A day of Eastern promise

It was a good day for the Eastern Conference as the second round of the 2025 playoffs got underway. With the pairings lined up in cross-Conference format, Salavat Yulaev decisively beat Spartak 4-1 helped by two goals from Dennis Yan. Then Avangard won at Lokomotiv, upsetting the seedings against the regular season champion. 

Yan leads Ufa to opening win

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Spartak Moscow 1 (2-1, 0-0, 2-0)

(Salavat Yulaev leads the series 1-0)

Two goals from Dennis Yan helped Salavat Yulaev get on top at the start of this 2025 Gagarin Cup second round series against Spartak. Yan’s pair cancelled out an early Adam Ruzicka tally for the visitors, paving the way to a 4-1 victory in Ufa.

This was the first time these two clubs had met in any previous playoff. And they had different journeys to this stage. Spartak disposed of Severstal in five games and rarely looked troubled. Salavat Yulaev seemed poised to power past Sibir in its series after blasting 15 goals in the first two games but ended up dragged to game seven before booking its place.

That Eastern Conference battle saw every game won by the home team – a record that Viktor Kozlov’s men were eager to extend. To help with that, he promoted Yan from the fourth line to the second, reflecting the forward’s status as a “specialist” against Spartak: he scored in both league games between the two this season.

The Red-and-Whites made the better start to the game, skating better than Salavat Yulaev in the early stages. Daniil Orlov joined the offense to provide the first serious test of the evening for Alexander Samonov. Soon after that a quick counterattack saw Ruzicka open the scoring with a powerful wrister.

But it was Yan who turned things around. First, he tied it up with a redirect on Dinar Khafizullin’s point shot. Then, a couple of minutes later, he produced a deft touch to knock down Artyom Pimenov’s effort and send it bouncing off the ice and past Artyom Zagidulin.

In the second period the home team had the better chances but could not add to its lead. Zagidulin made a huge save to deny Sheldon Rempal from point-blank range in the 27th minute. Later, Alexander Chmelevski sent Scott Wilson clean through on goal, but his backhand shot wasn’t good enough to beat the visiting goalie.

The final frame saw Spartak look to develop its positions in the Ufa zone. The home defense had to dig deep to protect a slender lead before gradually getting the play away from its net. And as the game opened up in the closing stages, it suited Salavat much better. In the 52nd minute Josh Leivo produced a fantastic feed for Pimenov to add a third goal.

That didn’t put Spartak back in its box right away. Andrei Loktionov had a chance to bring the game back to life, but Samonov said no. But when Yaroslav Tsulygin found the empty net he secured an opening victory in this series for Salavat.

Fast start stuns Loko

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Avangard Omsk 4 (0-1, 1-1, 0-2)

(Avangard leads the series 1-0)

The Hawks sank their talons into Lokomotiv’s hitherto smooth progress through the season. Avangard’s convincing win in Yaroslavl handed Igor Nikitin’s team its first loss of post season – and did so in comprehensive fashion.

On paper, this pairing is the biggest mismatch of the second round. Loko topped the regular season standings before sweeping Torpedo, while Avangard’s campaign meandered aimlessly through 2024 before the arrival of Guy Boucher galvanized the Siberians and secured sixth place in the East.

However, on 2025 form, few can match the Hawks. A powerful finish to the regular campaign was followed by a first-round win over defending champion Metallurg – and now a strong start against last year’s Gagarin Cup runner-up.

One big feature of the past month in Omsk has been the return of Vladimir Tkachyov. He returned from injury at the end of the regular season and played a big role in defeating Magnitka, potting two OT winners in that series. Today, his assist gave Reid Boucher the opener after just 29 seconds.

If there was a consolation for Loko, it at least had plenty of time to recover the situation. However, this is a team better suited to defending leads than overturning them. Avangard was able to manage things well, holding the home team to just eight shots on Nikita Serebryakov in the first period.

Things got better after the intermission. Penalty trouble reduced the Railwaymen to three skaters and Mike McLeod doubled the lead. Tkachyov was involved again, getting the puck to Konstantin Okulov. His feed found McLeod at the back door to score the second.

Lokomotiv managed to pull one back late in the session with a power play goal of its own. Alexander Radulov’s cross-ice feed invited Maxim Shalunov to release his wrister; a touch from Byron Froese took it past Serebryakov to give the home team hope going into the third.

But the final stanza saw Avangard extend its lead. Midway through the session McLeod fired a shot wide from the boards. The rebound came back to the danger zone and Nail Yakpuov was on hand to make it 3-1 for the visitor. Then, five minutes later, the Hawks put the outcome beyond doubt. There wasn’t much subtlety about Konstantin Okulov’s attempt to clear his zone, but Ryan Spooner turned it into a defense-splitting pass, racing away to beat Daniil Isayev and make the final score 4-1.