Avangard Confidently Defeats Vladivostok's Admiral

On January 26 in Omsk, Avangard hosted Admiral. Head coach Guy Boucher entrusted the goaltender position to Andrei Mishurov, who previously played for the Vladivostok club. Admiral«s roster also featured several players familiar to Omsk fans from their time with the home team: Nikita Soshkinov, Libor Sulak, Vladimir Bryukvin, Semyon Ruchkin, and Avangard academy product Dmitry Zavgorodniy.

Avangard started powerfully, bombarding Admiral«s goal with wave after wave of attacks. Their efforts were rewarded as early as the 5th minute, when Poturalski, assisted by MacLeod and Sharipzyanov, opened the scoring. However, the first period ended with the scoreboard level—Oscar Bulawchuk equalized midway through the opening frame.

In the second period, Admiral even took the lead—a goal by Stepan Starkov. But the Omsk side did not falter and responded with two quick goals. First, Konstantin Okulov scored, and a minute later, Nail Yakupov found the net. The Omsk team kept up the pressure, had one power play (which was unsuccessful), but the score remained unchanged heading into the second intermission.

The «Hawks» solidified their advantage in the third period. It was Nail Yakupov again (assisted by Rashevsky and Ponomarev) who scored in the 6th minute. After conceding, Admiral did not charge recklessly forward; instead, they patiently waited for their chance while repelling Avangard«s massive attacks. Omsk continued to methodically pressure their opponent, on average taking twice as many shots on goal as the Far Eastern players.

Admiral got a chance when Nikolai Prokhorkin was given a five-minute major penalty for a rough hit on Yegor Chezganov in the offensive zone. However, Admiral immediately turned that five-minute power play into a three-minute one—Stepan Starkov was penalized for trying to hold back Michael MacLeod as he broke toward the goal. Admiral failed to score either during the 4-on-4 play or with the extra attacker. Timashov came close, breaking through to Mishurov«s crease, but the Omsk goaltender was equal to the task.

Fans were treated to a thrilling finish. With just over two minutes left, Soshkinov was sent to the penalty box for four minutes. Almost immediately, Admiral earned a penalty shot (a foul by Sharipzyanov), but Dmitry Zavgorodniy failed to convert. Avangard punished their opponent right away—Semyon Chistyakov scored the fifth goal during 4-on-4 play and put an end to the contest.

Avangard confidently won an interesting and energetic match with a score of 5:2. Damir Sharipzyanov, recently recognized as the KHL«s defenseman of the week, extended his point streak to 9 consecutive games. The Omsk team»s next opponent is Chelyabinsk«s Traktor. The game will take place at the G-Drive Arena on January 29.