Outshot 30-48, still 4-3: Neftekhimik edge Salavat Yulaev after overtime

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45 saves. 48 shots against. Yaroslav Ozolin's night in Nizhnekamsk reads like an error: Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk was outshot 30-48 by Salavat Yulaev Ufa at Neftekhim Arena and still won, 4-3 after overtime.

The opener was scoreless and scratchy: four minors in the first period, three of them to Salavat Yulaev — Maxim Zagrebin at two minutes, Artyom Zemchyonok at seven, Artyom Nabiyev at 15. Nikita Khoruzhev broke the deadlock at 24 from Artyom Serikov, but the visitors hit back twice in the second. Sheldon Rempal sat in the box at 26 and scored at 29 off Zemchyonok, then sent up Devin Brosseau at 34 for 1-2. Six more minors kept the middle frame ragged, and Khoruzhev took back-to-back seats at 35 and 37.

The third flipped three times in ten minutes. Sevastyan Sokolov levelled at 43 from Vladislav Yeryomenko, Evgeny Mityakin nudged Neftekhimik ahead at 47 from Artur Tyanulin, and Nabiyev tied it at 53 from Yaroslav Tsulygin — 3-3, where regulation ran out. The power plays split 1-for-7 against 1-for-4, and the 4-3 verdict finally landed after overtime.

Ozolin turned the mismatch into a win: 45 saves on 48 attempts, a workload earned because the visitors outshot the hosts by 18. Sheldon Rempal was Salavat Yulaev's sharpest edge — nine shots, a goal, an assist, one minor — and Semyon Vyazovoy made 27 saves at the other end. The difference was the man behind the busier net.

Eighteen more shots on Ozolin, a better power-play number, and it still added up to defeat. In Nizhnekamsk the shot clock lost its case — Salavat Yulaev had everything except the result.