Shoot-out success for Magnitka

Barys Nur-Sultan 1:2 SO Metallurg Magnitogorsk

Neither of these teams came into the game in particularly impressive form. Barys has been uneven all season, hampered by the absence of fans at its home games and stretched by illness in the team. Metallurg, meanwhile, had just one win in its previous six games.

Against that background, then, it was perhaps no surprise that goals were in short supply in Kazakhstan. In a duel between two Finnish goalies, Joni Ortio of Barys was the busier, but he kept Magnitka at bay for two periods. His opposite number, Juho Olkinuora, was beaten by a power play goal from Filip Varone midway through the second period. That was the Canadian’s first goal in the KHL following his recent arrival from North America. Previously he was part of the Penguins organization but spent last season in the AHL.

Metallurg continued to create more chances — by the end of 60 minutes, the visitor would outshoot Barys 40-20. At the start of the third, Nikolai Prokhorkin finally found the way past Ortio to tie the scores. That was the forward’s second goal in successive games, and his evening got even better in the shoot-out when his attempt proved decisive as Metallurg claimed a much-needed win.