to play the best-of-three series.

 

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 2. Moscow, Russia

 

Dinamo St. Petersburg – MHC Spartak Moscow – 4-1 (1-0, 0-1, 3-0)

 

1-0 – Novozhilov (Unassisted) – 01-35

1-1 – Klechkin (Kudryavtsev) – 27-55

2-1 – Nechayev (Parfyonov, Novozhilov) – 45-05

2-2 – Yudov (Ablayev, Pelevin) – 46-55

3-2 – Novozhilov (Parfyonov) – 47-32

3-3 – Li (Pelevin, Lapshov) – 56-22

3-4 – Li (Vorobyov, Lapshov) – 58-56 PPG

 

Goaltenders: Rumyantsev - Lysenkov

 

Statistics:

Shots: 45-49

Shots on goal: 27-26

Goals: 3-4

Face-offs Won: 33-23

Penalty Minutes: 4-2

The series is tied 1-1

Almaz Cherepovets beat SKA-1946 in overtime and now last season’s runners-up are at great risk of being eliminated as early as in the opening round of the playoffs.

 

In the second period of play Daniil Shabarov got ‘the army men’ on the board as he found the back of the net moments after Almaz killed off a penalty and went on to play even strength. Cherepovets had a hard time dealing with SKA-1946’s tight defense – St. Petersburg obviously learned their lesson last night. However, the 46’s had nothing to show for it in the end…

 

With 47 seconds left to play in regulation Vadim Kudako buried one past Alexei Melnichuk as home team pulled goaltender Savely Kononov for the extra attacker. Almaz had the psychological advantage in the extra frame and just 47 seconds in they converted it into the game-winning goal. Anton Zhikharev made the clock stop and brought Cherepovets their second win in the best-of-five series.

2016 Kharlamov Cup Playoffs. Round 1. Game 2. Cherepovets, Russia

 

Almaz Cherepovets – SKA-1946 St. Petersburg – 2-1 ОТ (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0)

 

0-1 – Shabarov (Unassisted) – 27-32

1-1 – Kudako (Zhikharev, Dyuryagin) – 59-13

2-1 – Zhikharev (Dyuryagin) – 60-47

 

Statistics:

Shots: 53-34

Shots on goal: 32-21

Goals: 2-1

Face-offs Won: 23-28

Penalty Minutes: 4-4

 

Goaltenders: Kononov - Melnichuk

 

Almaz leads the series 2-0