Road trip triumphs. January 13 round-up

All three of Tuesday’s KHL games ended in wins for the visiting team – and all three arguably upturned the form book in the process. Salavat Yulaev, seventh in the East, won 4-3 at third-placed Avangard, and sixth-placed Neftkehimik got the better of Tatar rival Ak Bars, currently second in the standings. But the biggest surprise came in Cherepovets, where Western Conference leader Severstal fell 2-3 at home to a Sibir team that returned to the playoff spots with today’s win.

Red-hot Rempal leads the way for Ufa

Avangard Omsk 3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 (0-1, 1-2, 2-1)

Sheldon Rempal had a three-point game – taking his current hot streak to 10 games – and Semyon Vyazovoi had 43 saves as Salavat Yulaev spoiled Avangard’s first home game of 2026.

Rempal had the first real chance of the game, only for Andrei Mishurov to deny him. After that, Avangard put pressure on Vyazovoi’s net, only to fall behind with the teams playing four-on-four: Yaroslav Tsulygin broke the deadlock. With Evgeny Kuznetsov picking up a double minor, the Hawks had three minutes on the power play to respond but Vyazovoi held firm and Salavat carried its lead to the intermission.

Early in the second, the visitor increased its lead. On the counterattack, Rempal produced a great feed for Devin Brosseau to make it 2-0. Avangard immediately tried to get the game away from its net but found Salavat Yulaev defending effectively. Although the home team had more possession, the away side was just as dangerous on its breakaways. However, when Yegor Suchkov took a rather needless O-zone penalty, Avangard converted the power play thanks to Max Lajoie’s one-timer midway through the frame.

Although the host sought to build on that success, the next goal went to Ufa. Rempal was involved again, before Dean Stewart’s shot was directed home by Jack Rodewald. Avangard came close to pulling one back before the intermission, but Damir Sharipzyanov’s shot hit the post.

There was more pressure on Vyazovoi’s net at the start of the third, but the visitor continued to defend strongly. Salavat Yulaev rarely got forward, but still managed to score off its first shot of the stanza. Rempal got possession behind the net and beat Mishurov with a cunning play. That took him to 1+2 for tonight’s game and an impressive 5+15 in his last 10.

Avangard continued to battle and kept the pressure on Vyazovoi. He faced 46 shots in the game, but stopped 43 of them to secure the win. As the final frame progressed, Mikhail Kotlyarevsky and Nail Yakupov made it a one-goal game and the last 70 seconds brought some frantic action as the home side tried to salvage something. But Salavat Yulaev held on to take the verdict.

Last-minute goal puts Sibir in top eight

Severstal Cherepovets 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 3 (1-0, 1-1, 0-2)

A late goal from Mikhail Abramov – his second of the game – saw Sibir complete a comeback from 0-2 to defeat Western Conference leader Severstal. The surprise result puts the visitor up to eighth in the East, pushing Amur out of the playoff places.

Yet this looked like a game that would go to form when Severstal opened a 2-0 lead. Although the Lynx suffered back-to-back losses at the end of 2025, they recovered to win three of four at the start of the new year. Sibir had just one victory in that time.

The home team wasted little time in getting ahead. After just 11 seconds, a delay of game penalty had Severstal on the power play and within a minute Danil Aimurzin opened the scoring. After allowing the goal and returning to full strength, Sibir refused to give up the initiative and the gameplay was even in the first period.

After the intermission, another quick goal saw Danil Veryayev double the home lead. Ivan Podshivalov marked his 200th KHL game with an assist. But Sibir soon pulled a goal back with Abramov racing through two thirds of the ice to finish a play that started with visiting goalie Mikhail Berdin.

Severstal made regular visits to the box: Sibir failed with three power play chances before Aimurzin got a double minor for high sticks in the 50th minute.

That handed Sibir a lifeline and Valentin Pyanov tied the scores. Then, with both teams seeking a winner, the visitor managed a quick counter in the final minute and Abramov settled the outcome when he fired Anton Kosolapov’s feed into the open corner of the net.

Neftekhimik blanks Ak Bars in Tatar derby

Ak Bars Kazan 0 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 (0-1, 0-0, 0-1)

A shut-out from Yaroslav Ozolin earned Neftekhimik victory in the Tatarstan derby for the second time this season. After five games between the teams, Ak Bars has a 3-2 advantage, but there is much encouragement for the Wolves after today’s success extended the winning streak to three games.

In recent games, Ak Bars has had problems with too many men calls. Today the issue returned: the first power play of the night arrived after 70 seconds for precisely that reason. Neftekhimik could not take advantage though, and soon had to kill a penalty of its own. However, although the Ak Bars PP looked threatening, it could not find the breakthrough. Instead, we waited until the 15th minute for the opening goal: Brandon Biro gave away possession to Neftekhimik prospect Nikita Khoruzhev, who set up Grigory Seleznyov to make it 1-0.

In the second period Ak Bars applied the pressure. The home team controlled the puck well and pushed Neftekhimik back into its own zone. However, pressure did not translate into clear chances and Ozolin was relatively underoccupied as the Wolves defended sensibly. Alexander Chmelevski’s unexpected attempt on the wraparound was the best chance for the home team, but the goalie got his pad down to deny him.

It remained 1-0 going into the third, and the overall pattern of play changed little. However, Ak Bars started to lose patience; looking to force the pace, the home team’s technique began to suffer. A penalty for Dmitrij Jaskin spoiled the Ak Bars offense for a time, even if the visiting PP again struggled to make an impact. Tellingly, the visitor had just three shots in the final frame. Nonetheless, it added a second, game-killing goal when Bulat Shafigullin found the empty net on 58:48.