Amur Defeats Barys 4-1, Handing Astana Fourth Straight Loss

The Barys Astana hockey club continued its struggles at home, falling 4-1 to Amur Khabarovsk. This disheartening result marks the fourth consecutive defeat for Barys, who returned to their home ice only to drop several straight games with a combined goal differential of 2:11 prior to this matchup.

Coach Mikhail Kravets made minimal adjustments to the Barys lineup following their 1-4 loss to Avtomobilist, including moving Emil Galimov to the second line and starting goaltender Andrei Shutov. In contrast, Amur welcomed back Alex Broadhurst, who had been sidelined for three weeks.

Amur capitalized quickly on Barys`s shaky form, establishing a commanding 3-0 lead by the midpoint of the game. The scoring opened in a seemingly harmless situation when Artyom Shvaryov converted a tricky pass from behind the net, catching Barys defender Alikhan Assetov out of position. Assetov’s defensive struggles continued into the second period, as he failed to track Alexander Filatyev, who easily doubled Amur`s lead. Just two and a half minutes later, Kirill Urakov notched Amur’s third goal, putting the visitors firmly in control.

Barys managed a crucial goal just before the second intermission. Alikhan Assetov partially redeemed himself by pressuring the puck in the offensive zone and setting up Kirill Panyukov for a powerful slap shot, narrowing the deficit to 3-1 with literally one second remaining in the period.

In the final period, Barys mounted intense, prolonged pressure on the Amur net. Despite dominating possession and forcing the play deep into the offensive zone, the Astana side failed to generate quality chances. Amur successfully weathered the storm, eventually pushing the play back toward the neutral zone. When Barys pulled goaltender Shutov late in the game for an extra attacker, Artur Gizdatullin sealed the 4-1 victory for Amur by scoring into the empty net on the second attempt.

Three Stars of the Game