SKA halts Loko’s winning run, Severstal edges CSKA in shoot-out. January 21 round-up

Tuesday’s KHL card had just two games – but both of them were fascinating. SKA rebounded from a four-game skid to hand Lokomotiv a first loss of 2025, banishing some of the questions about Roman Rotenberg’s team. And Severstal saw a 3-0 lead evaporate when CSKA scored in the last minute in Cherepovets, but the home team recovered to win a shoot-out.

CSKA fightback falls short

Severstal Cherepovets 5 CSKA Moscow 4 SO (1-0, 3-3, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)

CSKA recovered from 0-3 and tied this game in the last minute but could not escape defeat in Cherepovets. Severstal will feel that the game should have been done in regulation but held its nerve to take a shoot-out verdict.

The home team scored the only goal of a tight first period. Ruslan Abramov opened the scoring in the 16th minute, getting his stick up to bat Adam Liska’s effort past Pavel Khomchenko.

And by the 25-minute mark, Severstal seemed to have the game under control. Further tallies from Alexander Skorenov and Yanni Kaldis pushed the lead to 3-0 and chased Khomchenko from his net. Maxim Mamin pulled one back for CSKA a minute later, but Liska made it 4-1 midway through the second period.

The game looked to be drifting away from the Muscovites, but Denis Guryanov changed all that. He scored twice in 71 seconds towards the end of the session to put the visitor right back in contention. Ivan Drozdov assisted on both goals.

In the third period the teams went 12:13 without a break in play. That ceaseless ticking of the clock was largely in Severstal’s favor and the scoreboard pressure built up on CSKA. It seemed that the home team had done enough to win the game, but a penalty on Mikhail Kotlyarevsky on 59:35 undid all that defensive effort. CSKA had a six-on-four situation, won the face-off and executed a play that ended with Ruslan Iskhakov’s point shot tying the game at 4-4.

Overtime was short of good chances and the game went on to a shoot-out. Konstantin Shostak did a great job in the Severstal net, winning all four of his duels with CSKA’s shooters. At the other end, Skorenov and Kirill Pilipenko beat Dmitry Gamzin, giving the home team the verdict.

Plotnikov scores twice as SKA returns to form

SKA St. Petersburg 5 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (1-1, 3-1, 1-0)

This was the perfect riposte after a four-game skid. SKA powered to victory over table-topping Lokomotiv, ending the Railwaymen’s unbeaten start to 2025. Igor Nikitin’s men had won their previous six games, including an OT verdict over SKA on home ice, but ran out of ideas in this game.

Loko’s hot form had continued despite the absence of first choice goalie Daniil Isayev through injury. Today, his replacement had a tough time. Alexei Melnichuk allowed four goals off just 12 shots in the first 40 minutes as SKA took control of the game.

Yet the visitor had chances to win here. In the first period, Lokomotiv outshot SKA 14-5 only to find Yegor Zavragin on top of his game. He was beaten late in the frame by Maxim Beryozkin’s counterattack, but by then the home team had already opened the scoring. Sergei Plotnikov quickly converted the power play after Georgy Ivanov’s 15th-minute foul on Valentin Zykov.

At the start of the second period, SKA showed some clinical finishing to open a 3-1 lead. Arseny Gritsyuk made it 2-1 with a beauty of a solo effort in the 21st minute. Then Ivan Demidov extended his personal highlight reel for the season when he got past Martin Gernat and beat Melnichuk from close range.

A penalty on Zykov offered Lokomotiv a way back into the game and Maxim Shalunov made it 2-3 just after the host returned to full strength. However, SKA finished the period on a high with Zakhar Bardakov making it 4-2 at the second intermission.

The third period brought a rare sight: SKA, the KHL’s most attack-minded team, opted to dig in and protect its lead. Lokomotiv enjoyed more than seven minutes of O-zone possession, yet could only get six shots through to Zavragin. Nikitin, usually the most cautious of coaches, gambled early and called Melnichuk to the bench on 56:43. However, eight seconds later the goalie was back on the ice after Plotnikov scored his second of the night into the recently vacated net. That brought the game to an end with SKA celebrating a big win.