Millennium man! 1,000 points for Shipachyov. January 12 round-up

Vadim Shipachyov became the first man to reach 1,000 points in KHL play – and he picked his moment to perfection. The veteran forward bagged an assist in the last minute of Dinamo Minsk’s game at home to Admiral to give the Belarusians a 2-1 victory in a game where they trailed for more than 30 minutes. Monday’s other action saw Daniel Sprong make his debut for Avtomobilist in an overtime win against Barys, SKA win a shoot-out at Lada and Torpedo rallied from 1-3 to beat Dynamo Moscow.

Sprong enjoys debut win

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 Barys Astana 1 OT (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Daniel Sprong made a winning debut for Avtomobilist following his arrival from CSKA. After six weeks out of action with the Muscovites, the Dutchman was straight into the fray at his new club. He played on a line with center Alexander Sharov and Brooks Macek, while Curtis Valk was absent from today’s line-up.

In recent games, Avto has started slowly and that pattern repeated here. Evgeny Alikin was called into early action. Overall, though, neither team could generate much momentum in a goalless first period and there were just 10 shots on goal in total.

The action remained sluggish at the start of the second period. Barys pressed well and had more possession but failed to generate meaningful chances; Avto stuttered until Sprong got a chance to shoot from the slot, forcing Nikita Boyarkin into his biggest save of the game so far.

After that, the home team took the initiative and opened the scoring after 30 minutes. Reid Boucher kept Jake Massie tied up in his zone and moved the puck on for Anatoly Golyshev to find Stephane da Costa in a perfect position.

Barys reacted well to going behind and Alikin had to be alert as the visitor found shooting lanes. Late in the second stanza the visitor tied it up: Michael Vecchione got things moving, Massie banged in a point shot and Tice Thompson put away the rebound after that effort was blocked.

After that rush of excitement, things slowed in the third. Avtomobilist played defensively and created a couple of scoring chances: Roman Gorbunov tested

Boyarkin from close range, then Sprong fashioned another opening for himself on a lively debut. He might have crowned his display with a game-winning goal, but Boyarkin denied him in the closing stages.

In a game where neither team got on top, overtime always looked likely. When it came, Barys was the more active team but found Alikin in good form. Avtomobilist created one chance, and that was enough. Da Costa was an agent of chaos in the Barys zone before Yaroslav Busygin joined the attack to fire the Motormen to their first victory of 2026.

SKA maintains its hold over Lada

Lada Togliatti 3 SKA St. Petersburg 4 SO (0-2, 2-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

For the second time this calendar year, SKA had to go beyond regulation to defeat Lada. Brendan Leipsic won the shoot-out for Igor Larionov’s men to secure a fourth victory of the season against the Motormen, but this game turned out to be hard work after the visitor blew a 2-0 lead.

SKA was the first to settle into the game, taking the lead midway through the first period. Marat Khairullin was the scorer; Valentin Zykov screened Ivan Bocharov to help his shot into the net. Soon after, Matvei Polyakov exploded out of center ice to double the lead. It could have been more before the first intermission, but the visitor failed to make the most of a couple of promising opportunities.

The home team struggled to generate any offense in the first period, but gave Sergei Ivanov more to think about in the second. In the 24th minute Artur Tyanulin found a perfect feed for Tomas Jurco to reduce the deficit on a one-timer. Tyanulin collected his sixth helper in five games. A couple of minutes later, the Lada tied the game. Nikita Setdikov emerged from behind the net to squeeze home a shot despite pressure from the defense. SKA managed to rouse itself from that slow start to the session and moved play away from its net but could not regain the lead before the intermission.

The third frame began cautiously. The best chance early in the session saw Bocharov halt Joseph Blandisi’s one-on-one break. Midway through the third, Nikita Nedopyonkin potted his first KHL goal. The 20-year-old won his battle on the slot to put SKA back in front. But the youngster was not destined to leave with the game-winner. Lada hit back fast thanks to a power play goal from scoring leader Riley Sawchuk. In the closing stages, SKA dinged the post but neither team could find a winner in regulation.

Overtime also had little to offer in terms of goals or spectacle. Both teams were risk-averse and it took a shoot-out to separate the teams. SKA replaced Ivanov with Artemy Pleshkov and that move paid off: the visitor took the verdict to extend its winning run over Lada to 19 games.

Turnaround triumph for Torpedo

Dynamo Moscow 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 4 OT (0-1, 1-0, 2-2, 0-1)

Torpedo rallied from 1-3 to grab a dramatic win at Dynamo. The visitor was outplayed for much of the game, and looked doomed when the Blue-and-Whites scored twice in 24 seconds midway through the third period.

But Alexei Isakov’s men shrugged off their recent indifferent form to turn things around in style. Yegor Sokolov pulled a goal back with six minutes to play, Yegor Vinogradov tied it up in the last minute and Daniil Zhuravlyov clinched it in OT.

That added up to only a second win in seven games for Torpedo. Dynamo, despite the loss, moves back into the top four thanks to the point it collected from regulation.

Dynamo had much the better of the opening frame, outshooting Torpedo 10-3. However, the visitor managed to get the first shot on target, then scored on its second in the 14th minute to take a lead to the intermission. Maxim Letunov got free at the back door to convert an impressive backhanded feed from Amir Garayev.

The home team continued to have more of the play in the second period. At times it felt like the Blue-and-Whites were on the power play even when the teams were at equal strength. The only goal of the session came in the 25th minute when Daniil Pylenkov blasted home from the top of the left-hand circle.
Torpedo made a better start to the third period, but soon found itself under pressure again. A couple of icings in quick succession led to another goal for Pylenkov. Dynamo kept up the pressure on a tiring visiting rearguard and the home defenseman fired home from the blue line as Maxim Mamin distracted goalie Denis Kostin. The lead was doubled 24 seconds later when Ansel Galimov brought play through the middle and dished off a feed for Pavel Kudryavtsev to make it 3-1 in the 47th minute.

After that, Torpedo faced a tough examination from the home power play – statistically the third strongest in the KHL this season – but held on. That prevented Dynamo from killing the game completely, and Isakov’s team returned to contention with six minutes to play when Sokolov made it 2-3, redirecting a Robert Nardella point shot past Vladislav Podyapolsky.

On 57:26, Torpedo called a time-out and Kostin made way for a sixth skater. The gamble paid off. Kudryavtsev could not get a shot off at the empty net as Garayev pressed him, then Sokolov’s hard work behind the home net set up Vinogradov for a game-saving goal.

And the momentum carried into the extras. Dynamo, so dominant in regulation, barely mustered an attack in overtime before Daniil Zhuravlyov completed a dramatic fightback with a shot from the left-hand circle to finish a swift attack.

Moroz grabs winner on Shipachyov’s big day

Dinamo Minsk 2 Admiral Vladivostok 1 (0-0, 0-1, 2-0)

This one was all about Vadim Shipachyov. The 39-year-old forward has been counting down to 1,000 points in the KHL all season and today he cleared that landmark.

Moreover, as befits a proven winner, this was no mere exercise in stat padding. Shipachyov’s big moment came just 17 seconds from the end with Dinamo on the power play and seeking a breakthrough before the hooter.

Vadim took control of the play, dictating the puck’s progress around the Admiral end. He knocked it back to defenseman Ty Smith, who in turn fed Vadim Moroz for a game-winning, record-writing shot from the left-hand circle. Dinamo claimed the win, while Shipachyov took his place in history.

The forward, whose long career began with his hometown team, Severstal, has represented the biggest clubs in the league. The center has won the Gagarin Cup twice while playing for SKA, he’s been the league’s top scorer three times and led the competition in assists on four occasions. He reached his landmark today in his 1,102nd game, moving to 314 goals and 686 assists.

Yet for a long time, Admiral managed to frustrate an expectant crowd at Arena Minsk. Thie visitor arrived with just one win from eight games but did a good job of keeping things tight early on. Then, at the start of the second period, Igor Geraskin put the Sailors ahead on the power play.

After that, Dinamo dominated: 14-4 in second period shots, but no way past Arseny Tsyba. A goal whistled off at the start of the third after a bench challenge from Oleg Bratash. Another round of offense against defense in that final frame.

The visitor’s resistance ended in the 57th minute. An Admiral power play encouraged the Sailors to come forward; a turnover and a devastating counterattack saw Alex Limoges get away from Georgy Solyannikov to tie the game just as Nicolas Meloche returned from the box. But the biggest moment was still to come as Shipachyov engineered the last-minute winner to rewrite the history books.