Loko steams past CSKA, Traktor goes back to Eastern summit. January 5 round-up

A 4-1 win over second-placed CSKA helped Lokomotiv move 11 points clear at the top of the KHL standings. In the Eastern Conference, Traktor beat Avtomobilist 2-0 to reclaim the lead ahead of Salavat Yulaev. Dynamo Moscow enjoyed a second big win of 2025, thumping Sochi 5-1. SKA also scored five at home to Vityaz, with Ivan Demidov continuing his recent run of form. Metallurg won its first game of the new year at home to Amur and Lada beat Barys 5-0 in Astana.

Home win puts Traktor back on top

Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)

The home team returned to the top of the Eastern Conference, bouncing back from an OT loss to Amur with a shut-out win over Avtomobilist. Zach Fucale was a key figure for Traktor, making 25 saves in a game that was scoreless until the final minutes.

Fucale was especially busy early in the game. By the 10-minute mark, the Motormen were up 9-1 on shots but could not turn that pressure into a lead. Gradually, Traktor came into the game but found Evgeny Alikin every beat as tough to beat.

That pattern continued in the middle frame, with the two goalies on top of their game. Unusually, both teams had penalty shots in the session, but neither Traktor’s Vitaly Kravtsov nor Avto’s Stephane da Costa was able to take the opportunity.

In the third period, both teams were denied by the piping and it seemed like there would be no scoring in regulation. However, on 57:43 Traktor got ahead when Charles Robinson redirected a Steven Kampfer shot into the net. Avtomobilist challenged the play, claiming interference on Alikin, but the review confirmed the goal. That meant the visitor would have to try to save the game while playing shorthanded and the challenge was too much. Kampfer scored into an empty net to wrap up the win.

Winning start to 2025 for Metallurg

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (2-1, 0-0, 1-1)

A 3-2 win over Amur made it a winning start to 2025 for Metallurg. The home team handed a debut to Troy Josephs, signed from Lada on the deadline. He formed part of an import trio alongside Luke Johnson and Borna Rendulic, another December addition to the roster. Amur, fresh from victory at Traktor, continued with 22-year-old goalie Damir Shaimardanov.

Metallurg’s first action of the new year soon produced a goal. Roman Kantserov found the Amur net after just 41 seconds. The 20-year-old has nine goals and 11 points in his last eight games. However, the lead did not last long before the Tigers tied the game on Dmitry Shevchenko’s fourth-minute marker.

The all-action start continued. Valery Orekhov quickly restored the Metallurg lead with a long-range effort, and Danila Yurov threatened to extend the advantage on a dangerous rush down the wing. Amur had a power play chance at the other end, but the score remained 2-1 at the first intermission.

The middle frame was less frantic, and the only stand-outs were some home power plays. It wasn’t until late in the session that Amur began to take the initiative. Evgeny Grachyov came close to tying the game, and Ilya Nabokov made a great save to deny Cam Lee’s solo rush.

Metallurg began the third period on the power play, but managed to allow a short-handed goal. Robin Press blundered, and Oleg Li took advantage to tie the game in the 42nd minute.

The home team responded quickly and was back in front two minutes later. The goal came from an unlikely source as defensemen Artyom Minulin and Makar Khabarov combined for the latter to get his first since Oct. 21. He almost got another, emerging from the box to go straight onto the attack but firing his shot against the piping.

However, Amur could not punish that error. A ‘too many men’ penalty in the last minute prevented the visitor from launching a full-on surge and Metallurg calmly closed out the win.

Lada piles on problems for Barys

Barys Astana 0 Lada Togliatti (0-3, 0-1, 0-1)

The new year brought no relief for Barys. The Kazakhs fell to a seventh successive defeat, and now have just one win in 16 games. After going down 0-6 before the break, this was another heavy loss and once again the KHL’s least productive offense failed to score.

Lada, meanwhile, bounced back from a 1-3 loss at Ak Bars on Jan. 3 and claimed a win that puts it just two points outside the playoff places. A fast start set the tone here. Danil Yurtaikin opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and within 30 seconds Dmitry Kugryshev forced a turnover and released Yegor Chernikov for the second goal.

Barys rarely looked like conjuring much of a response to that fast start, but at least managed to halt the flow of goals – at least until the end of the opening frame, when Denis Barantsev’s piledriver made it 3-0.

Lada also had a huge advantage on the draw in the first period, winning 13 out of 14 face-offs. In the second stanza, that swung back in Barys’ favor (14 out of 20 for the home team) but had little impact on the play. Alexander Volkov got the only goal of the session, making it 4-0 in the 38th minute.

Kugryshev completed a hat-trick of helpers in the third period, setting up a second goal for Chernikov to make it 5-0. Barys could not even manage a consolation goal as Alexander Trushkov secured his first KHL shut-out.

Loko underlines leadership credentials

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 CSKA Moscow 1 (2-1, 2-0, 0-0)

After 11 consecutive wins at the end of 2024, CSKA now has back-to-back losses to start 2025. Friday’s roller-coaster 3-6 reverse at SKA was followed by a one-sided defeat to table-topping Lokomotiv, enabling the Railwaymen to move 11 points clear thanks to a first win over Ilya Vorobyov’s team this season.

In action for the first time this year, Loko made a flying start. Stepan Nikulin opened the scoring in the second minute, following up a face-off win to move down the left, get away from Fredrik Claesson and wire a wrister past Pavel Khomchenko.

But CSKA got back into it thanks to a schoolboy error in the seventh minute. Ulev blundered in front of his own net, sending the puck straight onto Vladislav Kamenov’s stick. The visiting forward quickly unwrapped that belated New Year gift and tied the game.

The action continued: Loko regained the lead thanks to a 13th-minute goal. This time, Alexander Radulov was the architect, winning possession and circling the net before dishing off a pass for Georgy Ivanov to finish. Loko was close to extending its lead through Byron Froese, while CSKA threatened another tying goal late in the frame when Ivan Drozdov surged clear but found Daniil Isayev’s pad in his path.

In the middle frame, Loko took the game away from the Muscovites. In the 33rd minute, Maxim Beryozkin sent Artur Kayumov on the way to goal and he placed a backhand shot on the top shelf. Then, just before the intermission, Rushan Rafikov’s power play goal opened an unassailable 4-1 lead.

There were relatively few scoring chances through the first two periods, a stat masked by some good finishing from both teams. And with Loko able to defend a lead, the third period was predictably short of goalmouth action. CSKA managed just five shots at Isayev as the Railwaymen closed out a comfortable win to consolidate its commanding lead in the KHL standings.

Dynamo continues to celebrate New Year

HC Sochi 1 Dynamo Moscow 5 (0-2, 0-3, 1-0)

2025 clearly suits Dynamo. After scoring seven at Severstal on Friday, Alexei Kudashov’s team hit five more here to send Sochi to yet another loss. There were three-point games for Cedric Paquette and Nikita Gusev, plus a first point for Dylan Sikura after his arrival from Traktor.

Paquette opened the scoring in the third minute but for a time Sochi hung around in the game. The home team posed some questions for Maxim Motorygin but could not find the net and fell further behind to Gusev’s goal in the 18th minute.

The second period saw Dynamo take the game away. The visitor had three unanswered goals, Sochi managed just four shots on target. Gusev and Sikura combined to set up Daniil Pylenkov for a power play goal early in the session, Paquette’s second of the night chased starting goalie Sergei Ivanov from his net in the 27th minute. Incoming goalie Evgeny Volokhin was beaten shortly after the halfway point by Dmitry Rashevsky to make it 5-0 to the Blue-and-Whites.

With the game done, Sochi managed a consolation goal in the third period. Will Bitten continued his productive spell to get his fourth tally in four games for his new club.  

Akolzin, Demidov inspire SKA fightback

SKA St. Petersburg 5 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 (1-2, 3-0, 1-0)

Vityaz threatened a shock in St. Petersburg, jumping to a 2-0 lead against SKA. But the home team roared back, and two goals from Pavel Akolzin paced a 5-2 victory.

The visitor made a dream start, silencing the home crowd with a first-minute goal from Fredrik Gauthier. He was waiting for Jeremy Roy’s pass to the back door and reached out his stick to steer the puck home after just 24 seconds. Then, midway through the first, a two-man rush saw Dmitry Buchelnikov set up Ivan Chekhovich to make it 2-0.

The return journey began with Ivan Demidov. A quick break saw him collect a pass from Zakhar Bardakov in the SKA zone then seek to use his team-mate as a screen on his goal bound shot. The plan worked, and the slightest of deflections off Bardakov took the puck beyond Andrei Kareyev.

In the middle frame, SKA took full control of the game. Akolzin tied the scores in the 22nd minute, then two quick goals put the home team up 4-2 midway through the session. Grigory Kuzmin claimed the go-ahead goal, albeit with a slice of good fortune. His initial effort flew over the bar, but came back off the boards and bounced into the net amid a crowd on the crease.

Moments later, Demidov doubled the lead, quarterbacking a slick combination and finishing off from close range. Vityaz had no answer, and SKA was firmly in the ascendancy.

A power play goal for Akolzin early in the third padded the home lead, and the same player might have ended the game with a hat-trick. However, his late chance on the rush was halted by Kareyev and the final score was 5-2.