Sibir leaves it late, Metallurg clinches playoff spot. January 26 round-up

Three goals in the last minute saw Sibir snatch a 4-2 win at Torpedo. The home team lost its six-game winning streak in dramatic fashion. Avtomobilist’s win over Amur was good news for Eastern Conference leader Metallurg, which confirmed its playoff place with a 39-point lead over the Tigers. Mitch Love got his first win as a KHL head coach as Shanghai Dragons won 6-2 at Sochi. Avangard beat Admiral at home, Salavat Yulaev had an OT verdict in Minsk, while CSKA and Dynamo came out on top in Moscow against Severstal and Lada respectively.

Hawks ease past struggling Sailors

Avangard Omsk 5 Admiral Vladivostok 2 (1-1, 2-1, 2-0)

After three wins on the road, Avangard returned home and handed Admiral a ninth successive loss. Both teams were busy in the build-up to Sunday’s trade deadline. However, Avangard’s new acquisitions had yet to arrive with the team. Admiral featured newcomer Oskar Bulavchuk, who replaced Nikita Tertyshny. Goalie Ivan Kulbakov, arrived from Torpedo last week, got the start.

He faced early pressure and was beaten by Andrew Poturalski after four minutes. The Hawks looked to build on that early success, but Admiral began to generate some offense and test Andrei Mishurov in the home net. That brought a debut goal for Bulavchuk, previously with Sibir, who tied the game midway through the opening frame.

Avangard started the second period well, created good chances for Nikolai Prokhorkin and Igor Martynov. However, the visitor got in front with a goal from its first counterattack of the session. Stepan Starkov and Pavel Shen got clear on the home net, and after an elegant combination Starkov finished the play to put Admiral up 2-1.

That lead proved short-lived. Konstantin Okulov exchanged passes with Dmitry Rashevsky before tying the scores in the 28th minute, and barely 60 seconds later Nail Yakupov scored from the slot to put Avangard in front. The Hawks then had a power play chance, but could not build on its lead before the second intermission.

Moments into the final frame, Nikita Soshnikov got clear but fired against Mishurov’s post. A few minutes later, the visiting forward was in the box and Yakupov converted the power play for his second goal of the night.

There was more to come in the closing stages. Poturalski gave away a penalty shot, but Dmitry Zavgorodny failed to score. Then came a fifth goal for Avangard, scored by Semyon Chistyakov from the deep slot. The win moves the Hawks level on points with Ak Bars in second place in the Eastern Conference. Guy Boucher’s men have two games in hands over the Tatars.

Amur loss puts Magnitka into playoffs

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 Amur Khabarovsk 2 (2-0, 1-1, 1-1)

The Motormen bounced back from Thursday’s loss to Avangard, handing Amur a ninth successive defeat. Monday’s result also means that Metallurg is the first team to confirm its playoff spot. Amur, in ninth place, is 39 points behind the Eastern Conference leader with only 38 available from its remaining games.

The home team made changes following the Avangard loss. Artyom Kashtanov was on the roster for the first time in 2026 with Curtis Valk scratched again in favor of Denis Romantsev.

The visitor made a lively start, despite its long losing streak, and Evgeny Svechnikov tested Evgeny Alikin early on. A couple of minutes later, Alexander Galchenyuk went close but, once again, the Tigers lacked bite when it came to converting chances. Avtomobilist fought back into the game, then scored with its first shot of the evening: Daniel Sprong beat Maxim Dorozhko.

The pattern repeated itself: Amur twice created great chances but could not score. Then Avtomobilist struck again to double the lead. Dorozhko couldn’t hold onto a Yaroslav Busygin shot and Stepan Khripunov stuffed the puck home. That second goal deflated Amur and the home team enjoyed the better of things as the first period came to a close.

Amur began the second period with an Alexei Solovyov shot against the post. However, the middle frame saw Avtomobilist playing better hockey and looking likely to extend its lead – right up until the point when Amur grabbed a goal against the run of play. Evgeny Grachyov dished off a fine feed for Oleg Li to fire into the open corner. The Tigers then got a power play chance but could not tie the game. And, in the 35th minute Alexander Sharov restored the two-goal lead after great play from Sprong and Brooks Macek.

At the start of the third, Amur had the puck in Evgeny Alikin’s net on the power play. That effort was chalked off following a bench challenge, but within a minute Svechnikov had a legitimate goal to make it 2-3. With Avto’s offense misfiring – just one shot in 10 minutes at the start of the final stanza – the game was very much alive.

While Amur had the initiative, there were times when Avtomobilist was able to move play down the ice. Sharov had a great chance for his second of the night but fired wide when well placed. In the end, Sprong put things out of reach in the last minute with an empty-net goal; Avto finished a six-game home stand with 11 points from a possible 12.

Last-minute drama as Sibir steals the verdict

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Sibir Novosibirsk 4 (2-0, 0-1, 0-3)

Three goals in the last minute saw Sibir snatch a dramatic win at Torpedo. The home team looked set to record a seventh successive victory after jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Even though the visitor pulled one back in the second, Alexei Isakov’s team held its advantage until the very end – only to blow up in spectacular fashion at the last.

After scoring 13 in its previous two games, there was no shortage of confidence in Torpedo’s play. And the team’s winning run had it in with a chance of going second in the West if it could win tonight.

By the first intermission, that felt like a plausible outcome. Leading scorer Yegor Vinogradov broke the deadlock in the eighth minute, then Amur Garayev struck on the power play to double the lead late in the frame.

However, the 2-0 scoreline did not tell the full story of the first period. Sibir outshot Torpedo 11-7 and had slightly more attacking possession along the way.

Early in the second, the visitor got its first power play of the night and Sergei Shirokov halved the deficit. Anton Kosolapov, who was traded away by Torpedo early in the season, marked his return with an assist. That takes his current productive streak to three games and gives him 23 (11+12) in 20 outings since joining Sibir.

Yet Shirokov’s goal was one of just two shots on target for the visitor as Torpedo dominated the middle frame. Anton Krasotkin made 19 saves to keep his team in the game and the missed chances would cost Torpedo.

The third period returned to the even contest of the first: again, the teams had a roughly equal share of possession and Sibir managed slightly more shots at Dmitry Dagestansky’s net. The 22-year-old, in his first ever KHL appearance, looked to have backstopped a win as the game rolled into the final minute.

But then everything changed. Sibir rolled the dice, and with six skaters Andy Andreoff claimed a tying goal with the slightest of touches to redirect Yegor Alanov’s shot on 59:14. On to overtime?

No. On 59:39, Sibir grabbed the lead. This time it was Yegor Zaitsev with the shot and Arkhip Nekolenko with the redirect. Now it was Torpedo’s turn to play with an unguarded net, but that suited Sibir just fine. Andreoff won the face-off as the game resumed and Timur Akhiyarov fired home from center ice to make it 4-2.

OT triumph for Salavat Yulaev

Dinamo Minsk 1 Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

Vladislav Yefremov’s goal gave Salavat Yulaev an OT victory in Minsk. The Belarusians managed to silence forward Sheldon Rempal, whose productive streak ends after 14 games. However, they could not stop the visitor from leaving with the points.

Yefremov’s decider came after two minutes of overtime. He took the puck away from Sam Anas as the American forward looked to add to a club record points tally for the season. After that, Yefremov surged down the ice in a two-on-one rush and overlooked his team-mate to rifle home the winner himself from the left-hand circle.

The first period was goalless, and there were relatively few scoring chances. Dinamo had two power plays, but still managed just seven shots on goal in the opening frame.

The puck hit the twine for the first time just after the restart. Yegor Suchkov couldn’t beat Vasily Demchenko on the wraparound, but Danil Alalykin stuffed it past the Dinamo goalie on the rebound. The play was reviewed twice: first, the officials wanted to confirm that the puck had crossed the line. Then Dinamo challenged the play, citing interference on Demchenko. That challenge succeeded and the game remained scoreless.

However, it wasn’t long before Ufa had a legitimate goal to cheer. In the 26th minute, Grigory Panin’s point shot came back off the boards and Suchkov put away the rebound.

Right after, Salavat had a power play and Rempal flashed a shot just over the top. However, midway through the frame a home PP brought a tying goal. Vadim Shipachyov brought the game into the Ufa zone, Stanislav Galiyev released Daniil Lipsky and he fired through traffic to beat Semyon Vyazovoi. Now it was the visitor’s turn to challenge a play, but Viktor Kozlov’s protest was dismissed and the game was tied.

It remained locked at 1-1 until the end, with the third period turning into a cautious affair. But Yefremov got the winner in OT as the visitor built on Saturday’s success at Sochi.

Love gets first win in KHL

HC Sochi 2 Shanghai Dragons 6 (0-2, 1-3, 1-1)

After a rough start to his KHL career, Shanghai Dragons’ new head coach Mitch Love picked up his first win in emphatic fashion at Sochi.

Two goals from Troy Josephs led the way as the Dragons snapped a six-game skid with a 6-2 victory over the Leopards. Given the previous two games had finished 2-7 and 1-6, this was a welcome boost for a team trying to keep its playoff hopes alive in the Western Conference.

On Saturday in Minsk, Shanghai was down 0-2 in 80 seconds. Today, the visitor made a much better start and took a 2-0 lead to the intermission. Josephs opened the scoring after six minutes and Nick Merkley added to that in the 14th.

Sochi grabbed a lifeline at the start of the second with a power play goal from Sergei Popov. Max Ellis, who started the season with Shanghai, assisted on that play against his former club.

But two goals in a minute midway through the game put the Dragons back in control. Josephs’ second of the night made it 3-1, and Will Reilly added a fourth 21 seconds later. Pavel Khomchenko made way for Alexander Samsonov in the home net, but he was beaten when Shanghai got a five-on-three power play. Josephs turned provider for Kevin Labanc to convert the PP.

Another power play goal midway through the third period saw Josephs move to four points as Gage Quinnie completed an impressive win. Sochi pulled one back late on through Dmitry Kagarlitsky, with Ellis assisting again, but this was the Dragons’ day.

Revenge win for Dynamo

Dynamo Moscow 3 Lada Togliatti 1 (1-0, 2-1, 0-0)

Beaten 2-1 in Togliatti on Friday, Dynamo responded with a 3-1 victory over the same opponent tonight. Two quickfire goals early In the second period built a lead that was too great for the visitor to claw back.

The Blue-and-Whites have endured indifferent form in 2026 and had lost eight out of 10 games dating back to Dec. 25. That’s hardly the upswing the club’s management was hoping to see after dismissing Alexei Kudashov last month; under Vyacheslav Kozlov there has been little evident improvement in results or performances, although the Muscovites remain fifth in the West.

Today, at last, there were positives for Dynamo. Defensively this was a sound performance, allowing just 16 shots at Maxim Motorygin. The third frame, defending a 3-1 lead, was particularly impressive. Lada had more than seven minutes in Dynamo territory but was held to just four shots on target.

Before all that, Lada had the puck in the net after six minutes, but a bench challenge saw the play called back for offside. Adding insult to injury, Dynamo scored a couple of minutes later through Igor Ozhiganov and that was the only goal of an even first period.

The game turned decisively in the 25th minute. First, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev fired home from a tight angle after a scramble in front of Ivan Bocharov’s net. Lada felt that there had been a foul on Ivan Savchuk in the build-up to that goal, but a review saw nothing untoward.

Still aggrieved, the visitor talked its way into a bench minor for unsporting conduct and the power play brought a third home goal. Maxim Mamin, whose work on the crease set up Der-Arguchintsev’s marker, scored himself to make it 3-0.

After that, Lada began to control more of the game. There was a breakthrough late in the second when Pavel Gogolev pulled a goal back. The Motormen clearly believed this was a springboard for a third-period recovery and dominated the closing stages of the game. However, Motorygin was well protected by his defense and Dynamo closed out the win.

Severstal drops to third after loss

CSKA Moscow 4 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (2-1, 0-0, 2-1)

Severstal missed its chance to return to the top of the Western Conference and finished the day dropping to third after defeat at CSKA. The Muscovites made it back-to-back wins after a nervy 1-0 success over Barys last time out, consolidating in sixth place.

After struggling to break down the Kazakh defense until the third period on Saturday, CSKA benefitted from a stronger start here. In the third minute, Pavel Karnaukhov scored a morale-boosting opener. He beat Konstantin Shostak on a counterattack with a shot that the visiting goalie would probably want to have back.

Severstal responded by testing Dmitry Gamzin more than once, but the next goal also went to the home team. Denis Guryanov produced a similar finish to a similar play in the 11th minute, chasing Shostak from his net in favor of Vsevolod Skotnikov.

A two-goal lead arguably flattered the home team a little. In the 16th minute Severstal pulled one back when Kirill Tankov fired the puck towards the net. It bounced off Gamzin’s helmet then cannoned into defenseman Dmitry Samorukov and into the net, giving the scoreline a more realistic look at the first intermission.

The second period was goalless, with the best chance created by CSKA’s Alexei Churkin early in the session.

In the third, Ivan Drozdov was close to increasing the home lead in the 47th minute, then found the net in the 56th. Once again, the counterattack proved clinical: Ivan Patrikhayev cleared his lines, Drozdov set off in pursuit, avoiding the attentions of Yanni Kaldis, and made it 3-1.

That seemed to put the game out of reach, but there was time for the teams to trade more goals. Vitaly Abramov padded the lead before Tankov got his second of the night for Severstal.