Sprong strikes twice, Barys sinks CSKA. January 17 round-up
Daniel Sprong got his first goals since joining Avtomobilist, scoring twice as the Motormen halted Salavat Yulaev’s winning run in 2026. Sprong’s former club, CSKA, fell to a 1-3 loss at Barys; the Kazakhs celebrated a first home win since Dec. 20. Metallurg was in the goals, winning 8-4 at Admiral, but elsewhere there were three shut-outs: Ak Bars, Lokmotiv and Torpedo silenced Amur, Shanghai Dragons and Spartak respectively. Neftekhimik goalie Yaroslav Ozolin set a new club shut-out streak in a 3-1 win at Sibir before Dinamo Minsk edged a 3-2 win in an exciting game at Dynamo Moscow.
Magnitka on top in barn burner
Admiral Vladivostok 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 8 (2-4, 2-1, 0-3)
Saturday’s game in Vladivostok whipped up a storm of scoring – and Metallurg’s potent offense eventually swamped the Sailors with an 8-4 win. Magnitka now has 17 goals from its last two games, although some of its defensive work today was less impressive.
Fresh from hitting nine against Sochi, Metallurg quickly got among the goals again. The visitor was up 2-0 inside five minutes on markers from Ruslan Iskhakov and Sergei Tolchinsky, the latter converting the first power play of the game.
Having quickly set up a comfortable position, Metallurg found itself dragged back into a battle. Stepan Starkov pulled one back on 6:32 before a five-on-three power play saw Derek Barach restore the two-goal advantage.
Another defensive lapse robbed Magnitka of its breathing space once again when Pavel Shen raced clear to beat Alexander Smolin in the 12th minute. Nikita Korotkov restored the two goal lead late in a breathless first period, making it 2-4 at the intermission.
Early in the second, Barach got his second of the game and it seemed that Metallurg had squashed Admiral’s spirit. But the home team responded. Ivan Muranov hit the post, Smolin made several big saves and the pressure eventually brought a goal for Vyacheslav Osnovin. Then a power play goal from Nikita Soshnikov got it back to 5-4, leaving visiting head coach Andrei Razin to wonder why his players seemed determined to cause problems for themselves.
It remained a one-goal game – with good chances at both ends – until midway through the third. But in the closing stages Metallurg managed to put the game to bed at last. Tolchinsky’s second of the night, in the 56th minute, made it 6-4 and finally subdued Admiral. Then, in the last minute further markers from Luke Johnson (on the power play) and Valery Orekhov gave the final score a slightly flattering gloss.
Arefyev’s first shut-out frustrates Tigers
Amur Khabarovsk 0 Ak Bars Kazan 3 (0-0, 0-1, 0-2)
Ak Bars secured back-to-back wins at Amur on a memorable day for goalie Maxim Arefyev. He came into the game today in place of Timur Bilyalov and the 20-year-old made 24 saves to record his first shut-out in the KHL.
The first period was frustrating for the visitor. Four power play chances came and went without a goal; Damir Shaimardanov made 18 saves as Ak Bars dominated for long spells.
After the intermission, things continued in similar fashion. The Tatars still enjoyed more of the play, Amur defended bravely and Shaimardanov worked hard to maintain the deadlock. The breakthrough came right at the end when Dmitry Katelevsky celebrated his birthday with the opening goal.
The Tigers responded with a lively start to the third period, but not even a power play could open the way to a tying goal. Ak Bars killed the penalty and increased its lead with the teams at equal strength through Semyon Terekhov. Then the visitor switched to a counterattacking game to close out the remaining minutes, with Alexander Barabanov converting a two-on-one rush to complete a 3-0 victory.
Ozolin sets club shut-out record
Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3 (0-1, 0-1, 1-1)
It was a day of debuts for Sibir, with forward Andy Andreoff making his first appearance since rejoining the club and head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov leading the team for the first time since losing his “interim” tag.
But it was another Yaroslav, Neftekhimik’s Ozolin, who finished the game on top. He made 38 saves in total, and extended his shut-out streak to a club record 213:34 before Semyon Koshelev ended the run on 58:12.
Koshelev’s effort was merely a consolation goal for Sibir, which trailed 0-3 at the time. Evgeny Mityakin opened the scoring in the first period, providing a perfect riposte to some early home pressure when he drove the puck to the slot and got a kind deflection of Valentin Pyanov. Neftekhimik went to the first intermission leading thanks to one goal from three shots.
The middle frame followed a similar pattern. Sibir attacked, Ozolin saved, Neftekhimik got to the slot and scored. This time it was Andrei Belozyorov with the redirect from Maxim Fedotov’s point shot.
Early in the third, Belozyorov was close to his second of the game but Anton Krasotkin outfoxed him in a one-on-one duel. At the other end, Ozolin snuffed out similar opportunities for Taylor Beck and Vyacheslav Leshchenko. Damir Zhafyarov saw a goal ruled out for Neftekhimik before Belozyorov made it 3-0 in the 58th minute and Koshelev completed the scoring.
Cold shower for Salavat’s hot streak
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 6 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (3-0, 1-1, 2-1)
A powerful home performance saw Avtomobilist put the skids under Salavat Yulaev’s unbeaten start to 2026. The visitor had won five straight this year, but never recovered from giving up a 3-0 lead in the opening frame here.
The damage was done early. Nikita Tryamkin opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a powerful point shot. Then, a minute later, Stephane da Costa doubled the lead when he steered a Sergei Zborovsky shot beyond Ilya Konovalov. There was more to come, with Daniel Sprong scoring his first goal for Avtomobilist on a counterattack midway through the frame.
Viktor Kozlov called an early time-out. However, his team continued to struggle. Grigory Panin was assessed a major after a check to Kirill Vorobyov’s head, although the host failed to take advantage of that opportunity.
At the end of the third period, the shot count was 10-9 but the score was 3-0. Salavat Yulaev’s efforts to fight back were undermined by poor finishing, while Avtomobilist remained clinical. That pattern continued in the middle frame. Ufa dominated, but had to wait until a 38th-minute power play goal from Yegor Suchkov to close the gap. But within 30 seconds, Avtomobilist restored the three-goal lead through Reid Boucher.
Boucher struck again at the start of the third as the home top line continued a profitable day. Salavat hit back with a Sheldon Rempal goal during a five-on-three power play: the Canadian’s impressive scoring streak continues even if his team’s winning streak is over. But the final word went to Sprong, who made it 6-2 off a Boucher assist to complete a big win for Avto.
Vecchione double earns Barys a rare home win
Barys Astana 3 CSKA Moscow 1 (1-0, 0-0, 2-1)
Two Michael Vecchione goals earned Barys its first win at home to CSKA since 2017. The Muscovites thought they had a way back into the game when Maxim Sorkin got it back to 1-2 in the 57th minute. But the Kazakhs, beaten in their last five games and without a home win since Dec. 5, sealed the deal with an empty-netter from Vecchione.
In the first period, the visitor quickly established itself in the game. A couple of Barys penalties helped ensure the early play was around Adam Scheel’s net. However, once the home team killed those penalties, Tyce Thompson opened the scoring with a pacy counterattack on 13 minutes.
That lifted the Kazakhs and the balance of power began to shift. In the second period Barys took the initiative and CSKA was denied scoring opportunities. Prokhor Poltapov thought he had solved that problem in the 32nd minute but his goal was whistled off because his team had an extra man on the ice.
There were fewer scoring chances in the third period. After the teams traded penalties early on, play got bogged down in center ice. But when Barys got on the power play once again, Vecchione finished off a great move to double the lead.
Igor Nikitin reacted immediately, going to an empty net in search of a way back into the game. Sorkin provided precisely that, firing home a one-timer off Poltapov’s dish to bring the game back to life. But instead of sparking a fightback, the visitor saw chances go begging in the closing stages before Vecchione found the empty net from his own zone.
Torpedo edges narrow win
Spartak Moscow 0 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0)
A solitary goal from Gleb Pugachyov and a shut-out for Denis Kostin earned Torpedo a slender victory at Spartak.
The visitor secured a third successive victory and improves its position in the top four in the west, opening a three-point over Dynamo Moscow.
But this was a gritty, hard-won verdict in the capital, with defenses dictating much of the play. The first period was a case in point: lots of effort, lots of battles, but just six shots apiece as the teams struggled to show their creativity.
The middle stanza was no more expansive. The play remained congested, chances were hard to come by and it was little surprise that the opening goal came from an error. Spartak lost possession on the opposition’s blue line, Torpedo’s Gleb Pugachyov pounced on the loose puck and skated clear to beat Alexander Georgiyev. That’s back-to-back goals for the 17-year-old, who looks like the latest impressive prospect from the Torpedo academy.
It also proved to be the winner. The third period saw Kostin called into action far more often as the home offense belatedly stepped up the tempo. Spartak had 17 shots on goal in the final frame but could not find the net. The closest the Red-and-Whites came was an effort from Nathan Todd that smashed into the post late on. At the other end, Torpedo rarely threatened but got the puck over the line once more midway through the frame. However, Vladislav Firstov’s close-range effort was ruled out after a bench challenge: interference on the goalie was the verdict.
Minsk maintains its edge over Dynamo
Dynamo Moscow 2 Dinamo Minsk 3 (0-0, 1-0, 1-3)
The third clash between these namesake teams saw Minsk continue its fine record against Moscow this season. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s team got its second win in three games as it climbs out of a slump over the holiday period, while the Muscovites have just one success in the last seven.
The first period ended goalless, although both teams created chances. Between them, goalies Maxim Motorygin and Zach Fucale made 26 saves, with Minsk’s goalie the busier of the two.
The pattern continued in the middle frame. The teams continued to create chances, the goalies kept making saves. Minsk had more time with the puck, but Moscow was more willing to shoot at goal and eventually got its reward in the 36th minute. The Belarusian possession game let it down, coughing up the puck on the blue line and Ansel Galimov capitalized on the turnover to skate away and beat Fucale.
But the third saw the visitor turn the game around. The story was transformed midway through the session with three key incidents in little over a minute. First, Andrei Stas brought the puck out from behind Motorygin’s net and sent it to the puck, where Stanislav Galimov scored at the second attempt. Then, in the 51st minute, Jordan Weal was assessed the first penalty of the game. Minsk converted that power play thanks to Vitaly Pinchuk’s instinctive finish to get up 2-1 with nine minutes to play.
Now it was the home team’s turn to fight back. Vyacheslav Kozlov’s men found a big reaction and tied it up in the 54th thanks to a blast from Igor Ozhiganov on the blue line.
That triggered another fast-paced sequence of events. Minsk regained the lead almost immediately thanks to Vadim Moroz. A turnover on the visitor’s blue line saw Pinchuk and Sam Anas get the puck to their team-mate and, with little opposition in sight, he rifled home the 3-2 goal.
Right after that Darren Dietz was penalized for moving the net off its moorings, and Moscow had a big power play chance. But the visitor survived that scare to close out the win.
Loko level with leader in West
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 Shanghai Dragons 0 (2-0, 0-0, 0-0)
Two first-period goals were enough to give Lokomotiv victory over Shanghai Dragons. The visitor fell to a third straight loss and finds itself in danger of falling away in the race for a playoff place. The Dragons are currently eight points adrift of eighth-placed Spartak, but patchy recent form does not augur well.
Lokomotiv, meanwhile, joins Western Conference leader Severstal on 63 points after Saturday’s win. Not for the first time this season, solid defense was at the heart of Yaroslavl’s success. Daniil Isayev made 23 saves and his defensemen blocked 17 shots to neutralize a lively visiting offense.
The Dragons, meanwhile, ran into first-period problems. Starting goalie Patrik Rybar had to leave the game after 12 minutes, with the score at 0-0. Andrei Kareyev faced a difficult job to come in cold, and he was beaten twice before the first intermission.
The first went to Alexander Volkov, who got his first since Oct. 20. Then, right at the end of a successful penalty kill, the visitor got down the ice for Artur Kayumov to double the advantage in the 19th minute.
That proved to be the end of the scoring. In the second period, Shanghai saw rather more of the puck but ran into a trappy Lokomotiv defense that allowed few chances to test Isayev. In the third, the play was more even: the Dragons pushed forward, leaving gaps for the counter. But there was no further scoring.
