Former goalie haunts Hawks, Dragons lose shoot-out

Avangard’s first game of the season saw it lose out to Mikhail Berdin, the goalie it traded to Ak Bars in the summer. Berdin backstopped a 2-1 victory for the visitor. Shanghai Dragons had another exciting game but fell to Admiral in a shoot-out after a 3-3 tie. Igor Geraskin was the key player in that one with a goal and the decisive penalty shot. Igor Larionov’s return to Torpedo was also lively. His SKA team forced overtime but eventually fell to a three-point game for Yegor Vinogradov. Lada won its season opener against Avtomobilist, and Salavat Yulaev got its first victory of the campaign with an OT verdict at Metallurg.

Berdin gets win at former club

Avangard Omsk 1 Ak Bars Kazan 2 (0-1, 0-1, 1-0)

The first game of the season for Avangard brought an immediate reunion with former goalie Mikhail Berdin. He left Omsk for Kazan in the summer and made his competitive debut for Ak Bars in the familiar surroundings of the G-Drive Arena. He wasn’t the only debutant; Vladimir Alistrov, currently on a try-out after leaving SKA, also got the nod as the visitor looked to bounce back from an opening loss to Metallurg.

The Hawks went with a line-up familiar from pre-season, although Giovanni Fiore replaced Denis Pochivalov and Slava Voynov was deployed as a seventh D-man.

The home side might have made a great start, but failed to capitalize on an early power play after Dmitrij Jaskin’s infringement. Another great chance came with the teams at equal strength before Ak Bars delivered a sucker punch on the next attack. Grigory Denisenko, whose on-off transfer saga was only resolved last week, got on the end of a great feed from Brandon Biro to open his account with a one-timer. After that, the visitor had the momentum and Nikita Serebryakov was the busier goalie.

The second period began in similar fashion to the first: Avangard on the power play, Ak Bars’ PK doing its job. Back at equal strength, the play remained in front of Berdin’s net for a time but Ak Bars was always eager to find ways out. It wasn’t long before that led to a second goal when Mitch Miller’s point shot found the net as Alexander Barabanov threw up a great screen in front of Serebryakov.

By now, Avangard was looking anxious. The teamwork was not clicking and Ak Bars was able to protect its lead in some comfort or even increase the advantage. By the end of the middle frame, the Hawks stepped up their game but found the visitor’s defense in resolute mood.

During the second intermission, Guy Boucher got his team fired up and the final stanza began with a storm in front of Berdin’s net. Ak Bars continued to play smart D and even got on the power play without adding to its lead. Back at equal strength, Konstatin Okulov prized the puck off the back board and sent it to Nikolai Prokhorkin for a goal that reawakened the contest with 11 minutes to play. But that was as close as it got for Avangard, whose forward Nail Yakupov provided one last test for Berdin before the hooter.

Chmelevski fires Ufa to victory

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 OT (1-1, 1-0, 0-1, 0-1)

After an OT win over Ak Bars in the opener, Metallurg fell to an OT loss against Salavat Yulaev in game two. The home team gave Derek Barach a debut in place of Sergei Tolchinsky, and veteran defenseman Yegor Yakovlev returned to action, taking over from Valery Orekhov. Alexander Smolin got the start in goal.

Salavat Yulaev, beaten at Torpedo in the season opener, also tweaked its line-up with Artyom Nabiyev and Pyotr Khokhryakov making their first appearances this term.

Early in the game, Magnitka fluffed a line change and Salavat Yulaev punished that too many men minor. It was an odd goal, coming after a freakish bounce caused Smolin to lose sight of the puck and enable Denis Yan to score. Later, Yan gave Metallurg its first power play. The extra man did not lead to a tying goal, but back at equal strength Robin Press set up Daniil Vovchenko to make it 1-1 at the intermission.

For much of the second period, chances were at a premium. Both power plays had opportunities, but neither could really test the opposing goalie. It wasn’t until the closing stages that Nikita Mikhailis changed the script: it took a deflection, but his power play goal beat Alexander Samonov to give the home team a lead ahead of the third.

The final frame saw more good penalty killing at both ends before Yan got his second of the game when he found the near corner. That was enough for overtime – twice in a row for Metallurg. Dmitry Silantyev might have won it for the home team, but Samonov made the save. At the other end, Alexander Chmelevski found an impressive shot to the top corner to give Ufa its first win of the season. 

Macek double not enough for Avto

Lada Togliatti 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (1-2, 1-0, 2-1)

After a summer shake-up that brought a new team and a new conference for Lada, the first game of 2025/2026 ended in victory over Avtomobilist. The extent of the summer changes was apparent from the line-up, with 14 new faces in the home roster. They included Alexander Khokhlachyov, Canadian forward Josh Lawrence and 26-year-old KHL debutant Danila Dyadenkin.

Avtomobilist was less active on the transfer market, but set up the team in some unfamiliar partnerships at the start of the game. However, it wasn’t long before things reverted to a more usual look.

Nikolai Zavarukhin promised a change of style this season and the visitor began the game playing short shifts in a bid to assert a fast tempo. That was undermined by an early penalty that handed Lada the initiative and by the midway stage the shot count was 9-0 in the host’s favor. Dominance brought the opening goal when Dmitry Kugryshev’s point shot caught the defense out of position and Andrei Chivilyov took advantage.

Despite Zavarukhin’s promised innovations, Avto’s response was straight out of last season’s playbook as it tied the game on its first shot of the evening. Defenseman Yaroslav Busygin went deep into Lada territory to set up Brooks Macek in his favored sniping spot. Before the intermission, the pair traded roles when the forward dished off a pass to the blue line for Busygin to unleash a rocket of a shot to make it 2-1.

The game got bogged down for much of the second period, with few scoring chances. Avto’s power play gave new signing Reid Boucher a chance to shine, but Alexander Trushkov and his defense did its job well to snuff out the danger. In the end, it was Lada that tied the game when Kugryshev found an open corner of the Avtomobilist net.

That encouraged Lada to make a lively start to the third period. Evgeny Alikin got behind the first shot but an unkind bounce prevented his defense for getting the puck clear. Artyom Zemchyonok returned it from the blue and Dyadenkin – who spent two years awaiting a chance at Avtomobilist – elegantly redirected the shot into the net. The forward also played a part in the fourth goal, harrying Alexander Sharov into losing possession before Vladislav Syomin scored his first since January.

Up by two, Lada eased off and sought to close out the game. That almost cost the home team, with Macek getting his second of the night to give his team hope of salvaging something. However, Macek himself undermined the final surge, taking a major penalty in the last minute to ease the pressure on Trushkov’s net.

Vinogradov steps up to lift Torpedo to win

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 SKA St. Petersburg 2 OT (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-0)

Igor Larionov had an early return to Nizhny Novgorod as head coach of SKA – and twice saw his team come from behind before falling in overtime.

The Professor’s replacement at Torpedo, Alexei Isakov, recorded a victory over Salavat Yulaev in his first KHL engagement. Today he was close to besting his immediate predecessor in regulation thanks to an unplanned partnership. Ultimately, a three-point game from Yegor Vinogradov brought an OT win.

Torpedo’s most effective line was never intended to play together. However, after Maxim Letunov was name alongside Yegor Sokolov and Vladislav Firstov on the second line, he did not make it onto the ice in the game. Instead, Vinogradov was promoted from the fourth line and the new combo produced all three Torpedo goals.

Sokolov potted the opener in the seventh minute, finishing off a fine play involving both his line-mates.

That was one of just three shots at Artemy Pleshkov in the SKA net during the first period. But the visitor’s dominance brought little more than flared tempers, with summer addition Joseph Blandisi earning himself a needless game penalty for abusing the officials after a too many men call late in the session.

There were more penalties to come before the hooter and the upshot was a SKA power play at the start of the second. That didn’t produce a goal, but Nikolai Goldobin managed to tie the game soon after the teams returned to equal strength. That’s two goals in two games since his move from Spartak.

Mikhail Vorobyov came close to putting the visitor in front in the 27th minute, only to be denied by the post. Then came a second Torpedo goal with that hastily-assembled line clicking again for Firstov to score midway through the session.

At the start of the third, Sokolov had a great chance extend the lead as Torpedo flexed its power play. However, after a fantastic set-up from Bobby Nardella, the forward failed to find the open net and SKA remained in touching distance. Then Nardella went to the box and SKA’s power play set up in the home zone before Sergei Plotnikov tied the game at two.

In the last minute, Vinogradov was close to winning it for Torpedo but Pleshkov made a vital save to force the extras. And, in the last minute of overtime, Vinogradov was on the spot to grab the game-winner moments after Sokolov dinged the piping. 

Dragons’ fire doused by Admiral

Shanghai Dragons 3 Admiral Vladivostok 4 SO (0-2, 1-0, 2-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Game two of the season turned out tougher for Shanghai. Admiral sailed into town and made off with the shoot-out verdict against the reinvented Chinese franchise.

The visitor led three times in the game but could not finish the job in regulation. It also had the better of overtime, but needed a successful effort from Igor Geraskin in the shoot-out to subdue a stubborn Shanghai at last.

Libor Sulak, the Sailors’ captain, was the key figure in the first period. The Czech defenseman opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Admiral continued to press, but when Sulak picked up a hooking penalty in the last minute of the session, it looked like a way back for the Dragons.

Instead, though, Admiral grabbed a shorthanded goal. Geraskin, new at the club this summer, raced away on the counter attack. It seemed that Joey Duscak had stopped that rush, but Geraskin wouldn’t give up on the chance and forced a turnover before beating Patrik Rybar to double the lead just before the break.

Down by two, Shanghai began its fightback in the second period. The stats alone tell a big part of the story: Admiral outshot its host 22-5 in the opening frame, but the next stanza saw the home team take that indicator 13-12. Along the way, Nick Merkley pulled a goal back while the teams played four-on-four. Then, in the 47th minute, Max Ellis tied it up at 2-2 with a power play tally.

The early evidence from Gerard Gallant’s team points to plenty of entertainment this season. After sharing 11 goals with SKA on Saturday, this game produced late drama. Daniil Gutik restored Admiral’s lead midway through the third period, but just as it seemed the points were sailing back to the Pacific, Ryan Spooner fired Duscak’s one-time pass into the net to take the action into overtime. That’s Spooner’s first goal for his new club following a summer switch from Avangard.

Admiral might have won it in overtime. A too many men penalty gave the Sailors a power play, but Shanghai did enough to stay alive. A big save from Rybar robbed Pavel Koledov of a winning goal and the action went to that shoot-out