Dominant win over Barys highlights Ak Bars week

12 Oct 2013 | Matt Tidcombe

Going on the road to tackle the best team in the Eastern Conference is never easy, but Ak Bars Kazan made it a breeze as they travelled to Kazakhstan and demolished Barys Saturday afternoon.

A 5-0 romp from Ak Bars sent them to the top spot in the Eastern Conference over Barys and also gives them a commanding lead in the Kharlamov division.

Ak Bars scoring depth showed again as five different players scored. Janne Pesonen got the lone goal in the first period, while Mikhail Varnakov and Tomas Vincour made it 3-0 after 40 minutes. Alexei Tereshchenko and Evgeny Medvedev completed the rout in the third.

Konstantin Barulin picked up his third shutout of the season as he made 18 saves.

While Ak Bars win over Barys was impressive, their other two victories within the last week speak volumes of how well they are playing.

They picked up a 4-3 road win against Yugra as Alexander Svitov buried the game-winning goal in overtime with 90 seconds left. Tim Stapleton, Varnakov also scored for Ak Bars, while Danil Faizullin scored his first career KHL goal in the first period.

Overtime wouldn’t be enough to decide the Ak Bars and Avtomobilist game, but Ak Bars picked up the extra point with a 3-2 shootout win. Stapleton was credited with the winner in the shootout, while himself and Shaun Heshka scored in regulation.

Alex Burmistrov continues to lead the team in points with 15, four of which are goals. Barulin has an incredible 1.44 GAA in 11 games, and has has eight of Ak Bars 12 wins this season.

In other news, Denis Abdullin has had his contract terminated by mutual consent. He had zero points in four games this year, but had seven points (four goals) in 28 games last season.

Bars Kazan continue winning ways

Like their parent club, Bars Kazan keep on winning too.

Bars have won four of their last five games that started with a 4-3 shootout win against Sibirskie Snaipery. They dropped their next game, a 3-1 loss to Tulpar, before coming back and beating them 7-1 two days later. Bars then defeated Stalnye Lisy twice in as many days, with a 3-0 victory followed by a 2-1 win.

Bars are the fourth best team in the MHL, as they have won 11 of their 14 games this season, which is good for 32 points.

Viktor Shakhvorostov still leads the team in points with 13 (six goals) while goaltender Timur Bilyalov still hasn’t lost this season, as he is 7-0 while holding a 1.14 GAA which is good for second in the league.