SKA at one step to the conference finals!

The St. Petersburg franchise may find itself in the Western Finals for the tenth time in the last 12 seasons, but they have to defeat Torpedo first. In Vladivostok, all is set for game four between Admiral and Ak Bars, with the Kazan side up by one game.

While Admiral managed to play hard and revert the trend with an OT win over Ak Bars, Torpedo has failed to turn things up by playing at home, with SKA taking the third game with a shutout victory. 

12:30: Admiral vs Ak Bars

Series stand

Ak Bars leads the series 2-1 (2:3, 1:2, 1:0 OT)

About the game

Nikita Serebryakov posted 48 saves as Admiral shut out Ak Bars with an OT decider by Belarus defenseman Evgeny Lisovets. It was his second goal of this year’s playoffs following a tally in the very first game against Salavat Yulaev in the first round. For the Kazan’s side, Timur Bilyalov was also impressive between the piping with his 39 saves, but he did allow a tally that costed Ak Bars the game.

Injury list

Admiral: Dinar Khamidullin, Gleb Zyryanov.

Milestone alert

Admiral’s defenseman Yury Pautov lines up for his 200^th career game.

Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Radulov may reach 100 points scored in the playoffs (currently at 98). 

19:30: Torpedo vs SKA

Series stand
SKA leads the series 3-0 (1:2 ОТ, 4:5, 0:4).

About the game

A well-organized St. Petersburg side left no chance to Torpedo in game three, with goalie Dmitry Nikolayev rejecting 38 attempts and earning his second SO in this year’s playoffs. Marat Khairullin potted a double, while Damir Zhafyarov and Alexander Nikishin had two points each, with the defenseman’s shorthanded tally midway through the game virtually sealing the deal for SKA in game three. In game four, Torpedo will have to change something if they want to stand a little chance in the series.

Injury list

SKA: Daniil Moiseyev, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi.

Torpedo: Igor Larionov, Kirill Urakov.

Milestone alert

Torpedo’s forward Alexei Kruchinin may reach 200 points in the KHL (currently at 199).

SKA’s defenseman Igor Ozhiganov may line up for his 100^th game in the KHL playoffs.