Memorable goal for Alalykin, rare rage from Berdin

In a week that saw three more teams confirm their playoff places, two incidents stood out. Salavat Yulaev’s Daniil Alalykin pulled off a move that honored his old friend and team-mate Rodion Amirov, while Sochi goalie Mikhail Berdin got into a rare goalie fight.

Shipachyov closes on Mozyakin

Ak Bars brought forward Vadim Shipachyov back into the team after a two-game absence. He contributed an assist in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Traktor and moves to 915 career KHL points. That leaves Shipachyov just 13 points shy of Sergei Mozyakin’s all-time record of 928 points in the league.

Alalykin scores Lacrosse goal, remembers Amirov

Salavat Yulaev forward Danil Alalykin’s goal against Lada was memorable for all sorts of reasons. Firstly, it was a game-winner. Second, it was a lacrosse goal, something that might become a weekly event in the KHL after Maxim Shabanov’s similar strike for Traktor last week. But most importantly in Ufa, it evoked memories of the late Rodion Amirov, who sadly passed away last summer aged just 21. 

“Rodya scored like that,” said Alalykin after the game. “I remember how we talked about it. We agreed that this season we’d tried to do another one just like it. Well, now I’ve done it. It’s for him. That was his style, and I had to catch up.”

Goalie gets into fight

It’s not often we see a goalie get into a fight – and still less often we see a netminder taking on a skater. But that’s exactly what happened during Kunlun’s win at Sochi on Monday. Mikhail Berdin took exception to the way Devin Brosseau barrelled into him and responded by picking a fight with the Canadian forward. The home goalie got the better of the brawl, but not the game: Red Star won it 4-2, with Brosseau potting his 20^th goal of the season along the way.

Three more punch playoff tickets

Seven of the eight playoff places in the Western Conference are now taken. Last week saw defending champion CSKA confirm its place, followed by Severstal. Although close in the standings, the two clubs have had contrasting seasons. For the Muscovites, hoping for an unprecedented Gagarin Cup three-peat, this has been an unimpressive and inconsistent regular season that poses more questions than answers. For the Steelmen, meanwhile, Andrei Kozyrev’s first season in charge has shown him a worthy replacement for Andrei Razin as he leads Severstal to post season for the fourth year in a row. That’s the club’s most successful sequence in the KHL. In the East, Salavat Yulaev became the third team to secure a top-eight finish.

Eastern race hots up

There’s a fascinating battle brewing to secure eighth place in the Eastern Conference. While spots one through seven are more or less clear, just four points separate Neftekhimik in eighth from Sibir in 10^th. In between, Amur is one point outside the playoff zone. All three teams have nine games to play, and one of the biggest of those is set for Friday when Sibir travels to Nizhnekamsk. A home win in that one could be a knock-out blow, but the teams are due to meet once again in Novosibirsk the following week.

Anas stays in Minsk

Dinamo Minsk’s leading scorer Sam Anas clearly enjoyed his first season in the KHL. After producing 44 (20+24) points in 58 games so far, he’s agreed a two-year extension to his current contract. As such, he’s tied to the Bison until 2026.

Coaches extend in the Far East

Amur Khabarovsk and Admiral Vladivostok both agreed contract extensions with their head coaches. Andrei Martemyanov, whose Amur team is in the thick of the battle to claim eighth place in the Eastern Conference, agreed to return for next season. Meanwhile, Leonids Tambijevs signed on for two more years with Admiral. Although the Sailors have struggled this season, the Latvian coach has plenty of credit in the bank after he led the club to the second round of last year’s playoffs – the best result since hockey came to Vladivostok in 2013.

SKA moves to new home

Next Sunday’s game between SKA and HC Sochi will be the first KHL action at the new SKA Arena. The 21,500-seater venue already staged our All-Star Game back in December, but this will be the first competitive game in the world’s biggest hockey arena. On paper, it should be a straightforward home win for SKA, which beat Sochi 7-2 last time they met in Petersburg. However, the Western Conference leader twice lost on the road against the Leopards, who will be out to spoil the housewarming party at the weekend.