Poltapov scores in CSKA defeat

Prokhor Poltapov scored his fourth goal of the season Sunday as CSKA dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Admiral Vladivostok.

Poltapov, who led CSKA skaters with four shots on goal in the contest, made it a 2-2 game at 6:11 of the third period. Poltapov’s initial attempt to fire from the high slot was broken up, but Dmitri Samorukov followed up with shot that bounced off an Admiral defender back to him in the right circle. Poltapov quickly fired from the sharp angle for the goal.

Ever the physical presence, Poltapov earned his first minor penalty of the season late in third period.

After using his active stick to make a nice defensive play that nearly created a quality scoring chance, Poltapov circled back into his defensive posture and connected with a thunderous open-ice hit on Admiral’s leading point-getter Daniil Gutik. What appeared to be a clean hit saw Poltapov called for cross-checking.

Poltapov’s goal gives him 10 points on the season, which places him in a tie for second among all KHL scorers.

Vasily Zelenov kicked off his regular season this week as Green Bay split a pair of games at the USHL Fall Classic in Pittsburgh, dropping a 2-1 decision to Des Moines on Thursday and earning a 2-0 shutout win over Fargo the following day.

Zelenov, who served as the Gamblers’ second centerman for both contests alongside Cody Sokol (Wisconsin) and Tommy Cronin (Colgate), picked up a combined four shots on goal and earned his first point with the primary helper on the empty-net goal in Friday’s victory. Zelenov also played a leading role on both the power play and penalty kill on his way to gobbling a good amount of minutes as he continues his adjustment to the new league.

A couple weeks back, I provided details on Zelenov’s first pre-season game that provided the Wisconsin commit with his first taste of the physicality that comes with the North American game. In Friday’s win over the Force, Zelenov showed that he’s willing to dish hits of his own when he ran a player from behind and earned a boarding minor for the first penalty of his USHL career.

Youngstown defenseman Luke Osburn also got his regular season started at the USHL Fall Classic, totaling three shots on goal and a minus-1 rating as the Phantoms opened with a 4-3 win over Tri-City on Wednesday before falling to Sioux City 2-1 the very next day.

On Friday, Topias Leinonen got the nod in net for Mora’s HockeyAllsvenskan season opener. Leinonen allowed two goals, including one with his team down a man, on 13 total shots as Mora lost at Ostersund 3-1.

William von Barnekow (Malmo) and Linus Sjodin (Rogle) got their SHL regular seasons underway Saturday in fourth-line roles. Von Barnekow earned 10:53 in the RedHawks 4-1 home-ice win over Skelleftea, while Sjodin skated for 11:59 in Rogle’s 4-3 shootout loss at Farjestad.