The famous striker Ilya Kovalchuk helped Spartak in the match with Torpedo
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The leader of the Western Conference of the regular season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Spartak, lost to Torpedo with a score of 1:2. The Nizhny Novgorod team prevailed in the shootout, so the red-and-whites also got one point, who are now the sole leader in the West. In the East, first place is still occupied by Metallurg, which was defeated by Lada – 1:5.
In the KHL regular championship, matches took place with the participation of the leaders of the Western and Eastern conferences – Spartak and Metallurg. The Muscovites again came to visit Torpedo, which they had already beaten on their site a week ago – 5:2. In general, during the season they defeated their division neighbor Bobrov three times.
The red-whites approached the next confrontation with the Nizhny Novgorod team on a series of five victories, which, however, did not allow them to separate themselves from Dynamo Moscow, which they were ahead of only in terms of additional indicators. But the day before, the blue and white lost to SKA, and Alexei Zhamnov’s team had a chance to break away from them a little. However, Torpedo, after the recent defeat from Spartak, was by no means weakened, having won against Severstal and gradually approaching the leaders of SKA, so it could also count on success.
For the red and white, Ilya Kovalchuk returned to the ice, having resumed his career after a long break. The 40-year-old striker immediately marked his return to big hockey with a goal, albeit into an empty net, in the previous match with Kunlun Red Star. And in principle, the Olympic champion, two-time world champion and three-time Gagarin Cup winner made a good impression, especially considering the fact that he did not compete for two seasons.
“Spartak” and “Torpedo” are probably considered the most entertaining teams of the current championship, and their meetings with each other are double-edged and productive. And now they have not changed their ultra-attacking style.
But if the guests did not take advantage of several dangerous chances, the hosts scored rather quickly when defenseman Mikhail Orlov rolled onto someone else’s spot and finished off the puck, which bounced off the front board. But in the final part of the first period, Kovalchuk scored for the red and white, who scored his 398th point according to the “goal plus pass” system in the KHL. His mid-range shot reached the goal after a pass from Andrei Loktionov. Goalkeeper Ivan Kulbakov seemed to react to it, but the puck still leaked through the equipment and crawled behind the ribbon.
Although, first of all, Kulbakov kept Torpedo in the game. The same Pavel Poryadin could not disenchant him, even when he was face to face with him. Spartak goalkeeper Dmitry Nikolaev also periodically had to make saves. The segment was quite difficult for the guests when they defended in the minority twice in a row, and Poryadin earned both deletions. But in general, the match was still played in the attack-to-attack format, and it’s simply amazing how, at such a sometimes crazy pace, the second period ended in a goalless draw.
In the third twenty minutes, Nikolaev already grabbed the laurels of the main character from Kulbakov, but then he was completely loaded with work. The goalkeepers stood like a wall, approaching overtime.
Yes, and the field players cut themselves off as if it was already the play-offs. In this tough fight, Kovalchuk was apparently injured and stopped appearing on the court. In the end, Torpedo had Vasily Atanasov sent off very inopportunely for two minutes, and the guests could have converted his penalty both in regular time and in extra time, already when they were playing an extra “four on three”. But no matter how hard they tried, they failed to break through Kulbakov, who had caught courage. And even in the shootout, for which the red-and-white coaching staff unexpectedly released Kovalchuk, he dealt with all opponents. The Muscovites squandered six of their attempts until the Nizhny Novgorod team’s team, Atanasov, who was at fault, recovered and ended the match. Spartak lost 1:2, but nevertheless scored one point and now, with 63 points, alone leads the Western Conference.
“Metallurg” still also maintains leadership in the East, despite the defeat from “Lada” in Tolyatti – 1:5. Here everything was decided in the opening period, which the hosts won 3:0. At the same time, Avangard snatched victory from Siberia on the road thanks to a goal in overtime by the championship’s best sniper Reed Boucher – 3:2. With 59 points, the Omsk team caught up with the Magnitogorsk team, but played two fewer matches.
KHL Regular Championship
“Siberia” — “Avangard” 2:3 (overtime). “Lada” – “Metallurg” 5:1. Severstal – Traktor 3:5. “Torpedo” — “Spartak” 2:1 (shootout). “Dynamo” (Mn) – “Avtomobilist” 1:4. “Sochi” — “Admiral” 3:5. “Kunlun Red Star” — “Lokomotiv” 1:2.
Tournament table
Western Conference
I IN VO VB PB ON PSH O
1. “Spartak” 45 26 3 0 3 2 11 164:123 63
2. Dynamo (M) 44 21 5 3 1 3 11 136:106 62
3. Lokomotiv 42 24 4 0 2 1 11 106:79 59
4. SKA 43 23 2 3 1 0 14 134:97 57
5. “Torpedo” 44 23 2 2 2 1 14 128:100 57
6. CSKA 43 19 2 1 0 4 17 123:100 48
7. Severstal 43 16 0 3 3 4 17 133:130 45
8. “Dynamo” (Mn) 42 13 4 1 2 2 20 108:114 40
9. “Kunlun” 44 7 4 4 2 3 24 101:148 35
10. Sochi 44 11 1 2 0 5 25 113:166 33
11. “Vityaz” 43 10 2 2 2 3 24 92:150 33
Eastern Conference
I IN VO VB PB ON PSH O
1. “Metallurg” 43 21 4 2 3 2 12 134:114 59
2. “Avangard” 42 17 8 3 0 3 11 128:109 59
3. “Salavat Yulaev” 42 23 2 1 1 2 13 121:86 55
4. “Lada” 45 19 1 3 1 8 13 113:110 55
5. “Tractor” 44 18 5 1 1 4 15 117:103 53
6. “Avtomobilist” 46 16 5 3 3 2 16 107:102 53
7. Ak Bars 43 19 5 0 0 2 17 114:97 50
8. “Siberia” 45 13 3 4 3 5 17 106:123 48
9. “Cupid” 43 15 1 2 5 3 17 96:109 44
10. “Neftekhimik” 43 12 2 1 4 5 19 94:137 39
11. “Admiral” 42 8 3 3 6 3 19 89:116 37
12. “Barys” 43 6 4 3 2 5 23 99:135 33
The teams that finish in the first eight places in the conference at the end of the regular season advance to the playoffs.
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