Gusev reaches landmark, Dynamo reaches round two

Dynamo became the fourth and final Western Conference candidate to progress to the second round of the 2025 Gagarin Cup playoffs. A 5-2 victory in St. Petersburg completed a 4-2 win in its series against SKA, with Nikita Gusev netting his 250th KHL goal against his former club.

Dzhioshvili’s double lifts Dynamo

SKA St. Petersburg 2 Dynamo Moscow 5 (0-0, 2-1, 0-4)

(Dynamo wins the series 4-2)

Nikita Gusev’s 250th KHL goal helped Dynamo wrap up its series against SKA in game six. The Blue-and-Whites came from behind with three goals at the start of the third period, and Gusev got the third of them to open a 4-2 lead. That was the first time either side held a two-goal advantage in this game, and it proved sufficient to settle the outcome.

SKA came into this game full of confidence after an overtime win in Moscow on Friday prolonged the series. There was combative talk from head coach Roman Rotenberg after that game, and his players were clearly fired up as they returned to the SKA Arena for game six. The home team dominated the first period, outshooting Dynamo 17-6 but could not find a way past Vladislav Podyapolsky. The one-time SKA goalie was making his first playoff appearance of the season in place of Maxim Motorygin and justified his selection with a strong performance.

At the start of the second period, SKA got its third power play of the game but again failed to score. Then, against the run of play, Dynamo took the lead on a goal from Maxim Dzhioshvili. That was a shock for the home team, but it responded well to turn the game around with a couple of quick goals from Valentin Zykov. First, he redirected Andrei Pedan’s point shot past Podyapolsky on 26:45. Then he struck again off a long-range effort from Arseny Gritsyuk. The second goal brought a bench challenge from Dynamo, with Alexei Kudashov believing that Zakhar Bardakov gave a hand pass in the build-up. However, the review found that after Bardakov tried to control an elevated puck, a defenseman played it with his stick before another SKA player gained possession. The goal stood, and Dynamo faced a delay of game minor.

That talking point was all that separated the teams at the second intermission, but Dynamo came out early in the third to turn the game around. Max Comtois tied it up on a breakaway, then Kirill Adamchuk’s point shot put the visitor back in front 72 seconds later. Then came Gusev’s big moment. With Dynamo on the power play, the forward quarterbacked the play from the blue line before stepping up to take a pass from Brennan Menell. He moved into position, waited for Pedan to commit himself, then fired a wrist shot through a crowded slot to beat Artemy Pleshkov.

SKA still had chances to save itself. A bench minor in the 52nd minute invited the home team to play six-on-four, but without success. Then, on 55:55, Rotenberg again called Pleshkov to the bench in search of a way back. However, his team could not capitalize and Dzhioshvili put his second of the night into an empty net to finish the story.

Dynamo’s win means that the four top seeds from the Western Conference advance to the second round, which will be played in a cross-conference format. Avangard and Traktor have secured qualification from the East, but there are two outstanding series: Salavat Yulaev vs Sibir and Avtomobilist vs Ak Bars.