Ak Bars wins game seven in 2OT

It took 83 minutes of the seventh game to separate two Eastern Conference foes, but Ak Bars eventually claimed the verdict over Avtomobilist. Kirill Semyonov will claim the winning goal, but it was a heartbreaking moment for home forward Alexei Byvaltsev as he pushed the puck into his own net. 

Kazan power play makes the difference

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 Ak Bars Kazan 2 2OT (1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)

(Ak Bars wins the series 4-3)

It took a second period of overtime to separate these times – but finally, in the 83rd minute, Ak Bars took its place in the second round of the 2025 KHL playoffs.

After trading goals in the first period, neither side could score again for more than 60 minutes. The visitor arguably had the edge in the game but had to wait until a power play at the start of the second overtime before grabbing the vital goal.

It was credited to Kirill Semyonov, but in reality the decisive marker was a cruel moment for Avtomobilist forward Alexei Byvaltsev. After Semyonov’s shot forced a sprawling save out of Evgeny Alikin, the home goalie lunged forward to clear the puck away from the advancing Ilya Safonov. As it looped up, Byvaltsev tried to control it with his hand, but ended up swatting it into his own net.

Perhaps tellingly, all three goals in this game came on the power play. Ak Bars made possibly the better start of the two teams but ran into penalty trouble after six minutes. First, Alexei Marchenko sat for a slash on Anatoly Golyshev. The visitor killed that penalty, despite some Avtomobilist pressure, but had barely returned to full strength before Nicolas Petan sat for delaying the game.

The second PP lasted just nine seconds before Avtomobilist took the lead. The puck went back to Nick Ebert at the point, he moved it on for Stephane da Costa and the Frenchman’s feed from the right-hand boards was steered home by Alexander Sharov.

Yet after power play success, the Motormen suffered when Ak Bars got a man advantage. Ebert’s foul on Dmitrij Jaskin opened the door and although Evgeny Alikin stopped Alexei Pustozyorov’s blast from between the hash marks, he could do nothing about Safonov on the rebound. The visitor tied the game in the 16th minute.

After that, both teams played cautious hockey for the remaining two periods of regulation. It was clear that the two sets of players were waiting for an error that could change the course of the game. Ak Bars had more shots through 60 minutes, but in truth there were few clear-cut chances. And, to their credit, the teams coped admirably with the pressure, cutting out the penalties and ensuring no significant mistakes.

In overtime Avtomobilist looked to be getting on top. Through the first 10 minutes of the extras, the home team outshot Ak Bars 5-0 and had a power play. But still there was no way past Timur Bilyalov. At the other end, late in the first overtime period, Eric O’Dell had perhaps the clearest chance to win the game. The Canadian forward, who scored twice on Saturday as Ak Bars tied the series, forced a fantastic save from Alikin with a shot that was heading for the top corner.

The gamebreaking moment arrived at the start of the second OT period. Stepan Khripunov was assessed a high-sticking minor and Ak Bars finally forced the breakthrough and booked its place in the second round.