Loko closes on Gagarin Cup triumph

Lokomotiv’s fine form on the road in this year’s playoffs continues – and a 3-1 win in Chelyabinsk puts the Railwaymen one game away from lifting the Gagarin Cup.

Traktor foiled at home again

Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 (0-1, 0-0, 1-2)

(Lokomotiv leads the series 3-1)

In the 2025 KHL playoffs, there’s something of a theme emerging. For the third round in a row, Lokomotiv dropped the first game then rebounded with three wins on the spin. Today’s triumph – a 3-1 success at Traktor – has Igor Nikitin’s team one step away from lifting the Gagarin Cup for the first time. If the Railwaymen get it done, and they can do it on home ice on Wednesday, it would be their first time as KHL champion, and their first Russian championship since 2003.

Traktor, seeking its first ever national title, welcomed Charles Robinson and Andrei Svetlakov back for game four. As a result, Benoit Groulx slightly tweaked his line-up, putting Robinson on the third line. Lokomotiv brought Alexander Polunin back in place of Daniil Tesanov. As usual, Zach Fucale and Daniil Isayev were the starting goalies.

Down in the series, Traktor was expected to try to force the pace from the start. However, the first real chance went to Lokomotiv. On a single shift, both Alexei Bereglazov and Pavel Kraskovsky went close. However, the defenseman missed the target and Fucale stopped the forward’s attempt.

At the other end, Vladimir Tkachyov was the most consistent threat. He constantly generated opportunities for his team in the first period, while Alexander Kadeikin’s line also produced a dangerous shift when all three forwards got to the slot, only to be denied by the visiting defense.

The opening goal went to Lokomotiv. Artur Kayumov won possession in his own zone and his feed released Maxim Shalunov. His odd-man rush was finished by Maxim Beryozkin, who potted his third goal in four games in this year’s final. Shortly after, Richard Panik was close to doubling the lead but saw his shot hit the post.

At the start of the second period, Lokomotiv set up its favorite tactic: imposing big shift after big shift on a tiring opponent. That set up a dangerous attack with four viable scoring chances on a single shift. Byron Froese had the most realistic of them, but Fucale kept him out. Yet overall it was hard to see who had the advantage by the end of the period. There were few chances, but late in the frame Traktor began to keep Lokomotiv pinned down in front of Isayev, albeit without generating much genuine excitement even as Groulx shuffled his pack in search of more threatening offense.

Traktor began the final frame on the power play. The home team moved the puck around Loko’s zone nicely and Maxim Shabanov had some good looks, but Isayev came up with the answers. Penalty killed, Lokomotiv began to attack. At first Nikita Kiryanov just failed to elevate his shot over Fucale’s pad, but soon after Ilya Nikolayev’s shot slammed into the goalie’s helmet and dropped over the line to make it 2-0.

That 48th-minute goal was timely for the Railwaymen, and it stunned the home team. With a little over six minutes to play, the home coaching staff called Fucale to the bench and risked everything on a long spell of empty net play. The gamble paid off – at least at first. Tkachyov reduced the deficit when the puck bounced around the slot and found the net via his skate. Then Froese picked up a major penalty at the death, but it did not help Traktor. Shorthanded, Lokomotiv wrapped it up with an empty-netter – Denis Alexeyev applied the coup-de-grace.