Severstal back on top, Dynamo blanks Torpedo. December 1 round-up

The Western Conference has a new leader once again: Severstal moved ahead of Dinamo Minsk on a 3-2 win over Traktor. Dynamo Moscow closed on the top four with a 4-0 win over Torpedo. Salavat Yulaev secured a third straight win, edging CSKA in a shoot-out. Sibir spoiled Nikita Boyarkin’s return to action, beating Barys 4-1 in Novosibirsk.

Victory at last for Sibir

Sibir Novosibirsk 4 Barys Astana 1 (3-0, 0-1, 1-0)

As the 2025/2026 season moves into its fourth month, Sibir finally managed to win a home game in regulation. The long-awaited victory came at the expense of Barys in this clash between the Eastern Conference’s weakest performers this season.

Both teams welcomed back key players. Sibir captain Sergei Shirokov made a timely return from injury right after leading scorer Vladimir Tkachyov’s departure to Torpedo. Meanwhile, Barys goalie Nikita Boyarkin was fit to play his first game this season, having last featured back on Feb. 15. Since then, the Kazakh international has recovered from a knee operation.

Boyarkin made his first save on the first shift, denying Scott Wilson the opening goal. But he was beaten when Sibir got on the power play in the 15th minute after Ian McCoshen reacted angrily to Ilya Fedotov’s foul on Alikhan Asetov. Anton Kosolapov needed just 22 seconds to convert the power play and claim his second goal in as many games. And the breakthrough triggered a goal rush: Arkhip Nekolenko added a second and Mikhail Abramov’s first for his new club made it 3-0.

Despite allowing three goals in three minutes, Boyarkin remained in the game and came out for the second period. Asetov also returned, despite heading to the locker room immediately after his clash with Fedotov. The visitor proceeded to have the better of the second period, but could not beat Anton Krasotkin until 20 seconds before the intermission. Max Willman’s wrister finally unlocked the home goalie.

Down by two, Mikhail Kravets switched to playing with three lines in the third period, making do without Asetov’s trio. However, this did not bring any reward and Ivan Chekhovich found the empty net to seal a win that cuts the gap at the foot of the table to two points.

Chebykin’s double puts Severstal back on top

Severstal Cherepovets 3 Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 (0-0, 2-0, 1-2)

The Lynx returned to the Western Conference summit a day after Dinamo Minsk claimed top spot. Nikolai Chebykin’s double made the difference as Traktor failed to build on a pair of commanding home wins.

The home team recalled Kirill Pilipenko after concerns about his game readiness. Last season’s scoring leader was back on the roster for the first time since Nov. 20 and was looking for his first points since late October.

Severstal had slightly the better of the first period but could not find an opening goal. It took until the 27th minute to beat Savely Sherstnev in the Traktor net. Pilipenko was heavily involved, dribbling his way through the defense and firing in a shot that the goalie could only pad into the path of Timofei Davydov, who scored his first goal of the season.

Five minutes later, Chebykin doubled the lead when he battled to stuff home a feed to the slot. The teams got through almost two full periods without a penalty, but late in the middle frame Traktor got – and spurned – its first chance with an extra skater.

The third period began with Severstal adding a third goal: Davydov’s pass, Chebykin’s finish, 3-0. Belatedly, Traktor found its scoring touch. Vitaly Kravtsov extended his productive streak to five games with a ruthless finish past Alexander Samoilov. Now the visitor could see a way back, and made it a one-goal game in the closing moment. Kravtsov turned provider, moving to 11 (4+7) points in five games as Mikhail Grigorenko scored late on. But that was as close as Traktor could get: Severstal held on to return to the top of the standings. 

Salavat survives CSKA fightback

CSKA Moscow 2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 SO (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Despite blowing a 2-0 lead, Salavat Yulaev recovered to claim a third successive victory, this time in a shoot-out. Stuttering CSKA lost for the third time in four games, but the point from the tie in regulation at least returns Igor Nikitin’s men to eighth place, albeit tied on 32 points with SKA.

Nikitin was without leading scorer Daniel Sprong today, but Colby Williams returned to action on defense for the first time in almost a month. The home team faced further disruption early in the game when Grigory Panin’s crunching hit on Maxim Sorkin forced the home forward out of the game. The early stages continued in a physical vein and that hurt CSKA when Nikolai Kovalenko picked up a silly cross-checking penalty after attacking Alexander Khokhlachyov. Salavat immediately took advantage, with Jack Rodewald converting a great pass from Alexander Zharovsky to open the scoring.

That was the only goal of the first period, and chances were at a relative premium. The home team derived some encouragement when Ivan Drozdov tested Semyon Vyazovoi in the visitor’s net, and that inspired a stronger show in the second period. Ten minutes into the session, the shot count was 12-1 in CSKA’s favor, but Vyazovoi remained flawless. Relief came with a penalty on Drozdov in the 35th minute and another power play goal: Zharovsky the scorer, Rodewald with the assist this time.

CSKA launched its rescue bid early in the third. Denis Guryanov pulled a goal back in the 43rd minute. Then came a home power play, and Prokhor Poltapov produced a fantastic long-range effort to tie the game. Salavat Yulaev had a couple of power play chances that might have settled matters in regulation, but the home PK had learned from its earlier problems and saw the action to overtime.

Denis Zernov might have won it at the start of the extras but his solo rush was halted by Vyazovoi. Then the visiting goalie stopped all three of CSKA’s shoot-out attempts while Sheldon Rempal found the target at the other end to give Salavat Yulaev the verdict.

Motorygin blanks Torpedo on Tkachyov’s debut

Dynamo Moscow 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 0 (2-0, 2-0, 0-0)

It was an unhappy Torpedo debut for new signing Vladimir Tkachyov, who joined from Sibir last week. The 32-year-old was an important player in Traktor’s run to last year’s final, but his switch to Novosibirsk did not work out as hoped.

For today’s game at Dynamo, Tkachyov was named on the second line alongside Sergei Goncharuk, second in team scoring, and fellow new signing Shane Prince.

However, Tkachyov’s first notable contribution was not what Alexei Isakov was hoping for. He took the game’s first penalty in the 12th minute and was soon joined in the box by Yegor Vinogradov. The five-on-three power play brought two goals in 18 seconds as Dynamo seized control of the game. Nikita Gusev broke the deadlock, then young defenseman Magomed Sharakanov doubled the lead on 12:38.

Dynamo scored twice off eight shots in the first period and produced another quickfire pair early in the second. Yegor Rimashevsky made it 3-0, then Alexander Kisakov potted his first KHL goal on 26:18. Kisakov, 23, made his senior debut last season and was playing in his 10th game of the current campaign.

Shortly after that fourth goal, Denis Kostin made way for Ivan Kulbakov in the Torpedo net. The incoming goalie navigated the rest of the game without allowing any further damage but the game was already gone.

Torpedo began to enjoy more of the game and outshot the home team 12-5 in the third period. However, Maxim Motorygin was in fine form, finishing with 29 saves to seal a shut-out win. The result puts the fifth-placed Muscovites just one point behind tonight’s opposition.