Radulov, Surin eliminate Salavat Yulaev

The master and the apprentice combined to finish this KHL 2025 playoff semi-final series in five games. Alexander Radulov and Yegor Surin shared four goals and seven points as Lokomotiv returns to the Gagarin Cup final.

Instant return for last year’s runner-up

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (1-0, 1-1, 2-1)

(Lokomotiv wins the series 4-1)

Two goals apiece from Alexander Radulov and Yegor Surin saw Lokomotiv through to its second successive Gagarin Cup final. Despite Scott Wilson scoring his first goal of this semi-final series, Salavat Yulaev could not get the win it needed to prolong the contest. Loko advances in five games and will face the winner of the on-going Traktor vs Dynamo Moscow series for the big prize.

The visitor had recent experience of recovering from 1-3 to win a series: Salavat Yulaev did exactly that to defeat Spartak in the previous round. However, that was only the seventh such fightback in KHL history, highlighting how difficult a task faced Viktor Kozlov’s team.

Kozlov also had to do without forward Josh Leivo, absent for the third time in five games this series. Short of attacking options, Ufa had to use defenseman Ildan Gazimov to center the fourth line, while Semyon Vyazovoi returned in goal. Lokomotiv, victorious in the previous three games, kept the same personnel. Igor Nikitin made a few tweaks to his lines for Monday’s game.

The opening exchanges suggested that Salavat Yulaev’s gameplan was to focus on accurate defense before trying to raise the tempo and threaten Daniil Isayev in the Lokomotiv net. However, a cagey start was interrupted when Lokomotiv took the lead in the seventh minute. Radulov found the net, getting to the slot and redirecting the puck after Surin’s attack.

Once in front, Yaroslavl opted to meet its opponents high up the ice. Often, Salavat Yulaev saw its plays break down in the neutral zone, and rarely tested Isayev. His most anxious moment came from a Vladislav Yefremov shot that was heading for the top shelf until the goalie shrugged it to safety.

The visitor got its breakthrough at the start of the second period, aided by its second power play of the game. Officially, Wilson found the net with the teams back at equal strength, but Maxim Beryozkin had barely got out of the box and the goal clearly had its roots in the PP. It also threatened to change the course of the game: suddenly, Lokomotiv could not get it together, and for some time struggled to pose any kind of attacking threat.

However, by the end of the middle frame the home team managed to regain its composure – and with it, the lead. Once again Radulov and Surin combined, this time the veteran produced a fantastic feed to set up his young colleague after a long spell of pressure drained the energy from the Salavat defense.

There was more to come from that pair in the third period, but only after Salavat again tied the scores on Alexander Chmelevski’s goal. The gamewinner went to the 18-year-old Surin when he made it 3-2 midway through the final stanza. The youngster got it just right, applying a turn of speed, then using his strength to hold off Chmelevski before shooting low past Vyazovoi for his third point of the game. Radulov again assisted, and the one-time Ufa favorite finished the job with an empty-net goal to frustrate Salavat’s late surge.

That confirmed Lokomotiv’s third Gagarin Cup final appearance: after defeats in 2009 and 2024, will it be third time lucky for the Railwaymen in 2025?