Ak Bars Demolish Torpedo
Photo courtesy of Ak Bars Press Service.
AK BARS 4
TORPEDO (Nizhny Novgorod) 0
Ak Bars’ hosted Torpedo on Friday evening in their last home game for three weeks. The “Volga Derby” between the teams from Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod saw Ak Bars trounce their opposition with four unanswered goals. Torpedo’s early season form has taken a dive, having now lost three matches in a row, while Ak Bars can go into the international break with confidence.
Danis Zaripov once again starred for Ak Bars as he opened the scoring in the first ten minutes. Zaripov started and finished the move, via Niko Kapanen and Konstantin Korneyev. His goal from the right hand side made the score 1:0 at the end of the first period. The second period started slowly but for two minor penalties against Torpedo, which gave Ak Bars the upper hand. It seemed as though the period would pass without a goal until two minutes before the break. Kirill Petrov intercepted the puck from Torpedo and sped up the right wing. His pass found Evgeny Skachkov, who was on the far post and promptly extended Ak Bars lead to 2:0 going into the final period.
The victory was sealed by Ak Bars in the 44th minute of the game. Janne Lahti passed from the right to Denis Golubev on the left. Golubev then linked with Dmitry Obukhov, who flicked the puck past goaltender Nikita Bespalov, 3:0. Less than half a minute later, Ak Bars scored again. Zaripov’s shot was saved, but he controlled the puck on the rebound and scooped it into the net, as Bespalov was out of position from his save. Despite a series of minor penalties against Ak Bars, their defense remained strong and the game ended 4:0.
Ak Bars remain in fourth position in the KHL, but will take heart from their recent form having won four out of five matches. Their next match is not until 14 November away to Dinamo (Riga).
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