Almaz vs Red Mashine Atlant

Red Mashine Atlant dominated the opening frame. Grigory Bolbat opened the scoring at 07:15 off a feed from Erik Serbin, and Serbin doubled the lead just 2:41 later, assisted by Vladislav Vergeychik and Shamil Gabdulbayanov. Atlant outshot Almaz 10-5 on target in the first period and carried a deserved 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

Almaz emerged a different side in the second. Lev Gaponov pulled one back at 30:18, finishing from close range after Gleb Bayushev and Timofey Gulenok worked the puck loose in the offensive zone. Valery Savin levelled the score at 2-2 just 3:02 later — again Bayushev providing the primary assist.

Atlant responded immediately. Roman Maximov restored the visitors' lead at 33:42, burying a pass from Fyodor Kuzmin to make it 3-2 heading into the third period.

Almaz pushed hard in the final frame, outshooting Atlant 16-11 in the period. The breakthrough came at 50:06 when Vyacheslav Biryukov found the back of the net on even strength to make it 3-3. Neither side scored in the remaining 10 minutes or the five-minute overtime.

Biryukov's equaliser at 50:06 erased Atlant's third lead of the night and completed Almaz's second comeback of the match. Having already overturned a 0-2 deficit, the hosts knew they could do it again — and when Biryukov scored with nearly 10 minutes left in regulation, the momentum shifted decisively in Almaz's favour. The goal also forced Atlant into a defensive posture in the closing stages, surrendering the initiative in a match they had controlled through two periods.

• Gleb Bayushev (Almaz) — Two primary assists (on Gaponov's and Savin's goals), finishing as the tournament's top assist provider with 4. His vision on the half-wall unlocked Atlant's defensive structure.
• Vyacheslav Biryukov (Almaz) — Scored the crucial 3-3 equaliser on a play he started and finished; then drew a holding penalty in overtime that gave Almaz a 4-on-3 power play.
• Yefim Filimonov (Almaz) — Entered in relief and stopped all three shootout attempts (Filoshin, Maximov, Serbin) while making clutch saves in regulation. Finished with a .914 SV% on the night.
• Erik Serbin (Red Mashine Atlant) — One goal and one assist in the first period; led all tournament defencemen in scoring with 3 (2+1) points across four games.

Player of the Match: Vyacheslav Biryukov (Almaz) — equalising goal + drawn overtime penalty.

The final shot count (57-50 Almaz) and shots on target (31-35 Almaz) tell a story of two different games. Atlant controlled the first period (10-5 shots on target) and built a two-goal cushion. But Almaz flipped the script entirely after the break, generating 25-19 shot attempts in the second period alone and eventually finishing with a 16-11 edge in the third. Almaz's 7 blocked shots to Atlant's 10 suggest the visitors were defending deeper as the match wore on. Atlant's 28-32 faceoff advantage was not enough to stem Almaz's territorial dominance in the final 40 minutes.

This was the opening match of the 48th P.I. Belyaev Memorial Tournament, a four-team round-robin featuring MHL clubs in Cherepovets. The shootout loss cost Atlant a valuable point — they finished the tournament with 7 points and won the overall title, while Almaz ended with 6 points in third place, trailing Sakhalinskie Akuly on tiebreakers.

For Almaz (coached by Evgeny Marin), the comeback resilience was a positive sign ahead of the 2026/27 MHL regular season. Atlant (coached by Alexander Prokopyev) would not lose again in regulation during the tournament, going on to defeat Metallurg 6-1 and Loko-76 4-3 in a shootout before edging Sakhalinskie Akuly.

Almaz's next match was against Sakhalinskie Akuly on 1 August, where they would lose 3-2 on a goal with 0.4 seconds remaining. Atlant faced Loko-76 on 1 August and won 4-3 in a shootout.

Almaz's ability to rally from two goals down twice in one game demonstrated genuine resilience, but their slow start — conceding twice in the opening 10 minutes — is a concern that will need addressing against sharper opposition. Biryukov's equaliser was the night's defining moment, and Filimonov's shootout composure gave Almaz a crucial extra point. For Atlant, Serbin's two-point period showed why he finished as the tournament's top-scoring defenceman, but their inability to close out a 2-0 and then a 3-2 lead will be a talking point in the video room.