Kuznetsov puts Salavat up in series, Traktor gets first win vs Ak Bars

Maxim Kuznetsov scored a late winner for Salavat Yulaev as the forwards found their range at last in the series against Avtomobilist. A 4-3 verdict in Ufa put the host up 2-1. And the Ak Bars vs Traktor series is also 2-1 after Traktor won 3-2 in Chelyabinsk to claim its first victory of post season.

Goals at last as Ufa moves ahead

Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 (1-2, 2-0, 1-1)
Salavat Yulaev leads the series 2-1

The brakes are off! After three goals in the first six periods of this Gagarin Cup First Round series in Yekaterinburg, the teams produced three goals in 18 minutes of the first period in Ufa.

And it turned into a happy homecoming for Salavat Yulaev, which secured a 4-3 victory to go up 2-1 in the series.

The home team was without Evgeny Kuznetsov, suspended after an offensive gesture following Wednesday’s 1-0 win on the road. But another Kuznetsov, Maxim, got the winning goal on 57:43.

It was a special finish as well. Vladislav Yefremov won an attacking face-off, Kuznetsov brought play down the left and shaped as if he was heading behind the net. But a shot from a dead angle caught Vladimir Galkin off guard and the puck clipped the back of the goalie’s helmet and flew into the net.

That secured a win over an Avtomobilist team that led twice in the first period. The visitor got in front in the eighth minute thanks to Daniel Sprong. The Dutchman finished from close range after Yaroslav Busygin saw his initial shot saved by Semyon Vyazovoi.

Shortly after, the visitor killed a penalty but then allowed a goal just as Maxim Osipov returned to the game. And it was a fantastic passing combination that unpicked the visiting defense, with Yegor Suchkov and Danil Alalykin shuttling the puck across the face of Galkin’s net for Sheldon Rempal to bang it in from the edge of the left-hand circle.

The Motormen regained the lead just before the intermission. Maxim Denezhkin fed the puck back up the boards for Sergei Zborovsky to shoot. It wasn’t the most powerful effort, but it came through traffic and had enough to find the net.

At the start of the second period the teams played four on four for a time as Roman Gorbunov and Devin Brosseau took penalties one after the other. When the Canadian had served his time, he jumped out of the box to devastating effect, skating onto Alexander Zharovsky’s feed and shooting home from between the hash marks to tie the scores in the 24th minute. And just before the second intermission, the home team got ahead for the first time in the game. This time, Kuznetsov was the provider, producing a deft touch in front of the net to set up Yefremov for a finish from the slot through a crowd of players. At the start of the move, Artyom Gorshkov produced a lovely no-look feed from beyond the goal-line, wrongfooting the visiting defense.

The Motormen tied the scores seconds into the final stanza. Alexander Sharov produced a sumptuous diagonal to release Sprong down the right. His pace took him away from the defense and he made the most of a clear shooting lane to beat Vyazovoi for the fourth time in three playoff games.

And the Avtomobilist forward might have had a hat-trick when another great feed set up a one-timer from the face-off circle in the 56th minute. This time, though, Vyazovoi made the save … and moments later Kuznetsov was celebrating his winner.

Home ice helps Traktor get off the mark

Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 Ak Bars Kazan 2 (0-0, 3-1, 0-1)
Ak Bars leads the series 2-1

Victory on home ice in Chelyabinsk puts Traktor right back in this series. After dropping the first two games on the road, Evgeny Koreshkov’s team needed a win here to bring the series back to life. And the sixth seed got it, thanks largely to a strong second period.

Goals from Alexander Kadeikin, Mikhail Grigorenko and Josh Leivo in that middle frame opened a lead that Ak Bars could not retrieve. The visitor scored early in the third, but got no closer despite outshooting its host 13-4 in the final stanza.

There was drama from the very start here. After just 22 seconds, Ak Bars had the puck in Dmitry Nikolayev’s net after Ilya Safonov converted a two-on-one rush. However, Anvar Gatiyatulin challenged the play, claiming offside, and the video review backed him up to whistle off Safonov’s goal.

The visitor had another big chance when Dmitrij Jaskin went round the back and set up Grigory Denisenko for a low shot padded away by the goalie. Then, late in the frame, Artyom Galiyev was close to converting a Safonov feed as Ak Bars sought a power play goal.

Galimov would eventually break the deadlock midway through the second period, racing onto Mitch Miller’s stretch pass to score. But the lead lasted just 15 seconds before Kadeikin tied it up, tucking away the rebound after Timur Bilyalov saved Yegor Rykov’s shot.

And Traktor did not look back after that. Three minutes later, Leivo set up Grigorenko to score with a wrister. Then the Canadian extended the lead in the 39th minute, skating around Stepan Falkovsky to shoot home from between the hash marks.

Ak Bars hit back at the start of the third period when Miller surged forward from the blue, leaving Traktor’s defense in tatters before rifling a shot past Nikolayev. After that, though, the game settled into a tense affair with few chances. By the 55th minute, the shot count for the third period was just 4-4 and Ak Bars clearly needed to step up its offense to try to save the game.

Assistance came from home defenseman Michal Cajkovsky. After 56 minutes he was assessed a major penalty after hacking down Safonov in front of the net, meaning Ak Bars would finish the game on the power play. That invited the visitor to attack in the final moments, bringing a flurry of shots at Nikolayev, but the home defense withstood the onslaught to get its first win of the 2026 playoffs.