Lokomotiv steams into playoffs. February 6 round-up
Lokomotiv is the first confirmed participant in the 2025 KHL playoffs. A 2-0 win at home to Dinamo Minsk secured the league leader’s post-season ticket. Behind the Railwaymen, the battle for second place is as intense as ever. Severstal is currently ahead after a 4-3 win at CSKA moved it to 69. The three Moscow teams are now tied on 68 points, with Dynamo winning 4-1 at Kunlun and Spartak taking a point from a shoot-out loss at Torpedo. Then comes SKA on 67 thanks to its 4-2 victory at Vityaz. In the Eastern Conference, Ak Bars halted Avtomobilist’s long winning run. A 4-1 win in Kazan puts Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team clear in second place. Salavat Yulaev, a 4-1 winner over Neftekhimik, is in third with Avto fourth. Earlier in the day, the Far East derby saw Admiral top Amur in overtime to climb above Sibir into seventh place.
Starkov settles Far East derby
Admiral Vladivostok 2 Amur Khabarovsk 1 OT (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-0)
Persistence paid off for Admiral’s Stepan Starkov as his overtime game secured a fifth successive victory in the Far East derby with Amur.
During the game, Starkov had five shots at Damir Shaimardanov. He finally solved the visiting goalie after 55 seconds of the extras.
In a goalless first period, Starkov was among the more dangerous players. Team-mate Ivan Muranov also had a good opportunity on a two-on-one rush. It took some time for Amur to get into the game at all, and even a power play late in the opening session generated little threat.
For much of the second period, the game followed a similar pattern. Late in the session, though, Admiral raised the tempo. Starkov hit the bar on the power play and shortly afterwards, with the teams back at full strength, Shane Prince opened the scoring. That halted Shaimardanov’s shut-out streak at 116:08.
Amur responded by tweaking its lines for the third period. Oleg Li and Ignat Korotkikh joined Devin Brosseau on the top line. They put in some big work in the Admiral zone, but the tying goal came from elsewhere. Vyacheslav Gretsky fired a warning shot against the post before Alex Galchenyuk’s wrister took the game into overtime.
This was the sixth time in seven games that the Sailors were tied at 60 minutes. That OT experience seemed to help the home team: Libor Sulak earned his team a power play and Starkov’s forceful shot converted that opportunity into a winning goal.
Ufa eases past Neftekhimik
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 (2-0, 0-1, 2-0)
Josh Leivo failed to extend his seven-game goal streak, but fellow forward Nathan Todd extended his productive run to nine games as Salavat Yulaev eased past Neftekhimik.
This was a third straight win for Ufa but following a battling 6-4 win over Metallurg last time out, Viktor Kozlov shuffled his lines. Leivo played alongside Alexander Chmelevski and Scott Wilson, while Todd was partnered by Dennis Yan.
It didn’t take long for the home team to get in front. Danil Alalykin opened the scoring after 84 seconds, shooting home from a tight angle. In the 16th minute Sheldon Rempal doubled the lead, converting Salavat Yulaev’s second power play of the night.
Neftekhimik offered little in the first period, prompting Oleg Leontyev to change goalies at the intermission. Subsequently, the visitor cut out the individual errors and defended more solidly. Better still, the Wolves pulled a goal back after 33 minutes when Luka Profaca celebrated his return to the team with his second tally of the season.
However, that was not enough to change the outcome. Salavat Yulaev regrouped and resumed its earlier control in the third period. Chmelevski extended the lead in the 48th minute, assisted by Leivo, before Todd’s empty net goal wrapped up the win.
Damir’s double defeats Lada
Lada Togliatti 1 Avangard Omsk 2 (0-0, 1-1, 0-1)
Last time these teams met, they shared 13 goals before the Hawks edged a 7-6 verdict in Omsk. With just three goals, tonight’s game was very different but the outcome was the same – a one-goal win for Avangard.
The visitor totally dominated the first period, outshooting Lada 21-3. However, Avangard was unable to score in that opening session. Making the most of that reprieve, the home team took the lead early in the second on a goal from Rafael Bikmullin.
But Avangard would not be denied. Despite an injury crisis that denied Guy Boucher’s team the services of Reid Boucher and Mike McCleod – both of whom scored in the previous game against Lada – the Hawks found a way to turn the game around. Defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov was the key man. He scored twice, tying the game late in the second then putting the visitor ahead midway through the third. Sharipzyanov moves to 10 goals for the season; along with defensive partner Semyon Chistyakov that adds up to 24 tallies from the blue line from those two alone this season.
As the game went on, Sharipzyanov & Co had to show off their defensive props. The final period saw Lada outshoot Avangard 13-4, reversing the pattern of the first two sessions. But the Hawks held firm and handed the Motormen an eighth successive loss.
Avto’s hot streak grinds to a halt
Ak Bars Kazan 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 (2-1, 1-0, 1-0)
The winner of this game would go clear into second place in the East. Both teams arrived in good form: Ak Bars was on a four-game winning streak, while Avtomobilist had not tasted defeat since Jan. 5, winning 11 games since then.
However, that hot streak cooled in Kazan. Ak Bars took control of the game early on and claimed a 4-1 victory.
The teams traded early opportunities before Avtomobilist got the first power play of the night in the sixth minute. The visitor could make little of that chance, barely troubling Timur Bilyalov in the Kazan net. And once the home team was back to full strength, it soon organized the opening goal. Semyon Terekhov moved the puck off the left-hand boards and Kirill Semyonov took it on to score.
Avtomobilist had another underwhelming power play and, once again, ran into trouble when Ak Bars got back to full strength. This time, Alexei Byvaltsev’s foul gave the home side its first chance with an extra skater and Artyom Galimov cashed in to double the lead. But there was a quick response from the visitor, with Brooks Macek stuffing home the rebound from a Stephane da Costa shot to reduce the deficit just before the intermission.
At the start of the second period, another Ak Bars power play brought another goal. Dmitrij Jaskin was the scorer, wrestling with a defenseman on the slot before getting the decisive touch on Semyonov’s shot. Avtomobilist was unable to find a way back into the game and, late in the session, lost Nick Merkley to a major penalty for checking to the head after a collision that saw Alexei Marchenko head to the locker room. The defenseman returned in the third period.
Although the visitor escaped from that penalty kill without sustaining any further damage on the scoreboard, it ate up a big chunk of time at the start of the third period. There was more trouble to come – a double minor for Jesse Blacker put Ak Bars back on the power play – and the home team had the puck in the net again in the 50th minute. This time, a bench challenge wiped out Nikita Dynyak’s effort. But there was no reprieve in the last minute when Semyon Koshelev scored into an empty net, sealing a fifth successive win for Ak Bars.
Kagarlitsky gives Torpedo a shoot-out verdict
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Spartak Moscow 2 SO (0-0, 1-2, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
With a shoot-out win over Spartak, Torpedo opened a nine-point gap over ninth-placed Kunlun and looks to be moving ever closer to shaking off the chasing pack in the playoff race. Igor Larionov’s team recorded a second shoot-out success in two games as it bounces back from a 6-1 drubbing at CSKA.
Spartak, meanwhile, lost for the third time in four and lost second place to ???? despite picking up a bonus point for the tie in regulation. There are now just two points separating sixth-placed SKA from second in the standings.
The visitor may feel it should have closed this game out. After a goalless first period, the Red-and-Whites opened a 2-0 lead in the second. Dmitry Vishnevsky and Pavel Poryadin scored either side of the midway point to give Spartak a solid advantage.
However, Torpedo got one back late in the second through Kirill Voronin. The third period saw Nikita Tertyshny tie it up with his first goal since arriving from Torpedo. Neither team could force a winner in regulation, but overtime brought some big chances at both ends. Markus Phillips tested Artyom Zagidulin, Nikita Artamonov fired a wrister narrowly wide and, in the final seconds Pavel Poryadin might have won it for Spartak but his shot hit the post.
That meant a shoot-out, and after nine failed attempts, Dmitry Kagarlitsky beat Zagidulin to give Torpedo the verdict.
Loko books playoff spot
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 Dinamo Minsk 0 (0-0, 0-0, 2-0)
Victory over Dinamo Minsk means Lokomotiv is the first team to confirm its place in the 2025 KHL playoffs. Igor Nikitin’s team shrugged off a run of four losses in five games – its worst sequence this season – to blank the Belarusians and claim the win that ensures it cannot drop out of the top eight in the Western Conference.
However, this was not a straightforward engagement for the Railwaymen. In the first period, Dinamo ensured that home goalie Alexei Melnichuk was the busier of the two netminders. Although the teams had a roughly equal share of possession, and both attempted 22 shots, the visiting defense blocked 12 of Lokomotiv’s efforts. In terms of shots on target, Dinamo led 12-6 after 20 minutes.
For all those efforts, neither team could produce a goal. The second period was also a stalemate, although this time Vasily Demchenko was the busier of the goalies.
The opening goal had to wait until the 54th minute. Lokomotiv got its first power play of the game and Byron Froese took advantage to make it 1-0. Almost immediately, Dynamo had a power play chance of its own but after a minute with the extra man, Xavier Ouellet’s foul had the teams playing four-on-four.
Minsk’s hopes of saving the game in the closing stages were undermined when Roman Gorbunov took a high-sticking minor in the 59th minute. Another home power play brought a killer second goal as Martin Gernat made the final score 2-0.
Grigorenko scores twice in SKA win
Vityaz Moscow Region 2 SKA St. Petersburg 4 (0-1, 1-2, 1-1)
After shipping eight goals at home to Ak Bars, SKA recovered to beat Vityaz. The home team, still hoping to get into the playoff race, fell to a fifth successive loss and now trails Torpedo by 14 points.
Roman Rotenberg made changes to his team after Tuesday’s 3-8 loss. Pavel Moisevich, who replaced Artemy Pleshkov in goal during the game, got the start while Pleshkov did not feature on the roster at all. On defense, Andrei Pedan made way for Sergei Sapego. Up front, Sergei Tolchinsky returned to action and went straight into the first line alongside Zakhar Bardakov and Valentin Zykov. Young Amir Nugmanov remained on the team, but was listed as 13th forward and did not get on the ice.
The teams produced an even first period, with the only goal coming in the sixth minute. It went to SKA, with Nikolai Polyakov finally getting the puck past Maxim Dorozhko after two attempts from Ivan Demidov tested the home defense.
Early in the second period, Pavel Dedunov doubled SKA’s lead with an instinctive blast into the top corner. Vityaz had a couple of chances on the power play after that but could not score. Instead, the visitor padded the lead in the 33rd minute on a counter-attacking play finished by Mikhail Grigorenko.
Vityaz called a time-out and followed that with a quick goal. Matvei Zaseda’s one-timer beat Moisevich and reopened the game.
However, it didn’t take SKA long to reassert itself with Grigorenko scoring again at the start of the third. That effectively killed the contest, although Vladislav Tsitsyura got a late consolation tally for the home team.
Revenge win for Severstal
CSKA Moscow 3 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (0-2, 1-1, 2-1)
A week ago, Severstal came here and lost 6-1. Today, Andrei Kozyrev’s team got its revenge and, in the process, returned to second place in the standings. This win puts the Lynx back in front of CSKA as an intriguing battle for position ahead of the playoffs intensifies in the west.
The visitor took control of the game early. CSKA was simply blown away in the first period. Severstal was up 19-4 on shots, had almost twice as much attacking possession and – crucially – scored two unanswered goals. They came early in the game after Denis Guryanov got a major penalty for a high hit on Mikhail Ilyin. Ruslan Abrosimov opened the scoring on 2:58 then, as the power play continued, Nikolai Chebykin doubled the advantage.
After that, CSKA had power play chances of its own in the first period, but failed to make any inroads.
Severstal’s strong performance continued at the start of the second period with Danil Aimurzin adding a third goal. That persuaded Ilya Vorobyov to introduce Dmitry Gamzin in place of starting goalie Pavel Khomchenko. Midway through the game, the Muscovites found the net at last when Nikita Nesterov released Maxim Mamin. He outwitted goalie Alexander Samoilov and finished the play with a backhand shot.
By now the balance of play was more even, and early in the third CSKA got a second goal back when Christian Jaros fired in from the blue line with Samoilov unsighted. However, Severstal’s workrate in center ice troubled the home team all night and Mikhail Kotlyarevsky forced a turnover before advancing to restore his team’s two-goal lead. There were still seven minutes for CSKA to recover, and Prokhor Poltapov’s quick response encouraged home hopes. However, Severstal defended its lead to the end to claim its third win in four games with CSKA this season.
Gusev double leads Dynamo to victory
Kunlun Red Star 1 Dynamo Moscow 4 (0-2, 0-0, 1-2)
Nikita Gusev scored twice as Dynamo handed KRS a fourth successive defeat. The Blue-and-Whites are up to third in the Western Conference after Thursday’s win, but are level on points with city rivals CSKA and Spartak.
For two periods, this was fairly comfortable for the visitor. Dylan Sikura’s early goal gave Dynamo the edge, then Gusev doubled the lead in the 14th minute. The second period was goalless, with the Muscovites have the bulk of the possession even though there were relatively few chances at either end.
In the third period, though, Kunlun suddenly found another gear. The home team outshot Dynamo 17-3 and pulled a goal back midway through the session. When Colin Campbell beat Maxim Motorygin, potting his first goal since Jan. 12, the Dragons had good reason to hope that they could go on and take something from the game.
However, Motorygin stood firm and finished the game with 30 saves. At the other end, two of Dynamo’s three shots came in the closing moments after Jeremy Smith had been replaced by a sixth skater. As such, Max Comtois made it safe at 3-1 before Gusev finished the job with his second of the night.
