“Our goalkeeper kept us in the game”: Vadim Yepanchintsev appreciated the difficult victory of the Khabarovsk Amur in Sochi

Khabarovsk defeated the southerners with a score of 2:1 in extra time

After a failed home series (three points out of ten possible, four defeats in five matches, however, one of them in overtime), Amur went away again. This season, the game on someone else’s ice, oddly enough, the Tigers are doing better than in Khabarovsk, which inspires hope to score points. And the rivals this time will not be as serious as at home. This time he was opposed by a club from the Black Sea coast, which also did not have a season yet – five defeats in a row.

Both teams, hoping to seize the initiative, started the match very actively. On the 4th minute, Amur “violates” in defense (there was a very protracted and dangerous attack on the goal of Evgeny Alikin, which had to be stopped). Rafael Batyrshin is sent to the penalty box for 2 minutes for tripping. Almost all the penalty time, the Khabarovsk team held on in the minority, but 8 seconds before it ended, they conceded. Nikita Popugaev distinguished himself. Despite all the attempts of “Amur” to recoup, it did not work out before the break, the goalkeeper saved the hosts. The goalkeeper of the Khabarovsk team was also not allowed to doze, and Evgeny Alikin showed himself well done. Traditionally.

In the second period, the teams got tired and changed tactics, paying more attention to defense. “Sochi” desperately tried to keep the advantage, “Amur” not to miss more than one. They snapped, of course, but not as actively as at the beginning of the game. But in the third game segment, the guests finally woke up, which was an unpleasant surprise for the owners of the site. In the 41st minute, Sochi remained in the minority, and in the 43rd minute, Vladislav Barulin realized the advantage by throwing powerfully almost from the blue line and scoring his first goal in the KHL. Amur presses, Sochi successfully defends, and the game goes into overtime.

Just one minute and forty-two seconds was required for the Amur rookie to score the second goal in this game and the second in the league. A solo passage through the entire defense of the southerners to the gate, a shot and a goal that put an end to this match. Sochi suffers the sixth defeat in a row, although it takes one consolation point.

“Amur” starts the trip with such a necessary victory both for the players and for the fans. The outcome of the meeting – 1:2 in favor of the Khabarovsk team.

“It wasn’t a good start on our part. Mistakes, unnecessary removals interfered, the opponent had more initiative. Our goalkeeper kept us in the game with the score 0:1. Then we managed to rebuild, added a little bit in motion, especially in the third period, where our team showed good hockey. We created chances and deserved to win due to our work. The guys got into adaptation, sweated somewhere and more or less played in the third period. I am grateful to the guys, in particular, Evgeny Alikin. We won in overtime. We need to hold on. Question from implementation is decided only in training. A lot of young guys, the first year in this league. For some, such a transition is not given immediately. Work and training. We have a good goalkeeper line. We will let Alikin and Kalnins play. Evgeny keeps us in the game, this is the most important thing “It’s no secret that the goalkeeper is more than 50% of success. Oksentyuk is not easy. The first year he arrived, he is young. There are moments in every game. Skill is not enough yet, diligence and desire are. We need to go through this period. He knows how to play, that’s the most important thing. Gretsky is injured, so we are waiting,” shared Vadim Yepanchintsev, head coach of HC Amur.

The earned score left the Leopards mentor in a good mood.

“I liked the game. They asked the guys to play from the stove. In my opinion, they played well in defense. I asked to block more goals, help the goalkeeper. “1 v 0”, “2 v 1” exits. There are chances, goals will come soon. We need to wait a bit. We believe in the guys, they are trying. I took a timeout in the third period, because I didn’t like how the guys went into the period. Nervousness appeared , conceded a goal. I saw that we had slumped, in the next shift again a scoring chance – the goalkeeper saved. Stopped the game, told the guys that we need to return to where we were before. We don’t score goals again. It’s good that we blocked 26 shots, took one point, we went into overtime – in principle, the task is completed. I told the guys: if you can’t score, you need not to concede. We’ll always score one goal. The guys did what I asked. A little bit unlucky in overtime, we’ll work out this moment with the coaches. Soon everything succeed. remove the goalkeeper in overtime, waiting for the whistle in the opponent’s zone. It’s hard to take it and change it right away,” he said. Andrey Nazarov, head coach of HC Sochi.

Having taken two points, “Amur” continues its tour of the west of the country and goes to Balashikha, where will play with Vityaz on Tuesday. We cheer for ours.

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