Nizhny Novgorod's Torpedo lost to the Gagarin Cup champion.

      18 August 2025 19:15

      [295]

      Sport

      Hockey club Torpedo played its first exhibition game as part of preseason preparations. On August 18 the Nizhny Novgorod side faced Yaroslavl’s Lokomotiv, which last season won the long-awaited Gagarin Cup.

      Torpedo’s coaching staff named a lineup for the game that fans will most likely see in the regular season. All players on the roster, except Anton Silaev, Egor Vinogradov, Nikita Artamonov and Nikita Shavin, are on one-way contracts and cannot be assigned to other teams in the system. Lokomotiv, however, apparently decided to try out its youth. Many regulars were not included in their roster (for example, Alexander Radulov, Artur Kayumov, Alexander Elesin and others), but players from the VHL and MHL teams took the ice.

      The first period immediately began at high speed. Players from both teams created scoring chances and exchanged goals. Lokomotiv opened the scoring in the middle of the period, but just five minutes later newcomer Bobby Nardella scored Torpedo’s first goal — and his first in the series of exhibition matches.

      The second period went without goals and the score remained 1–1. However, the white-and-blues clearly dominated the ice.

      In the third period, Lokomotiv took the lead by converting a power play. The Nizhny Novgorod side could not equalize. The match ended 2–1 in favor of the reigning champions.

      After regulation there was a nominal overtime and a shootout. The extra period also failed to produce goals, but the shootout unquestionably went to Torpedo. Forwards Vasily Atanasov and Alexei Kruchinin — who wore the captain’s armband in this game — scored in the shootout.

      It is still too early to draw any conclusions about the coaching staff’s competence or the roster. Friendlies are meant to work out combinations and correct mistakes. Moreover, the Nizhny Novgorod side looked decent, even if against Lokomotiv’s “second” lineup, but they made the same mistakes that have persisted for more than one season.

      On August 20 Torpedo will play an exhibition match against Spartak in Moscow. At the end of the month the Avtozavodtsy will take part in the Mayor of Moscow Cup, where they will play Moscow Dynamo and Minsk Dynamo.

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