Kulikov And Lokomotiv Fall To Avangard Omsk

Dmitry Kulikov logged over 20 minutes of ice time for the second straight game but failed to pick up a point and had no shots on goal. The Avangard first line dominated the game, producing 10 points as Tomas Zaborsky scored a goal and added three assists, Alexander Popov had four assists and center Alexander Perezhogin scored two goals. A double minor and ten minute game misconduct to Lokomotiv's Roman Lyuduchin midway through the first period set the stage for the first Omsk goal. Defensemen Anton Belov would score with assists going to Popov and Zaborsky at 12:21 of the period. Perezhogin would get his first of the game just fifty-five seconds into the second period as he beat Yaroslavl goalie Semyon Varalomov with Popov and Zaborsky collecting assists on the play. Five minutes later, Popov would set up Nikita Pivtsakin to give Avangard a 3-0 lead. Lokomotiv's Artur Amirov would score a power play goal early in third period with former Panthers Niklas Hagman and Viktor Kozlov getting the helpers. Hagman would set up Dmitry Maltsev at the 12:49 mark as the Lokomotiv power play clicked again, cutting the deficit to one. Alexander Perezhogin would get his second of the game from Zaborsky and Georgijs Pujacs with 1:23 left in the game to kill the comeback. Tomas Zaborsky iced the game with an empty net goal to complete the scoring. Karri Rämö made twenty saves to pick up the win for Avangard Omsk. Despite the loss, Lokomotiv remained in first place in the Western Conference. Kulikov is now pointless in three KHL games with a -2 rating while averaging 20:04 minutes of ice time.