The first crown, the second funeral: Khabarovsk “Amur” again beat “Barys” in Astana

The Khabarovsk team scored both goals in the third period, Igor Bobkov kept a clean sheet

There’s probably no need to talk about the importance of this segment of the regular season for Amur and how much points it needs – it’s set the teeth on edge. Everyone understands everything, including the “tigers” themselves, who have been gaining points in three matches in a row. Previous meeting in Astana It developed very dramatically, in the end “Amur”, of course, won, but the game kept us in suspense literally until the last seconds.

“We cannot live without adventure. The second overtime in two matches is a decent blow to the nervous system. But all’s well that ends well. We took the most important two points and continue to fight for eighth place. On Tuesday we need to go out as collected as possible and once again please the fans,” Roman Kramar, General Director of Amur, shared his experiences in his Telegram channel.

“We must win” is what everyone who is worried about hockey in Khabarovsk is probably thinking about now. On the one hand there is motivation, on the other there is pressure on performers. Maybe that’s why Amur’s second game in Astana started very cautiously. The teams resembled two boxers who, having received a knockdown in the first round, circled the ring studying their opponent in the second. In the opening period of the match, Amur looked preferable to Barys, but that’s exactly what it looked like, there were dangerous moments, but the goalkeepers played reliably.

The second period was left to Barys – the ice owners acted more confidently, but again without results. And again the goalkeepers did a good job, so the zeros on the scoreboard at the end of the second twenty minutes are largely their merit. Especially Igor Bobkov, who stopped 19 shots on target. By the way, Edward Pasquale had much less work. By this time it became clear that the one who misses first may lose this match, since he will be forced to reveal himself. Hence the very tight play of the teams on defense with attempts to counterattack.

The third period began with a save by Igor Bobkov and a goal scored by Dmitry Shevchenko, who corrected the puck after a powerful shot from the blue line in the 45th minute. True, this puck was not counted; the referees, after a video review, determined that the forward’s stick was located above the goal line. Then there were two consecutive deletions for Barys and a five-on-three game for Amur. When the hosts’ fourth player appeared on the ice, the “tigers” still realized their numerical advantage.

In the 55th minute, Vladislav Barulin scored from a pass from Yegor Korshkov. This is followed by another dismissal from Barys for violating the number of players, in a desperate attempt to get even, the coaching staff changes the goalkeeper to a field player and 57 seconds before the final siren receives a goal into an empty net from the same Dmitry Shevchenko, only this time he was holding the stick at the height required by the rules. And this is Amur’s second victory in Astana and another cracker for Igor Bobkov.

“I would like to highlight the performance of both goalkeepers. In the first period, of course, “Amur” played more interestingly. In the second period – “Barys”. An equal match, the opponents are worthy of each other. But we scored and won. In doubles matches, opponents study each other. Nuances can decide the outcome in any direction. Especially when the game is equal. I remember from Soviet times, we often played like this. You can win the first match 5:1, the second you will burn. There is a peculiarity, of course,” he shared his observations at the post-match press conference Andrey Martemyanov, head coach of HC Amur.

Concerning Oleg Bolyakin, acting head coach of Barys then, in his opinion, everything was broken by completely unjustified deletions. When seemingly experienced players left the team in the minority. The only thing that pleased the Barys coach was the youth, who played well in this match.

The team from Astana will have the opportunity to win back already in mid-February, when Barys arrives in Khabarovsk to play two more double matches. In the meantime, “Amur” goes to Tolyatti to cross clubs with the local “Lada” on February 8th.

Read also: Khabarovsk “Amur” beat “Barys” in overtime. The match ended with a score of 2:3 in favor of the Khabarovsk team, the decisive goal was scored by Vladislav Barulin

Khabarovsk “Amur” lost to “Sibir” in shootouts in the most important match. The Khabarovsk team first managed to win back, then led by two goals, and then lost this advantage

It became known who and when Khabarovsk “Amur” will play in February 2024. In February 2024, Amur will play 11 matches, and only four of them will be at home