Derby win for Dynamo, vital victory for Sibir. March 15 round-up
Dynamo Moscoe tightened its grip on second place in the Western Conference after beating city rival CSKA 2-1 in Saturday’s big game. Sibir had an important victory in the Eastern Conference playoff race, opening a five-point lead over Neftekhimik after edging past Torpedo. Salavat Yulaev kept up the pressure on conference leader Traktor after defeating Dinamo Minsk in a shoot-out. Ak Bars missed the chance to move into the top four with a loss at home to Vityaz. The day’s biggest win went to Metallurg, 7-1 victors over Kunlun. And Saturday’s top scorer was Oleg Li, whose hat-trick sparked Amur’s 5-2 success at home to Barys.
Li’s hat-trick leads Amur to victory
Amur Khabarovsk 5 Barys Astana 2 (3-0, 1-1, 1-1)
The bottom two in the East faced off for the fourth and final team this season – and Amur completed a sweep in its head-to-head meetings with Barys in its final home game of 2024/2025.
The Tigers flexed their claws early in this one, with Oleg Li opening the scoring after just 50 seconds. In the sixth minute, visiting goalie Artyom Shestakov was beaten again as Vladislav Barulin doubled the home lead. When Evgeny Grachyov showed sharp reactions to tuck away a rebound in the 12th minute, this game was effectively over.
After a calamitous start, Barys began to find its feet and got to the intermission without allowing another goal. But straight after the restart, Li got his second of the game. Then came a fight between Grachyov and Tamirlan Gaitamirov, which also went in Amur’s favor. It wasn’t until the 37th minute that Barys finally had something to celebrate when Roman Starchenko beat Matt Jurusik to reduce the arrears.
The final frame saw Barys produce its best hockey of the game. A successful power play brought a goal for Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan to get the score back to 2-4. But that was the end of any putative fightback. Li completed his hat-trick late in the game to seal a comfortable win for Amur.
Krasotkin backstops valuable Sibir victory
Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 (1-0, 1-1, 1-1)
A narrow win over Torpedo keeps Sibir on course for a playoff spot. Vadim Yepanchintsev’s team is now five point clear of Neftekhimik, but the ninth-placed Wolves have four games left to try to recover that gap. It’s a strong position, but it owes much to 40 saves from Anton Krasotkin in today’s game.
Torpedo, meanwhile, already knows its fate: eighth place in the West, a first-round meeting with Lokomotiv and, after today, a three-game losing streak to shrug off before the end of the regular season next weekend. Igor Larionov’s players were always in contention but struggled to convert pressure into goals and ultimately left it too late to take anything from the game.
Yet the visitor might feel hard done by after a first period that saw it enjoy more of the game, only to trail 0-1 at the intermission. Torpedo outshot Sibir 12-7 and that was a fair reflection of the balance of attacking play. But pressure means little without goals. Krasotkin kept his net intact, while Ivan Bocharov was beaten in the seventh minute when Sergei Shirokov converted the first power play of the game.
Torpedo had its power play chances too, but could not take them. In the second period, the visitor doubled down on its attacking play. This time Krasotkin faced 22 shots but only Yegor Vinogradov had the answer to the home goalie after 36 minutes. By that time, Sibir had a second goal: Maxim Sushko’s effort survived a bench challenge as Torpedo suspected an infringement on Bocharov.
At the start of the third, Sibir scored again. Shirokov added an assist to his goal as Nikita Korotkov made it 3-1. And that proved to be the difference between the teams. Torpedo continued to dominate the play – by the end of 60 minutes, the shot count was 42-19 in the visitor’s favor – but Krasotkin performed strongly to protect his team’s lead. Vladislav Firstov got a second for Torpedo with eight seconds remaining, but there was no time left to force a tie.
Steelmen too strong for Kunlun
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7 Kunlun Red Star 1 (0-0, 3-1, 4-0)
The defending champion overpowered Kunlun to move into second place in the Eastern Conference. Saturday’s win has little bearing on the playoff picture, but injects more confidence into Andrei Razin’s team in the run-up to post season.
Red Star offered little resistance in the end, but the visitor rode an impressive goaltending display to keep the game goalless through 20 minutes. Patrik Rybar made 24 saves as Metallurg controlled the early exchanges.
Yet when KRS tried to move the play away from its net in the period, Magnitka took control of the game. The Dragons made a bright start to the second period, but then allowed three quick goals. Denis Zernov, Alexei Maklyukov and Roman Kantserov did the damage before Jan Drozg pulled one back on the power play late in the stanza.
Any hopes that the visitor might make a game of it in the third period were ended after 40 seconds when Alexander Petunin added a fourth. That was pretty much game over, and the home team rubbed it in with three more goals in the closing stages. Petunin got his second of the night on the power play, Igor Geraskin and Valery Orekhov made the final 7-1.
Tsulygin’s late goal keeps Ufa in the race for top spot
Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Dinamo Minsk 3 SO (2-2, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Saturday’s game in Ufa was likely followed just as closely in Chelyabinsk. Defeat for Salavat Yulaev would ensure that Traktor would take top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Any hopefully Traktor fans might have been forgiven for tuning out after five minutes as the home team jumped to a 2-0 lead. Dennis Yan opened the scoring, then Josh Leivo double the lead on the power play. That’s Leivo’s 45th goal of the season. He’s now clear of Dmitrij Jaskin’s 44-goal haul and just three behind Sergei Mozyakin’s all-time KHL record. The Canadian has three more games to get there.
In the end, that proved to be the foundation for a home win, but Dinamo made it hard for Viktor Kozlov’s team. Despite a disastrous start, the visitor was level at the intermission. Goals from Sam Anas and Yegor Borikov got it back to 2-2. After that frantic start, both teams tightened up their play and suddenly there were few scoring chances.
However, midway through the second period, a Dinamo power play saw the visitor get in front. A series of penalties for both teams brought passages of four-on-three and four-on-four before Minsk found the net on a traditional five-on-four PP. Rob Hamilton fired in the puck from the right-hand point and Alexander Volkov got the touch to take it past Alexander Samonov.
Then came a flashpoint when Yan’s high stick enraged Roman Gorbunov. The Minsk man started a fight with his opponent, which saw him pick up 2+5+10 as the initiator. Yan also sat for 2+5 but the emotional end to the frame did not translate into any more goals.
Indeed, the home fans would have to wait until deep into the third period to see the tying goal. Dinamo was beginning to think it had got to the finish line when, with two-and-a-half minutes to play, Yaroslav Tsulygin found a fantastic shot from the blue line. The puck flew past Andrei Tikhomirov into the top corner to tie the game and force overtime.
Ufa thought it had the winner in the extras when Scott Wilson batted a Leivo effort into the net. However, a video review ruled that the Canadian’s stick was high and the teams remained locked at 3-3 and went to a shoot-out.
That shoot-out saw Sheldon Rempal and Wilson on target for the home team, while Samonov won all four of the duels he faced.
Barach’s OT winner dents Ak Bars’ top-four push
Ak Bars Kazan 1 Vityaz Moscow Region 2 OT (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-1)
Derek Barach’s overtime goal gave Vityaz the verdict in Kazan. It’s a third successive victory for the visitor, which could still snatch an extra place in the Western Conference standings. However, a third loss in four games keeps Ak Bars out of the top four in the East.
Although Ak Bars was looking for a win that could help it secure home ice advantage at the start of the playoffs, it was a somewhat lifeless performance from the home team. Vityaz had little to play for but was largely able to match its more illustrious opponent.
And the visitor got the opening goal midway through the second period, converting its third power play of the game. Matvei Zaseda was the scorer, moving to four goals in three games.
Zaseda’s sudden spurt of form had helped Vityaz win its previous two. However, the chance of making it three in a row took a knock midway through the third period when Ak Bars tied the scores. Kirill Semyonov’s goal seemed to set the home team up to go on and win it in the closing stages, but Vityaz was good enough to take the game to the extras.
And in overtime, it was the visitor who struck. Just 43 seconds into the additional frame, Barach scored his 20th of the season to give Vityaz the verdict.
Kudryavtsev goal separates Moscow rivals
CSKA Moscow 1 Dynamo Moscow 2 (0-0, 1-1, 0-1)
A derby win for Dynamo moved the Blue-and-Whites four points clear in second place. It looks increasingly likely that Alexei Kudashov’s team will be Lokomotiv’s closest rival in the Western Conference, setting up a probable first-round clash with Severstal.
The first period was goalless, and evenly contested. Both teams had 11 shots on target, and arguably the best chance came in the final seconds. It went to CSKA, but Denis Guryanov’s effort rebounded off the crossbar.
That gave the home team confidence going into the second period and CSKA went on to dominate the game. Ilya Vorobyov’s team outshot Dynamo 14-5 but struggled to make the most of several presentable scoring opportunities. That proved costly when the Blue-and-Whites got in front just after midway. A rare spell of pressure on Ivan Prosvetov’s net ended when Kirill Gotovets dished off the puck for Yegor Rimashevsky to open the scoring.
Stung, CSKA tied it up within a few minutes. A threatening counter saw Guryanov bring play into the Dynamo zone and hold up play while he waited for a lane to open. His pass picked out Ruslan Iskhakov, who scored from close range to make it 1-1.
In the closing moments of the middle frame, the teams traded chances. Although Dynamo had generally been second best in the second period, it came closest to grabbing a lead before the intermission when Mikhail Ilyenko stormed down the wing, beat Christian Jaros but failed to find the target from a tight angle.
Early in the third period, CSKA survived a scare. Dynamo’s power play fashioned a chance for Nikita Gusev and his shot hit the post and flashed wide. The breakthrough came in the 52nd minute when Pavel Kudryavtsev put Dynamo back in front. Again, Gotovets was involved – his pass released Jordan Weal down the right and the Canadian’s shot was redirected home by Kudryavtsev.
In the closing stages, CSKA tried to find a way back but an untimely tripping penalty for Vladislav Provolnev undermined home hopes. In the last minute, Igor Ozhiganov hauled back Prokhor Poltapov as the CSKA forward looked for a counterattack and gave the visitor a late chance on the power play. However, the remaining 41 seconds were not long enough for the host to save itself.
