Review of the season. Spartak: Zhamnov’s record, Ruzicka’s inconsistency, and Lukyantsev’s 100-game feat

KHL.ru keeps on reviewing the 2024-2025 season for each team. Spartak made it to the second round of the playoffs for the second year in a row — something they hadn’t achieved since 2010.

The Red-and-Whites started the season with a bang, winning seven of their nine games in September and losing in regulation only once. They even briefly topped the overall standings. October was average, November strong again, and results dipped somewhat in the winter — but overall, the team showed decent consistency (as much as can be expected across 68 games), without major slumps but also without any particularly impressive winning streaks.

Compared to the previous season, scoring dipped slightly, but with 221 goals, Spartak still ranked among the league’s top three offensive teams. More importantly, their mental resilience and fighting spirit improved significantly. Spartak led the entire league in both the number (nine) and percentage (26.5%) of games won after trailing by two goals. They even managed to come back once from a three-goal deficit, and another time — which we’ll return to later — from being down by four.

Two more comeback wins (after trailing by two) came in the first-round series against Severstal. But in the second round, the momentum reversed on Spartak. After losing the first game to Salavat Yulaev, the Moscow side pulled off a miraculous comeback in game two — thanks to Adam Ruzicka, who tied the game twice (the second time literally in the final second of regulation) and then scored the OT winner.

Spartak followed that up with two more wins and were, by all accounts, not just one step from the semifinals but practically already there — especially considering that Salavat Yulaev had been severely weakened by injuries to key players who were responsible for 70% (or more) of the team’s output. Yet, the Ufa side mounted a heroic comeback in the series and left Spartak out in the cold.

Best players

Nikolai Goldobin
24 goals and 43 assists in 74 games

Goldobin didn’t come close to his personal bests from last year (37 goals and 78 points in the regular season, 40 goals and 87 points including the playoffs), but he still finished as Spartak’s top scorer and posted the second-best numbers of his career.

Ivan Morozov and Pavel Poryadin
24+38 in 76 games and 25+28 in 71 games

Goldobin, Morozov, and Poryadin are all strong individually, but when together, their chemistry amplifies both their flair and effectiveness. This line has only existed for two seasons, yet it feels like they’ve been playing together forever. Last year, all three were held back by injuries at different points, and this season head coach Alexei Zhamnov occasionally broke up the trio or even benched them. Nevertheless, they combined for 38 goals as a line, tying for third place in the unofficial ranking of the league’s most prolific lines, just four goals behind the leaders.

Adam Ruzicka
33 goals and 24 assists in 77 games

KHL newcomer Adam Ruzicka immediately became the top goal scorer for one of the league’s most dynamic offensive teams — a feat that makes his achievement even more notable. On the downside, Adam’s play was highly inconsistent; at times he disappeared for five or six games in a row — including the last three matches against Salavat Yulaev. One wonders how many more goals he could’ve scored with greater consistency. 

Coaching

The success of Morozov’s line — and indeed the current version of Spartak with its somewhat reckless but exciting style — is largely thanks to Alexei Zhamnov. Under his leadership, the team underwent an immediate transformation in both style and results, looking nothing like the Spartak of previous years. Zhamnov has now guided the Red-and-Whites to the second round of the playoffs two years in a row — a feat they hadn’t managed since 2010 under the late Milos Riha. In fact, Zhamnov has now overtaken Riha to become Spartak’s all-time winningest head coach in the KHL. For the second consecutive year, he also coached the Bobrov Division team at the KHL All-Star Game. In the league’s Coach of the Year voting, he placed seventh.

Best Game

Zhamnov surpassed Riha on Feb 4 (by defeating the eventual champions, no less), and a week and a half later, Spartak hosted Torpedo at home. Artyom Zagidulin conceded the first goal in the opening minute, and by the middle of the game, the home team was trailing by four. But the Red-and-Whites launched a furious comeback, finishing with a stunning 7:4 win. This marked only the 15th time in KHL history (with around 14,000 games played) that a team came back from a four-goal deficit — and the first in over three years.

Youngsters

It was already well known that Alexander Pashin was a promising forward back when he was still part of Salavat Yulaev’s system. His move overseas seemed to stall his development, and when he initially returned on loan, he didn’t particularly stand out. But after signing a full contract following the loan spell, he had a true breakout season and fit perfectly into Zhamnov’s system.

Sergei Lukyantsev, on the other hand, was relatively unknown outside of Spartak’s development pipeline. After Matvei Korotkov — named one of the top four players in the MHL Challenge Cup — was injured, Lukyantsev got the call to the KHL All-Star Game. Shortly after, he was promoted to Spartak’s main squad, where he proved to be a great fit as well. In addition to playing in the MHL (where he won the Kharlamov Cup) and the KHL, he also suited up in the VHL — ending the season with a rare feat: 103 games played across all three leagues!

Zhamnov also had to lean more on young defensemen due to injuries. Daniil Orlov’s ice time more than doubled compared to last season — though judging by how he handled it, he probably deserved those minutes regardless of others being sidelined. Veniamin Korolyov had a very confident debut and was consistently logging around 20 minutes per game by the playoffs.

Summer work

So far, the focus has been on extending player contracts. However, this has not yet applied to Zhamnov himself, whose deal has expired. As of mid-June, there is still no clarity regarding the coaching staff. Spartak has also not offered new contracts to Ansel Galimov, Andrei Loktionov, and Andrei Chibisov.

In terms of acquisitions: from Avangard, Spartak acquired Nikita Kholodilin and the rights on three young players in exchange for Vasily Ponomaryov’s rights and Alexei Yegorov. From Sochi, they brought in Yevgeny Volokhin. And that’s all for now.