Yuzhny Ural Wins Sixth; Koudryavtsev Shuts Out Sokol
Yuzhny Ural earned its sixth straight VHL win, shutting out Sokol 1-0 on the road. Goaltender Sergei Koudryavtsev recorded his second consecutive shutout and was named VHL player of the day.
Apr 30, 2026 0
Orsk’s Yuzhny Ural won its second straight shutout
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Orsk’s Yuzhny Ural won its sixth consecutive match after the VHL season resumed. In the new 2026, Vladislav Otmakhov’s team lost the first match (although it had promised to please its fans), and lost in overtime to Yugra, and got a 1:6 defeat from Tyumen’s Rubin, lost to Zaurale and Omskie Krylya (and on the day of the club’s founding).
Third straight road win is impressive
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But in the first match of the home series, they secured a victory over Buran, later over Rostov, then over Tambov, then a road win over Dinamo-Altai (for the first time this season — in overtime), then a shootout win over VHL leader Novokuznetsk Metallurg (and on his home ice, and a shutout to boot), and now over Sokol. And again a shutout: goaltender Sergei Koudryavtsev is on fire! We tell you how it happened.
Sergei Koudryavtsev is on fire
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In the first period, the hosts were a bit more active, but the visitors were not shy: both Sokol and Yuzhny Ural had chances. And the Krasnoyarsk team also had a power play attempt (Konstantin Suslov got 2 minutes for holding), but they could not beat Sergei Koudryavtsev, who had been on fire since the previous incredible game against VHL leader Novokuznetsk Metallurg. The result of the first period: zeros on the board.
Bravo, Sergei!
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In the second period, Yuzhny Ural had a few more chances than in the first, but the hosts still played more persistently, plus they won faceoffs easily (17:4 in that segment). Again Sokol had a power play (another 2 minutes to Konstantin Suslov for hooking), and again Sergei Koudryavtsev and the defensemen performed beyond all praise.
Then, at the 37:41 mark, the Orsk team found their opportunity: finally, a won faceoff, a low shot from Valery Sitnikov, a deflection from Pavel Kovalchuk, and the puck flew from the Sokol goaltender right to Mikhail Kurkin, who predatorily «pounced» and sent it into the net — 0:1!
In the third period, Sokol unsuccessfully tried to tie the score and at least send the game to overtime, but it didn’t work out either after a timeout or with an empty net in a 6-on-5 situation — Yuzhny Ural held on, secured its sixth (!) consecutive win (three in a row on the road), played another shutout, and goaltender Sergei Koudryavtsev was again named VHL player of the day and extended his shutout streak to 150 minutes and 27 seconds.
— I congratulate all the guys, all the players of our team on the victory! All the devoted Orsk fans who are always with us and believe in us until the end — I say this every winning game: we will please them as often as possible! We prepared for this game, we knew that Sokol is fighting for a playoff spot. The mindset was insane. If in Novokuznetsk the team was somewhat underwhelmed by us, thinking they would win easily, but that was not the case. We also want to win, we want to earn our bread, — said Yuzhny Ural head coach Vladislav Otmakhov.
Next for the Orsk team is the final match of the road series (7 February against Norilsk), then three days off, and two home games: 11 February against SKA-VMF, and 13 February against St. Petersburg’s Dinamo.
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