KHL
Khabarovsk – Admiral 3:4 (0:1 after SO) | Avangard – SKA St. Petersburg 1:5 (end) | Avtomobilist – Cherepovets 1:2 (1:3 after SO)
Torpedo – Salavat Yulaev 2:3 (after SO) | Medvescak – CSKA 7:1 (end) | Dynamo – Metallurg M 3:1 (end)
Donbass – HC Slovan 4:2 (end)
after shootout
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
2:3 (0:2, 2:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:1)
Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Friday 06.09.2013, 17:00 • KHL
     
    Thank you for following the game with us! (19:44:37)
     
    The 20st shooter – Dmitry Makarov – gave Salavat Yulayev Ufa the shootout win and thus the extra point and first win in their season opener on the road against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in a very even match!
     
    Game over.
     
    65:00
    DMITRY MAKAROV wins the match for Ufa in shootout with a nice deke and the following shot into the right top corner!
     
    Harmless penalty attempt by Wolski towards the right corner, easy save for Tarkki.
     
    Early shot by Igor Mirnov into the gloves of Koval.
     
    Now Galuzin for Torpedo, his flat shot is stopped with a pad save by Tarkki.
     
    Ruzicka for Ufa with a shot towards the middle of the net, easy glove save for Koval.
     
    Tim Brent with another chance for Torpedo but his shot towards the left corner is blocked by Tarkki.
     
    Alexei Kaigorodov with a flat shot, tries to get the puck through the five hole but Koval has his pads in between.
     
    Torpedo's captain Immonen tries it with a shot towards the right corner, glove save by Tarkki.
     
    Hartikainen misses the net from shot distance.
     
    Very nice try by Wojtek Wolski who waited long and tried to get the puck to the other side of the net but Tarkki had anticipated it well!
     
    Khlystov with his second attempt for Ufa but his backhand attempt to the right corner is stopped by Koval.
     
    Again Parshin for Torpedo, fails with a deke to the right and is stopped with a pad save!
     
    And Ufa ties the shootout! Khlystov beats Koval with a flat shot into the right corner!
     
    Denis Parshin dekes out Tarkki and beats him with a shot into the right top corner while the Ufa goalie was already on his way to the ground – 1:0 lead for Torpedo!
     
    Tim Brent with a hard shot towards the left corner, stopped by Tarkki.
     
    Koval easily stops a shot to the right bottom corner by Ruzicka.
     
    Wolski for Torpedo with another deke, stopped by Tarkki.
     
    Dmitry Makarov tries it with a fast shot for Ufa, pad save by Koval.
     
    On the other side of the ice Salminen also fails with his deke to the left against Tarkki.
     
    Hartikainen starts the shootout for Ufa, tries to deke out Koval to the left but is stopped by the goalie.
     
    Start of shootout.
     
    As the five minute overtime still didn't give us a decision there will be a shootout to decide the winner of this pretty even game.

    Shots on goal: Torpedo 2 (23) – Ufa 3 (33)
     
    65:00
    Overtime finished.
     
    63:20
    Dangerous shot by Pihlström from the right circle, blocked by Koval.
     
    62:52
    Ufa have to break up an attack due to an offside position.
     
    62:05
    Mikhail Grigoryev with a nice solo over the left wing, can't beat the goalie and even worse he accidently injures a defender who tried to jump into his shot!
     
    61:13
    Alexander Makarov with a nice opportunity for Torpedo with his shot from the left circle but Tarkki is able to block the puck to the side.
     
    60:18
    Pavel Valentenko dumps the puck into the Ufa third but the guests can clear the situation easily.
     
    60:01
    Overtime began.
     
    A rather boring third period ended without any major scoring opportunities nor penalties or anything else really notworthy. At least there are good news for the fans of both Torpedo and Ufa as their teams have won a point each already and have the chance to win the match in overtime / shootout..

    Shots on goal: Torpedo 6 (21) – Ufa 8 (30)
     
    60:00
    3rd period finished.
     
    58:30
    A little fight behind the Torpedo net after an Ufa forward was checked against the net but nothing serious.
     
    56:00
    A lot is happening in the neutral zone. Seems like both, Torpedo and Ufa, rather take the one point for overtime guaranteed than trying to take all three points in regulation.
     
    52:45
    It's like chess. Both teams wait for a mistake of their opponents but by now it didn't happen.
     
    50:00
    Ufa are getting stronger without really doing more than some distance shots.
     
    48:00
    To be honest the fans look a little bored right now. Who can blame them? The game is at best average in the third period.
     
    45:30
    The game has slowed down significantly with both teams waiting for the opponents to take over the initiative.
     
    43:55
    Almost an Ufa forward was able to deke out Koval – almost!
     
    43:00
    Ufa keep the puck long time in their opponents' third without getting a real scoring opportunity.
     
    41:40
    A little break as the Ufa net left its correct position.
     
    41:13
    The guests are back at full strength.
     
    41:00
    Again the better start by Torpedo who had already several good combinations.
     
    40:01
    Start of 3rd period.
     
    In the middle period Torpedo was able to take over the initiative and scored two deserved goals to tie this game against Ufa. They had a lot of help by the unstable defense of Ufa, especially during the 2-2 when Sopel and Tarkki both went for the puck and Kulyomin was able to score into the wide open net!

    Shots on goal: Torpedo 8 (15) – Salavat Yulayev 8 (22)
     
    40:00
    2nd period finished.
     
    39:13
    Dmitry Makarov (Ufa) gets two minutes for slashing.
     
    38:00
    With the momentum on their side Torpedo now are even going for the lead!
     
    35:40
    The hosts are back at full strength.
     
    36:04
    Goal for Torpedo!


    What an incredible mistake by the Ufa defense! Goalie Tarkki left his net to clear a long pass but his defender Brent Sopel tried to clear the situation before and lost the duel with his opponent Jarkko Immonen who then gave the puck to VYACHESLAV KULYOMIN who only had to fire the puck into the wide open net for a shorthanded goal!

    Assisted by Jarkko Immonen.
     
    34:24
    Pavel Valentenko (Torpedo) gets two minutes for hooking.
     
    33:40
    Huge mistake by the Ufa defense who lose the puck in front of their own net but Torpedo can't use it and Tarkki makes a brilliant save from short distance!
     
    33:20
    Harmless shot on goal into the gloves by Pihlström.
     
    32:39
    Alexander Mereskin with a good scoring opportunity from within the slot but Koval paid attention!
     
    31:00
    Both teams play offense first and concentrate less on their defense.
     
    29:49
    The guests are back at full strength.
     
    29:02
    Almost the equalizer with a wrap-around attempt but Tarkki makes the pad save!
     
    28:30
    Torpedo try to get one of their players into a good position for a blue line shot but then have to break the attack up.
     
    27:49
    Two minute team penalty against Ufa for having too many players on the ice. This time Igor Mirnov gets some extra rest in the penalty box for his team. Today the referees are very strict with this special rule.
     
    27:03
    Time out by Ufa!
     
    27:03
    Goal for Torpedo!


    Torpedo's new NHL forward TIM BRENT waited at the left post after a nice short cross-pass by team colleague Wojtek Wolski and cut the guest lead to the half in power play!

    Assisted by Wojtek Wolski.
     
    26:29
    Powerful shot from within the slot by Pavel Valentenko and Tarkki allows a rebound but Tim Brent can't use it!
     
    26:16
    Andrei Zubarev (Ufa) gets two minutes for hooking. Another power play opportunity now for Torpedo and the chance to get back into the game.
     
    25:14
    Andrei Zubarev misses the net with a shot from the left circle.
     
    24:20
    Just when the Ufa penalty was over Torpedo failed to convert a 2-on-1 break away. The pass by Parshin towards the second post was not precise enough and the following one-timer was stopped by Tarkki!
     
    23:47
    Short power play now for Torpedo.
     
    22:52
    Sakari Salminen's shot from the right circle is stopped with a pad save by Tarkki.
     
    22:20
    Andrei Konev (Ufa) gets two minutes for hooking and his opponent crashed into goalie Tarkki – a long 4 on 4 will follow.
     
    21:47
    Once again a team penalty against Torpedo for having too many players on the ice. Denis Parshin sits down in the penalty box for them.
     
    20:55
    Several nice cross-passing attempts by Vitaly Proshkin for Ufa but none of his team mates was able to get a shot on goal.
     
    20:01
    Start of 2nd period.
     
    The guests from Ufa had everything under controll for most parts of the first period and with a double within three minutes they earned a two-goal lead against Torped who failed to create really big chances so far.

    Shots on goal: Torpedo 7 – Ufa 14
     
    20:00
    1st period finished.
     
    19:02
    Nice solo by one of the Torpedo forwards but against three opponents he stayed chanceless.
     
    18:05
    The guests are back at full strength.
     
    17:50
    The hosts need far too long to get their power play formation into position and the Ufa defense can react easily.
     
    16:35
    Torpedo look dangerous during their first power play of the game but this blue line shot was blocked by a defender.
     
    16:05
    Yefim Gurkin (Salavat Yulayev) gets two minutes for tripping.
     
    15:57
    Just after the face off the play stops again after a new save by Tarkki.
     
    15:55
    Tarkki covers a harmless shot up before more danger can happen.
     
    15:44
    Tim Brent tries it with a one-timer for Torpedo from the left circle but Tarkki is in the right corner! The Finnish goalie then crashed into several players and hurt himself a bit.
     
    14:34
    Goal for Salavat Yulaev!


    ALEXANDER MERESKIN doubles the Ufa lead by deflecting a pass from the right circle just in front of Koval into the right bottom corner! The Torpedo goalie didn't look too good there but he also had almost no time to react!
     
    13:52
    Koval covers the left bottom corner to block a wrap-around attempt.
     
    12:50
    Torpedo try to fight back but have problems to get the puck for more than a few seconds into the guest third.
     
    11:34
    Goal for Salavat Yulaev!


    STEFAN RUZICKA receives the puck just in front of the home team's net and fires it past Koval for the not undeserved 1-0 Ufa lead!
     
    11:25
    After a high shot Koval rather covers the puck up than to risk a rebound.
     
    11:07
    Two dangerous shots by the Torpedo offense but each time Tarkki was there with the save.
     
    09:45
    A powerful shot by Brent Sopel from the right circle was deflected wide at the second post.
     
    07:55
    Wojtek Wolski tries it with a shot from the left circle but the angle was too sharp too create any danger for Tarkki.
     
    06:47
    The hosts are back at full strength.
     
    06:35
    Another good combination between three Ufa players but the following shot from the left circle was blocked by Koval.
     
    05:43
    Strong power play formation by Ufa but the final shot from within the slot goes just wide.
     
    04:47
    Two minute team penalty against Torpedo for having too many players on the ice. Daniil Zharkov sits down in the penalty box.
     
    03:30
    There is strong support for the away team both by numbers and by how loud their fans are.
     
    02:00
    Better start for the guests from Ufa in these first two minutes. They look dangerous whenever they appear in the Torpedo third.
     
    00:01
    Game started.
     
    Starting lineups:

    Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod: Koval (Mashkovtsev) – Valentenko, Yevseyenkov, Hietanen, Makarov, Grigoryev, Lukin, Belokhvostikov – Wolski, Brent, Krasnoslobodtsev, Parshin, Salminen, Immonen, Zharkov, Schastlivy, Kulakov, Galuzin, Potapov, Kulyomin, Yamkin

    Salavat Yulayev Ufa: Tarkki (Vasilevsky) – Zubarev, Proshkin, Sopel, Konev, Koltsov, Babchuk, Isangulov, Gurkin – Ruzicka, Mereskin, Khlystov, Makarov, Filatov, Hartikainen, Mirnov, Pihlström, Kaigorodov, Dubrovsky, Glukhov, Slepyshev

    Referees: Zakharov, Soin – Nazarov, Putilin
     
    Last season Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod missed the playoffs in Western Conference by a four-point margin. This year, it won't be any easier for them after their change to Eastern Conference. And their first rivals couldn't be much tougher than Salavat Yulayev Ufa who last year were 5th in the East and beat Metallurg Magnitogorsk (4-3) in the first playoff round before losing against archrivals Ak Bars Kazan (3-4) in the following round.

    Torpedo changed a large part of their roster and improved with ecah two players from Eastern competitors Kazan and Ufa. Wojtek Wolski (Washington Capitals) and Tim Brent (Carolina Hurricanes) are their NHL star signings. On the other side Ufa lost several key players and only time will tell if they can substitute them on a high level.

    For both teams there is only one goal this season – making the playoffs in the now 28 team strong KHL.
     
    Welcome. Game starts at 16:00 GMT / 17:00 CET / 19:00 MSK.
    Commentary by

    Dennis Mende

    Goals & lineups Match log
    Goals and assists: 28. Brent (Wolski), 37. Kulyomin (Immonen) – 12. Ruzicka, 15. Mereskin, rozh. náj. Makarov

    Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod: Koval (Mashkovtsev) – Valentenko, Yevseyenkov, Hietanen, Makarov, Grigoryev, Lukin, Belokhvostikov – Wolski, Brent, Krasnoslobodtsev, Parshin, Salminen, Immonen, Zharkov, Schastlivy, Kulakov, Galuzin, Potapov, Kulyomin, Yamkin
    Salavat Yulaev Ufa: Tarkki (Vasilevsky) – Zubarev, Proshkin, Sopel, Konev, Koltsov, Babchuk, Isangulov, Gurkin – Ruzicka, Mereskin, Khlystov, Makarov, Filatov, Hartikainen, Mirnov, Pihlström, Kaigorodov, Dubrovsky, Glukhov, Slepyshev
    Referees: Zakharov, Soin – Nazarov, Putilin