Playoffs start to take shape
We’re on the final stretch of the regular season and the playoff picture is starting to get a little clearer. Last week saw two more teams confirm their post season place, while another was eliminated. And we saw some player landmarks – a 1,000th game, a 200th goal and a KHL debut.
Two more clinch playoff spots
The Eastern Conference has its first confirmed playoff contenders. Traktor got over the line on Tuesday – and didn’t even need to play to confirm its place after Lada lost to Sibir. Then, on Sunday, Salavat Yulaev booked its spot with an overtime win over Lokomotiv in Ufa. Loko was the first qualifier this season, wrapping it up on Feb. 6 just before the All-Star weekend.
And one eliminated
At the other end of the table, Barys Astana became the first team to lose even a mathematical chance of making the playoffs. It’s been a rough season in Kazakhstan, and defeat against SKA on Wednesday means that the gap to eighth place is too great to recover.
SKA hits 200 goals
That 5-2 win at Barys was also significant for SKA. The Petersburg team scored its 200th goal of the season, the first in the KHL to reach that milestone. By contrast, Barys has just 76 goals from 55 games this season. That’s 41 fewer than Amur, the second lowest scorer in the league.
Spartak’s super comeback
One of the most spectacular games of the week saw Spartak Moscow rally from 0-4 to beat Torpedo. The Red-and-Whites were in deep trouble midway through this game as the visitor built that commanding lead. But Alexei Zhamnov’s men got one back late in the second period and turned things around with three goals in 2:11 in the third period. Alexander Belyayev started that fightback, and he got the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute. Two late strikes made it six unanswered in the final frame as Spartak recovered a 0-4 deficit for the first time in the KHL. Torpedo, meanwhile, blew a four-goal lead for the third time – an unwanted KHL record.
Kablukov scores in 1,000th game
Olympic champion and three-time Gagarin Cup winner Ilya Kablukov played his 1,000th KHL game last week – and marked the occasion with a goal. The 37-year-old forward, currently with Avangard, reached his milestone in Tuesday’s game at Admiral. Made captain for the day, he responded by scoring the winning goal in a 5-2 success in Vladivostok. Since then, Kablukov has moved on to 1,002 games – placing him second all-time in the KHL behind Vadim Shipachyov – and has added three more assists to his tally. Curiously, when Kablukov played his 1,000th game in top-flight Russian hockey last season (a figure that includes his early years in the Russian Superleague before the KHL was formed), he scored on that occasion as well.
Double century for da Costa
Avtomobilist center Stephane da Costa is on a great run at the moment – and it brought him his 200th KHL in Saturday’s win at Amur. The Frenchman’s productive streak is now at 12 games and that kind of form in 2025 has put the Motormen right back into the race for the leadership of the Eastern Conference.
First steps for young All-Stars
After featuring at last weekend’s Fonbet KHL All-Star Game, two youngsters have gone on to achieve significant milestones in their fledgling careers. Spartak’s Sergei Lukyantsev made his KHL debut on Thursday, and immediately got his first point with an assist on his team’s goal at Dynamo Moscow. Meanwhile, SKA prospect Matvei Korotky scored his first goals in the big league. He struck twice at Neftekhimik on Saturday, but finished on the wrong end of a 3-4 scoreline.
Global Girls’ Game in Minsk
Arena Minsk hosted a record-breaking event as part of the IIHF’s Global Girls’ Game program, with 234 women and girls taking part in a day of hockey. And there were several KHL connections on the coaching side. Current Dinamo Minsk players Kristian Khenkel and Vitaly Pinchuk were involved, as were Artyom Demkov (six KHL seasons with Dinamo, Sochi and Spartak) and Alexander Kulakov (nine seasons with Dinamo Minsk and a spell at Torpedo). Pinchuk, who is tied with Vadim Moroz as the highest-scoring Belarusian player at Dinamo this season, was impressed with what he saw. “First and foremost, this is about promoting women’s hockey,” he said. “People who saw this event will know what it’s all about, more girls will start playing and that will enhance the level of the women’s game.”
