Metallurg wins summit clash, Shirokov achieves landmark. January 6 round-up

The game of the day saw Eastern Conference leader Metallurg edge a 5-4 OT win over Western top dog Lokomotiv. Sergei Shirokov had the individual accolade of the day, becoming the seventh man to score 250 KHL goals as Sibir beat Admiral. Vadim Shipachyov moves to 999 career points with an assist, but his Dinamo Minsk lost 1-2 at CSKA. Torpedo snapped its skid with a 3-2 success at home to Barys, Traktor beat Avtomobilist 3-1 and there were 2-1 road wins for Spartak and Avangard.

Shirokov leads Sibir past Admiral

Sibir Novosibirsk 5 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (2-1, 2-0, 1-1)

Sergei Shirokov scored twice, cementing his place in the KHL Snipers’ Club as he became only the seventh player to score 250 goals in the league. He joins Sergei Mozyakin (419), Vadim Shipachyov (314), Nigel Dawes (293), Danis Zaripov (292), Alexander Radulov (288) and Nikita Gusev (266) on the hot list.

Shirokov’s contribution gave Sibir a victory that moves it to within a point of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. Admiral remains stuck to the foot of the standings.

Recently-appointed Sailors head coach Oleg Bratash saw his team take the lead midway through the first period thanks to Nikita Tertyshny, but little went his way after that.

Shirokov’s first of the game put the home team level , then just before the intermission Valentin Pyanov sent Sibir to the break with a 2-1 advantage. That was the first goal of the season for the veteran forward, in his 24th game.

In the second period the home team extending its lead with two goals in the 34th minute. Arkhip Nekolenko and Fyodor Gordeyev pushed the score to 4-1 and chased Artyom Tsyba from his net. Dmitry Shugayev took over, but fell victim to Shirokov’s second of the game early in the third period as the home team padded its lead.

There was time for Kyle Olson to get a consolation goal for Admiral, but the game ended with the Sailors defeated for the fifth time in six games.

Leivo double downs Avto

Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0)

Avtomobilist’s New Year hangover continues. After ending 2025 on a winning streak, the Motormen have lost both games in 2026.

The visitor started strongly in Chelyabinsk, repeatedly testing Sergei Mylnikov but getting no reward. Then the teams exchanged unsuccessful power plays before Traktor broke the deadlock close to the intermission. Maxim Dzhioshvili redirected a Jordan Gross shot past Evgeny Alikin, claiming his first goal since his arrival from Dynamo Moscow last month. It was also his first marker since Oct. 10.

Avto’s problems increased in the middle frame: Nikita Tryamkin was tossed from the game for a foul on Yegor Korshkov and Josh Leivo doubled the home lead on that power play. But at even strength the visitor remained competitive and reduced the deficit when Stephane da Costa sent Alexander Sharov clear on Mylnikov’s net to make it 1-2.

Both teams played a full part in a lively final stanza, with the visitor looking capable of tying the scores while Traktor continued to produce offensive menace of its own. But Leivo’s empty net goal completed the home win and ended a run of three losses in this Ural derby.

Summit battle goes to Metallurg

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 OT (0-2, 1-0, 3-2, 1-0)

Tuesday’s top action pitted the conference leaders against each other. And the game did not disappoint, with the teams tying 4-4 in regulation before Valery Orekhov won it for Magnitka deep into overtime.

The defending champion was quick to get ahead against the current league leader. In the fourth minute a rare goal from defenseman Nikita Cherepanov put Lokomotiv up 1-0. Metallurg responded well, enjoying plenty of possession and creating a good chance that Vladimir Tkachyov could not convert. But late in the frame Orekhov failed to clear his lines and Artur Kayumov set up Maxim Shalunov to double the lead.

The second period brought frequent scuffles and penalties. It also brought a power play goal for Metallurg, with Luke Johnson stuffing home from close range.

And there was more to come in the third period as the lead changed hands. Andrei Kozlov put the home team level in the 46th minute but Kayumov quickly restored Loko’s advantage 70 seconds later.

By now, though, Metallurg was gaining momentum. Another power play saw Dmitry Silantyev tie it up at 3-3, then Makar Khabarov put the home team in front for the first time with four minutes to play. That was time enough for Lokomotiv to force the extras: Daniil Isayev went to the bench and the six visiting skaters did enough for Martin Gernat to tie the scores 48 seconds before the hooter.

Overtime also went deep, but just when a shoot-out seemed certain, Orekhov snatched the home win with just nine seconds left on the clock.

Omsk advances in Eastern Conference race

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

The latest twist in the battle for second place in the East between these two teams saw Avangard inch ahead thanks to a narrow verdict in Kazan. Damir Sharipzyanov and Mike McLeod had two-point games to see the Hawks over the line.

For a long time, this was a goaltending duel. Nikita Serebryakov and Timur Bilyalov had plenty of work to do in a lively first period, stopping 24 shots between them as the action remained goalless through 20 minutes.

In the second, Avangard built a noticeable in-game advantage, outshooting Ak Bars 14-7 and spending more than six minutes on the attack but again failing to score.

The wait was over at the start of the third period. Joseph Ceccone got the puck to the slot, where McLeod battled for possession before beating Bilyalov 43 seconds into the session. Ak Bars quickly responded when a neat three-way passing move brought a tying goal from Vladimir Alistrov. But Avangard responded fast: Sharipzyanov got on the end of McLeod’s solo rush and drop pass to restore the visitor’s lead in the 46th minute.

There was still time for Kazan to reply and the home team piled the pressure on Serebryakov’s net. But the visiting defense held firm and secured a 2-1 win.

Zhamnov victorious in 200th game

Severstal Cherepovets 1 Spartak Moscow 2 (0-0, 0-1, 1-1)

Alexei Zhamnov’s 200th game in charge of Spartak brought a 2-1 win at Severstal. Two goals from Nathan Todd proved sufficient for the Muscovites as the home team missed the chance to return to the top of the Western Conference.

While Todd’s goals grabbed the attention, goalie Artyom Zagidulin made his first appearance in almost a month for the visitor and backstopped his team to a win.

He had to be alert in the first period, when Severstal enjoyed six minutes on the power play. But the first major incident for either netminder came at the other end when Alexander Samoilov limped out of the game in the 23rd minute, injured while making a save. Vsevolod Skotnikov took his place but he proved no easier to beat than his colleague until late in the frame.

However, he was undone on the only power play of the middle frame: amid a scramble around the home net, the puck fell kindly for Todd to bang it home. The Canadian added to his four-point game in a 7-6 win at Torpedo; assistant Mikhail Maltsev’s assist stretched his productive streak to four games.

Todd doubled the lead in the 48th minute, firing home a Kristian Jaros feed to give Spartak some breathing space. Severstal struggled to find a way back and could not beat Zagidulin until the last minute when Adam Liska pulled one back. That extended his hot streak to six games, but came too late to deny Spartak anything more than a shut-out.

Garayev goal gives Torpedo the edge

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Barys Astana 2 (1-1, 2-1, 0-0)

After defeat in a high-scoring game at home to Spartak, Torpedo recovered to get the better of Barys. Tuesday’s action brought just five goals, compared with 13 last time out, but crucially it secured a win.

The visitor, which halted its own four-game skid on Dec. 30, twice led in this game. However, Torpedo kept fighting back and secured the verdict in Barys’s first appearance of 2026.

The first period saw the teams trade quick goals. Kirill Savitsky put Barys up in the 13th minute, but within a minute Dmitry Shevchenko tied it up.

In the middle session, Barys got up once again, this time thanks to Ansar Shaikhmeddinov. But again the lead was shortlived. Vladimir Tkachyov tied it up on 33:40. This time, Torpedo was able to consolidate its position and went ahead seconds before the intermission thanks to Amir Garayev.

The home team never really looked comfortable, even when in front. Torpedo scored twice off just six shots in the second period, and managed even less offense in the third. Barys asked rather more questions of Denis Kostin but could not tie the game. The final shot count was 33-19 for the visitor, but the key stat read 3-2 to the host.

Muscovites prove too strong for Dinamo

CSKA Moscow 4 Dinamo Minsk 2 (1-0, 2-2, 1-0)

Vadim Shipachyov is just one point away from his 1,000th in the KHL – but his assist was not enough to see him celebrate victory in his 1,100th game in the league. Instead CSKA took a 4-2 verdict, collecting a fourth win in five games.

The Muscovites made the better start to the game, helped by early indiscipline from the visitor. CSKA had a power play in the first minute and another in the seventh. Neither of those chances brought a goal, but at equal strength Takhir Mingachyov opened the scoring on 8:45. Soon after that, Dinamo had to kill another penalty and by the end of the opening frame the visitor was relived to be just one goal behind.

But where penalty trouble hurt Minsk in the opening frame, it undermined CSKA in the second. A too many men call was followed by a tripping shout against Jeremy Roy and the power play led to two goals. Shipachyov set up Sergei Kuznetsov to score during the five-on-three. Then play continued at five-on-four and Alex Limoges put the visitor in front.

However, that was a bump in CSKA’s road rather than a major roadblock. Pavel Karnaukhov was credited with a power play goal when defenseman Rob Hamilton inadvertently handled the puck into his own net. Karnaukhov then assisted as Alexei Churkin restored the home lead in the 36th minute. Shortly after that, we saw a fight when Josh Brook stepped up to defend a team-mate following a big hit from Kirill Dolzhenkov.

At the start of the final frame, Dinamo was twice denied a goal. First, Yegor Borikov saw his goal whistled back for kicking, a ruling that also delayed Shipachyov’s 1,000th point. Moments later the puck was in the net again, but the play was immediately called back for a Minsk foul.

Instead of parity, Dinamo found itself down 4-2 when a two-on-one rush ended with Sergei Kalinin potting his first goal for CSKA this season.

Belarusian hopes of saving the game faded amid penalties: instead of pushing for a tying goal, the visitor had to kill a three-in-five situation. CSKA closed out the win; Dinamo fell to a second successive loss.