Not the best start

On February 11, Admirals began their eighth home stand with the game against Avangard.

The lineup for the game underwent a number of changes: Grman returned to action, replacing injured Deryabin, Rodewald took the center of the second line instead of Zavgorodny, and the vacant spot in the fourth line was taken by Shevchenko, for whom this match was the 200th for the Admirals.

The game started with a goal by Avangard in the 9th minute, but hardly can we call it reasonable. By that time, the Sailors had a slight advantage on the ice and threw twice more shots on goal, but there should be a special approach to Serebryakov.

The first goal was the result of a mistake at Admirals’ own net: the Hawks took advantage immediately, and Prokhorkin scored.

The Sailors got things back on track five minutes later: Shepelev passed the puck through the whole rink, Petukhov broke away to Serebryakov’s net and outplayed him. Admirals' top sniper scored his 22nd goal in the season, breaking the club record that had belonged to Bergfors for 10 years.

However, the joy didn't last long. Half a minute after the game resumed, Sharipzyanov pushed the Hawks ahead again, and two minutes before going to the locker room, Kablukov scored in his 1000th game in KHL, forcing the home team's coaching staff to pull the goalie. Mishurov appeared on the ice, but didn’t manage to get into the game quickly. The period ended in Avangard zone, which played short-handed after Chistyakov’s infraction.

Despite all its spectacularity, the second period could have ended without any goals, but the last two minutes turned out to be defining. The goalies played great, deflected 25 shots on goal and even managed to cope with Gutik and Okulov breakaways. They faltered at the end of the period. Admirals were the first to score: Shen shot the puck into an empty corner after Starkov's assist, but the guests responded quickly with a successful counterattack: Prokhorkin shot accurately from the face-off circle.

In the third period, the Sailors outshot their opponents and spent a minute more on offense. But Serebryakov didn't let them draw level: the former Admirals goalie made some incredible saves, such as a save after Stepanov’s one-timer, when the goalie stopped the puck with his stick.

Finally, Okulov consolidated the success of the game, scoring the fifth goal for Avangard in the 57th minute. Admirals didn't quit playing. After getting power play, the home team tried to reduce the gap playing six-on-four, but the fans didn't see any more goals.


Admirals - Avangard 2:5 (1:3, 1:1, 0:1)

Goals: 0:1 Prokhorkin (Yakupov, 08:06), 1:1 Petukhov (Shepelev, Sulak, 13:16), 1:2 Sharipzyanov (Igumnov, 13:57), 1:3 Kablukov (Voronkov, Verba, 18:15), 2:3 Shen (Stepanov, 38:36), 2:4 Prokhorkin (Solovyov, 39:30), 2:5 Okulov (Spooner, Chistyakov, 56:53)

Match statistics: Shots: 69-64; Shots on goal: 39-42; Goals: 2-5; Faceoffs won: 32-37; Blocked shots: 11-21; Hits: 11-13; Takeaways: 5-2; Giveaways: 6-1; Interceptions: 8-11; Attack time: 09:29-09:26; Penalty: 0-6

Lineup: Konovalov-Mishurov; Sulak-Shepelev, Petukhov-Shestakov-Soshnikov; Metalnikov-Grman, Stepanov-Rodewald-Prince; Ruchkin-Solyannikov, Gutik-Shen-Starkov; Shevchenko-Osnovin-Muranov, Susuev.

Goaltenders: Konovalov (Mishurov) – Serebryakov