Atlant defeat Torpedo for tight race in the West

25 Jan 2013 | Dennis Mende

All but three teams are still in the race for a playoff spot in KHL's Western Conference. The situation even became a bit more interesting after today's only game in the league.

Alexander Shevchenko only needed 56 seconds to get guests Atlant Moscow Oblast in front during their visit to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. In the middle period Atlant even extended theri lead to four after strikes by Andreas Engqvist, Igor Ignatushkin and Alexei Mikhnov. A late power play goal through Alexei Vasilyev brought hope back to the home fans at 39:12. This was even increased after a double through Jonas Andersson and Maxim Potapov with about ten minutes left in regulation. This forced Atlant to take a timeout. This calmed the game a bit down and Oleg Yashin decided everything for the guests with his 5-3 in power play at 57:17. With 70 seconds left to play the home side Torpedo also took a time out and left goalie Vitaly Koval on the bench for an additional attacker but without any success.

For Atlant their latest series seems to come just at the right time. After defeating Dinamo Riga (5-4) and Spartak Moscow (5-2) this was already their third consecutive three-point game and the 4th in the last five tries. Though the team is only 11th in the Western Conference they are just two points behind a playoff spot. After two consecutive losses Torpedo fell just out of these playoff ranks.