Karpukhin "got his revenge" on Larionov, Gatiyatulin gave advice to journalists, and Galimov "handled it"

      “Ak Bars” comfortably handled St. Petersburg’s SKA in Kazan

      Photo: Realnoe Vremya

      “Ak Bars” unexpectedly and easily beat St. Petersburg’s SKA in Kazan 5-2. Artem Galimov and Ilya Karpukhin made decisive contributions to the Kazan side’s victory, each recording three points. At the same time, Ak Bars once again failed on the power play. What advice Anvar Gatiyatulin gave reporters and what became the key to the Bars’ winning result — in a piece by Realnoe Vremya.

      Biro and Berdin out of the lineup

      After the loss to Spartak, Gatiyatulin returned to his previous combinations. First of all, the coach removed Brandon Biro, who had played center of the third line in Moscow. Mikhail Fisenko, who missed the game with the “red-and-whites” for a valid reason — the birth of a child — was returned in his place. Overall, it’s time to admit that Ak Bars was wrong to sign Biro and it’s time to part ways with the Canadian. A foreign forward with one goal cannot remain on the roster of a team that declares it is fighting for a trophy. Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Another change in the lineup affected the goaltending position. Timur Bilyalov started against SKA, having been given a day off against Spartak. Mikhail Berdin again remained outside the roster. Maksim Arefyev was listed as the backup. It’s still unclear what would need to happen for Berdin to return to the squad. No one in the KHL wants to take the goaltender, and Kazan also doesn’t want to simply terminate the contract.

      SKA were missing a number of players due to various injuries. But the newcomers were fine. Brendan Leipsic and Pierrick Dubé added creativity to SKA’s attack. Sergei Ivanov was set to play in goal, with Artemiy Pleshkov on the bench.

      A quick goal boosted the Bars’ confidence

      Ak Bars opened the scoring already in the 3rd minute. Alexander Barabanov passed to Ilya Karpukhin, who shot from distance, and Dmitry Yashkin redirected the puck while standing right in front of the goalie — 1-0. Interestingly, all three players recently played for SKA and were key figures there.

      The Kazan side immediately rushed to consolidate the result. However, they were unable to create any significant dangerous chances. SKA, in response, launched bright counterattacks — without serious work required from Timur Bilyalov.

      Realnoe Vremya / realnoevremya.ru

      Around the middle of the opening period, Ak Bars earned their first power play. The visitors defended skillfully and were even close to equalizing: Marat Khairullin fired at the goalie. The teams then exchanged penalties that were not converted.

      Near the end of the period, SKA forward Pierrick Dubé delivered a dirty play. The St. Petersburg foreigner struck Nikita Dyniak’s unprotected leg with his stick during a non-play moment. The referees, without the slightest hesitation, penalized him for only two minutes, which caused an uproar in the stands. The referees’ decision looked very strange.

      Overall, the game in the first period felt nervous. Players frequently lost the puck, and attacks rarely resulted in meaningful shots.

      Galimov’s performance

      The visitors equalized at the start of the second period. Leipsic stole the puck from Yashkin on his own blue line, raced to the goal and tucked the puck past Bilyalov. Then Artem Galimov took the stage. The Ak Bars’ number 95 is far from last year’s form, but he still occasionally delivers classy performances. Playing 4-on-4, Galimov sprung Ilya Safonov into the opponent’s zone, and Safonov expertly beat the goalie — 2-1.

      Realnoe Vremya / realnoevremya.ru

      A little later Galimov scored himself. Karpukhin cut across, a defender blocked the lane, but the puck bounced to Galimov, who did not miss — 3-1. It’s a pity that the Kazan forward hasn’t been able to play with such confidence throughout the whole season.

      At the start of the third period, Ak Bars essentially put the game beyond doubt. Galimov and Aleksey Marchenko released Karpukhin onto open ice; he drove closer to the goalie and directed the puck into the net — 4-1.

      Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      After that the game cooled off a bit. Nine minutes later Nikita Dyniak produced a beauty on a quick break: he skated around defenders, avoided a physical challenge and finished past the goalie — 5-1. Leipsic immediately made it 5-2, but that was already in the category of “establishing the final score.” Galimov was named the best player with a goal and two assists.

      Gatiyatulin’s advice and Karpukhin’s revenge

      SKA coach Igor Larionov did not get inventive and after the game referred to the standard “lack of freshness on the road.” One can understand him — you can’t very well admit that his team was undone by Ilya Karpukhin (1+2), whom he had “dropped” from the lineup without explanation. But what’s past is past... The main thing is that the Ak Bars defenseman answered the coach beautifully with his play.

      Realnoe Vremya / realnoevremya.ru

      Gatiyatulin preferred to speak about concrete matters. First, the Bars’ coach said he had asked his players to get involved at the start of periods. The players heeded the request and deservedly won.

      Second, Gatiyatulin advised journalists to place less emphasis on poor power-play conversion. In his view, that creates unnecessary fuss and leads to bad consequences. Few understood the latter. Did Gatiyatulin perhaps hint that his comrade Aleksey Tertyshny should not have been fired from Ak Bars?

      — We prepared well for the match, we came out with the right mindset, the right emotions. We played with concentration despite the changes on the scoreboard. A good, team victory. We made changes to both power-play units, we’ll watch how things work. We will think and make decisions. It’s not for me to tell you how to work, but I suggest not creating unnecessary fuss around the power play — we already have experience that did not do us any favors, — said Gatiyatulin. Dinar Fatyhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Ak Bars — SKA — 5:2 (1:0, 2:1, 2:1)

      Goals:

      1:0 — Yashkin (Karpukhin, Barabanov, 03:24);

      1:1 — Leipsic (22:36);

      2:1 — Safonov (Galimov, Falkovsky, 24:38, 4x4);

      3:1 — Galimov (37:20);

      4:1 — Karpukhin (Galimov, Marchenko, 41:10);

      5:1 — Dyniak (Brovkin, Luchevnikov, 50:02);

      5:2 — Leipsic (Blandizi, 50:30).

      Ak Bars will play next on November 30 in Kazan against the Shanghai Dragons at 17:00 Moscow time. Very recently the Kazan side beat the Chinese team in St. Petersburg. That victory came only in a shootout; now, in front of their own fans, everyone expects a more confident “victory.”

      Zulfat Shafigullin