Torpedo goes top, Dragons defeat the champion

Friday’s action saw Torpedo reel off a third successive victory. A 4-2 win over Lada puts Alexei Isakov’s team top of the KHL standings. Shanghai Dragons are just one point behind after a landmark victory over defending champion Lokomotiv Yaroslavl underlined the new-look Chinese franchise’s determination to compete with the best this season. CSKA, which won its first two games, suffered defeat at Sochi. Earlier in the day, Sibir ended a 107-minute for its first goal of the season and beat Admiral in a shoot-out, and Avtomobilist eased to a 4-1 verdict over Salavat Yulaev.

Yakovlev ends Sibir’s goal drought

Sibir Novosibirsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 1 SO (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

While Sibir enjoyed a four-day rest between game one and game two, its opponent visited Shanghai Dragons and battled with CSKA. Leonids Tambijevs’ team picked up two points from those games and arrived in Novosibirsk with a changed line-up. Alexande Shepelev replaced Mario Grman, Dmitry Deryabin played on defense in place of Vladislav Leontyev and up front Ostap Safin made his debut for the club, taking over from Yegor Petukhov. Sibir was forced to replace injured Andrei Churkin and head coach Vadim Yepanchintsev shuffled three of his four lines.

The opening minutes highlighted the importance of game fitness. Sibir, well rested, handed the initiative to the Sailors. However, Admiral was unable to do much with that advantage and it wasn’t long before the first scoring chance came at Adam Huska’s end. A new-look line of Kara, Nekolenko and Lyuzenkov tested the visiting goaltender, but could not breakthrough. At the other end, Ivan Muranov went close in a one-on-one break. Anton Krasotkin snuffed out that chance and later denied Pavel Shen on the power play, while Huska had just five saves to make in the opening frame.

After the break, things got better for the home team, at least up to a point. Sibir enjoyed more possession and territory, but struggled to create clear chances. Admiral was pushed into playing on the back foot, but managed to find an opportunity and get in front in the 34th minute. A swift counterattack ended with a fine shot from Shen lazering under the crossbar.

Coming into the game, Sibir was the only team yet to score in the KHL this season. The wait finally came to an end after 106 minutes of game time. Alexei Yakovlev ended the drought, picking up on the impressive pre-season form of his line with Sergei Shirokov and Ivan Klimovich. Despite an evident lack of offensive power, Admiral still created genuine chances to finish the game in regulation: Semyon Koshelev left Krasotkin on the ice but Dmitry Zavgorodny could not find the open net. In the end, it went to a shoot-out in which Sibir’s summer signings Nikita Soshnikov and Vladimir Tkachyov had the final words.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 (0-2, 0-1, 1-1)

The first home game of the season in Ufa ended in disappointment as Avtomobilist concluded its first road trip of the campaign with a comfortable victory. The highlight for Salavat Yulaev came before the action started, as the team celebrated its bronze medal from last season.

Since then, much has changed. A capacity crowd had to get used to a team bereft of several of its star players. With today’s opponent expected to be among the front-runners in the Eastern Conference, it felt like a tough test was in store, and that’s how it turned out.

From the first minute, the Motormen were on top. Semyon Kizimov fired a speculative shot from the corner of the zone and caught Semyon Vyazovoi napping in the home net. After that, Ufa had a fair amount of possession but was always vulnerable to counters. One of those brought a second goal from Brooks Macek’s backhand shot.

In the second period, the visitor’s superior skills continued to give Ufa problems. Stephane da Costa added to Salavat Yulaev’s woes with a third goal, chasing Vyazovoi from his net with a shot from mid-range. That brought Alexander Samonov into the game and he was fortunate not to allow fourth goal right away when Maxim Tarasov dinged the far post on yet another counterattack.

In a bid to salvage something, the Salavast coaching staff went all-in for the third period. The first power play chance saw Samonov back on the bench in favor of a sixth skater. Stepan Khripunov had already emerged from the penalty box before the extra man paid off: Denis Yan finally gave the home fans something to cheer with a six-on-five goal in the 45th minute.

But those cheers soon faded as Reid Boucher showed off his finishing skills to claim his second goal in as many games. That made the final score 4-1 and sealed an assured victory for Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team.

Khomchenko hurts former club

HC Sochi 2 CSKA Moscow 0 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0)

CSKA’s winning start to the season came to an abrupt halt at Sochi, where the host took the verdict in its home opener.

Goalie Pavel Khomchenko made 28 saves to deny his former club, and goals from Daniil Seroukh and Will Bitten secured a second successive victory for the Leopards.

Things might have been different if an unlikely own goal had counted in the first period. Khomchenko headed to the bench on the delayed penalty just as Artur Tyanulin sent a back pass towards his net. The puck crossed the line, and the officials reviewed the incident for some time before ruling that the goal should not stand: Daniel Sprong’s efforts to pressure Tyanulin went beyond what is acceptable on a delayed penalty and Sochi was reprieved.

The opening goal had to wait until the end of the second period before Seroukh finally solved Spencer Martin. CSKA’s new goalie had gone more than 100 minutes without allowing a goal, but had no answer after the Sochi forward danced around Nikita Nesterov and launched a shot to the far corner of the net.
In the third period, CSKA was hampered by a couple of penalties early on. And the Muscovites struggled to provide a serious test for Khomchenko at any stage, despite enjoying a decent amount of attacking play. In the end, Bitten’s empty-netter secured the win for the Leopards. After three games, last season’s struggler looks rather more competitive in 2025/2026.

Gallant on top in clash of the Canadians

Shanghai Dragons 4 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (0-1, 1-0, 3-0)

Gerard Gallant took on Bob Hartley in a battle of two Canadian head coaches – and the KHL newcomer defeated the 2021 Gagarin Cup winner to make it five points from three games.

The defending champion got off to a strong start, despite Maxim Shalunov’s early tripping minor. The visiting PK did its job and soon the offense got to work. The opening goal came in the seventh minute when Alexander Polunin skated around the net before squeezing home a shot from a tight angle.
However, the Dragons had a chance to hit back immediately when penalties on Alexander Radulov and Alexei Bereglazov reduced Lokomotiv to three skaters. Gage Quinney went close on the power play and Nikita Popugayev drew a strong glove save from Daniil Isayev as the home team sought a tying goal.

Lokomotiv began the second period on the power play and it seemed that Hartley had urged his troops to produce more in front of Patrik Rybar’s net. The middle frame saw the visitor dominate the game, outshoot Shanghai 18-6 ... and allow the only goal of the session. It went to Ryan Spooner on a counter attack at the midway point and sent the teams into the final third locked at 1-1.

And that third period saw the home team display some clinical finishing to get the job done. Held to just eight shots, the Dragons scored three goals. Riley Sutter got the early breakthrough, collecting a pass from Spencer Foo and moving down the right-hand channel before beating Isayev to his short side. Hartley challenged the play, citing offside, but the 25-year-old Canadian forward would not be denied his first KHL goal.

Although the visitor needed to get back into the game, Lokomotiv found it hard to generate chances. The best came midway through the session when Polunin found a way down the wing and got the puck to the slot, but defenseman Mark Ulyev isn’t really the man to finish off a chance and Rybar denied him a first ever goal for Lokomotiv.

In the closing stages, Shanghai made the game safe. Max Ellis continued his bright start to the season by scoring for the third game in a row, then Doyle Somerby completed the win with an empty-netter. It added up to a rare win for the Dragons over Lokomotiv, and an even rarer position ahead of the Railwaymen in the tournament standings.

Goncharuk sets Torpedo on the way to the summit

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 Lada Togliatti 3 (1-1, 1-1, 2-1)

The first of six games between these teams in 2025/2026 ended in a Torpedo victory that puts Alexei Isakov’s team top of the fledgling KHL standings.

Both teams were unbeaten coming into this game, with Torpedo enjoying home wins over Salavat Yulaev (4-3) and SKA (3-2 OT), while Lada won 4-3 at home to Avtomobilist. That suggested a close game was in prospect, and that’s how it played out.

In the first period, Lada got early lead through Dmitry Kugryshev. However, Torpedo responded when Mikhail Abramov converted the first power play of the game midway through the session.

The second period followed a similar pattern: William Dufour’s first KHL goal restored the Lada lead in the 32nd minute, but another power play tally, this time from Sergei Goncharuk, had the teams tied at the second intermission.

And Goncharuk was on target again at the start of the third to put Torpedo up for the first time in the game. The 26-year-old forward is enjoying a good start to the season and moves to 5 (2+3) points from his first three appearances.

In the 57th minute, Yegor Sokolov made the game safe when he scored Torpedo’s fourth goal. Despite a last-minute consolation goal from Riley Savchuk, the host secured its third victory of the season, something no other team has achieved so far.