End-of-season records and playoff prep

The final week of the regular season brought a major scoring achievement, a quirky record that stood since 2009 and, of course, confirmation of the full playoff schedule. Read on to look back and look forward.

Anas ties Gusev record

One of the key storylines for the closing days of the regular season was Sam Anas and his pursuit of Nikita Gusev’s scoring record. Gusev’s 89-point campaign in 2023/2024 was the most productive regular season ever. Anas tied it, thanks to two goals in an 8-2 thrashing of Avtomobilist in Dinamo Minsk’s final game of the season. The American forward becomes the outright leader among imports, as well as tying the all-time mark. But who will be the first player to crack 90 points?

Sharipzyanov is top-scoring D-man

Avangard captain Damir Sharipzyanov broke a nine-year-old record to become the most productive defenseman in a regular season campaign. His assist at Dinamo Minsk took him to 66 points for the season, beating Chris Lee’s tally of 65 for Metallurg in 2015/2016. He finished the campaign with 67 (23+44) points.

Metallurg’s magnificent offense

Vladimir Tkachyov’s goal on Traktor in the 14th minute of Wednesday’s game took Metallurg to 250 goals for the season. That beat SKA’s record of 249. The Steelmen finished the campaign with 252, slowing down in their final couple of games before the playoffs.

Record attendances

It doesn’t matter how you count ‘em, this season’s attendances were the KHL’s best ever. A total of 5,874,018 spectators attended 748 games, beating the previous mark by 167,000. And that gives an average of 7,853 per game, compared with a previous best of 7,298. Three clubs, Dinamo Minsk, Traktor and Torpedo, enjoyed 100% ticket sales for the entire season.

Sibir’s shoot-out kings

In 2008/2009, Metallurg won 11 shoot-outs. That fairly obscure record went unchallenged ever since – until now. On Friday, Sibir took a shoot-out verdict against Barys to claim a 12th victory in that fashion, breaking one of the oldest records in the KHL.

Kravtsov sets club record

While Metallurg was setting its record for goals in a season, Traktor’s Vitaly Kravtsov was beating Anton Glinkin’s club record of 234 points. Kravtsov had two assists, moving him to 236 career points. Kravtsov has played 409 games, while Glinkin made 555 appearances for Traktor.

Scoring stars

With Anas winning the scoring race and Sharipzyanov in the top five, there was surprisingly little space left for Metallurg players among the leaders. However, the partnership between Roman Kantserov and Vladimir Tkachyov was a big part of Magnitka’s success. Kantserov led the league in goals (36) while Tkachyov had the most assists (58). That combination will surely be crucial if Andrei Razin’s team is to win its second Gagarin Cup in three seasons.

Top stoppers

On the other side of the puck, the CSKA vs SKA series could be the most compelling goaltending duel of the first round. SKA’s Artemy Pleshkov had the best save ratio in regular season, stopping 93.9% of shots. CSKA’s Dmitry Gamzin was right behind with 93.8%. Gamzin led the league in GAA (1.49) and shut-outs (8), with Lokomotiv’s Daniil Isayev second in both categories (1.89 GAA, 7 blanks).

Loko’s defensive strength

The end-of-season stats also highlight Lokomotiv’s on-going solidity at the back. Martin Gernat led the league with a +34 coefficient (and ageless forward Alexander Radulov, now 39, tied for third on +31). Alongside him, Alexander Yelesin topped the chart for hits with 213, ahead of Ak Bars forward Dmitrij Jaskin on 201. Avtomobilist’s Kirill Vorobyov blocked a league-leading 200 shots through the regular season.

Playoffs start today

Monday is the opening day of post season, with four first-round match-ups on the card. We start in Yekaterinburg at 1700 Moscow time when Avtomobilist takes on Salavat Yulaev. Three evening games see Ak Bars play Traktor, Severstal entertain Torpedo and CSKA vs SKA (1930 Moscow time). Tuesday’s action begins in Omsk, where Avangard hosts Neftekhimik (1630). Then regular season champ Metallurg is up against Sibir (1700). Into the evening, defending champion Lokomotiv starts against Spartak and Dynamo Moscow travels to Dinamo Minsk (both 1930).