Etta James Would Be Proud

There aren't a lot of times that I'm paying attention to the KHL mostly because I feel like giving that league any attention gives it credibility, and I won't be party to that while Ukraine is still fending off Russian attacks on Ukrainian soil. However, one Russian team has established a new record for futility as Amur Khabarovsk found itself mired in a gola-scoring drought that was of epic proportions. That drought ended today, but the length of time between goals is not only laughable, but rather hard to imagine when one considers that hockey games are usually sixty minutes in length!

We'll jump back to October 19 for the game between Amur Khabarovsk and Spartak Moscow. Despite leading 2-0 and being tied 3-3 at points in this game, Amur would fall 5-4 to Spartak by the end of the game. What should be noted, though, is that Ignat Korotkikh scored Amur's fourth goal at 12:47 of the third period. 7100 fans should consider themselves lucky because they would witness Amur's last goal for what turned out to be a long, long time.

Consider this portion of their schedule:

• On October 23, Amur fell to CSKA Moscow by a 7-0 score.
• On October 25, Lokomotiv defeated Amur by a 5-0 score.
• On October 27, Severstal earned a 3-0 win over Amur.
• On October 29, Dynamo Moscow posted a 1-0 win over Amur.
• On November 2, Admiral Vladivostok won 5-0 over Amur.
• Today, Avangard Omsk defeated Amur by a 2-1 score.

If we add the 7:13 of time that Amur Khabarovsk didn't score at the end of the Spartak Moscow game, the Tigers went 358:38 without scoring a goal before Evgeny Grachyov scored at 11:25 of the third period in that loss to Avangard Omsk. It's hard to imagine, but Amur was a mere 1:22 away from going six complete games worth of time without scoring! How crazy is that?

Needless to say, Amur Khabarovsk now holds the KHL record for scoring droughts, but there are some funny things about this record that shouldn't be overlooked. For example, Amur Khabarovsk has a player by the name of Gretsky who skates for them, and Vyacheslav Gretsky drew the secondary assist on Grachyov's goal today! He doesn't wear #99, but it kind of felt like it would take a Gretzky-like effort to break this scoring drought!

Including the end of the Spartak game, Amur Khabarovsk fired 192 shots on opposing goalies and never found twine. That lone goal on their 193rd shot bumped their shooting percentage over the last 358:38 to an unfathomable .005% - that's 1/2 of a percentage point!

Because they scored last in the Spartak game, Amur Khabarovsk has been outscored 23-1 over that 358:38. Prior to that streak of futility, Amur's goal differential was a -15 (34-49). Today, that goal differential is -37, and the Tigers are dead last in the KHL Eastern Division with a 4-16-1-2 record. Amazingly, they're only ten points back of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk for eighth-place and the final playoff spot. It's not out of the question!

The only problem? They play Metallurg Magnitogorsk (6th East), Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (2nd East), Traktor Chelyabinsk (1st East), and SKA St. Petersburg (2nd West) before meeting with Spartak Moscow (3rd West) again. We might be talking about another long streak where goals are rarely seen if these teams show up in force.

And just for the record, if anyone was wondering whose streak they broke, it was the team against which this streak started. Spartak Moscow had set the previous record back in the 2012-13 season when they went 317:02 without scoring a goal. Mikhail Yunkov finally snapped the scoreless drought for Spartak at 15:03 of the third period against Barys Astana on December 23, 2012 after four straight shutouts. I'm thinking that wasn't a happy holiday season for Spartak.

In any case, Etta Jmaes would be proud of Amur Khabarovsk because they finally dented twine against after five shutouts and nearly another full game of not scoring. As Miss James may have sung soulfully, "At last... a goal has come along."

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!