SKA off the mark, Torpedo edges ahead

Sergei Ivanov marked his playoff debut with a shut-out to secure a 1-0 victory for SKA. The Petersburg club still trails its series against CSKA, but is now down 1-2. Torpedo edged ahead of Severstal thanks to a 3-1 victory in Nizhny Novgorod, with Amir Garayev claiming the winning goal.

Home advantage helps Torpedo

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Severstal Cherepovets 1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0)
Torpedo leads the series 2-1

After splitting the opening games in Cherepovets, Torpedo moved back in front on home ice. This was a tight game between two teams that seem evenly matched in their first-round playoff series, but the host held on to claim victory.

Severstal won 4-0 in game two, so it was no surprise that Andrei Kozyrev had no changes to his team for today’s action. Equally unsurprising, Torpedo’s head coach Alexei Isakov switched things up. Suspended forward Alexei Kruchinin’s absence was enforced, but Isakov also scratched defenseman Mikhail Naumenkov and forwards Yegor Sokolov and Igor Geraskin, building an entirely new third line of Timur Mukhanov, Kirill Svishchyov and Amir Garayev.

Torpedo got in front in the first period thanks to an eighth-minute goal from Vladimir Tkachyov. Defenseman Sergei Boykov got forward to support the attack and went around the net to set up Tkachyov for a shot that beat Alexander Samoilov from a tight angle.

However, much of the first period play belonged to Severstal. The visitor outshot Torpedo 12-7 and had more than seven minutes of attacking possession (compared with 2:52 for the home team). The Lynx also had the first power play of the game, and Roman Abrosimov almost tied the scores with an attempted redirect. However, the best chance of further scoring went to Torpedo when Garayev came out of the box and skated to the net, only to put his backhand shot over the crossbar.

Torpedo’s first power play came in the second period after Danil Aimurzin took a double minor for a high stick that caught Nikita Shavin in the face. That brought a goal for Garayev in the 29th minute after a long spell of pressure ended with Bogdan Konyushkov picking out his team-mate in the face-off circle. Garayev’s powerful shot did the rest.

Almost immediately, Shavin found himself in the box and Severstal took advantage. Mikhail Ilyin, who scored twice in the previous game, quarterbacked the play. When the puck came back to him on the blue line, he stepped forward and whipped a shot around Anton Silayev to beat Denis Kostin on the short side. Once again, Severstal shaded the play in the middle frame but could not overturn Torpedo’s lead.

The best chance for an equalizer came in the 48th minute. Ilya Ivantsov launched one from the center of the zone, leaving Daniil Kazulayev and Alexander Skorenov to try and finish it off from the slot. However, Kostin made a big double save to preserve his team’s lead.

Torpedo was learning the attack might be the best form of defense in these circumstances. The home team responded almost immediately, and it was Samoilov’s turn to make a double save, first denying Andrei Belevich then Alexander Yaremchuk.

With five to play, the host could have sealed the outcome. Sergei Goncharuk raced down the wing and fired the puck to the back door, where Vladislav Firstov got a dangerous shot off. Once again, though Samoilov produced a save to keep his team in contention

But the visiting goalie was already off the ice when a Severstal attack broke down in the 59th minute. Torpedo won possession in center ice and Yegor Vinogradov scored into an empty net to seal the verdict.

Ivanov celebrates debut shut-out

SKA St. Petersburg 1 CSKA Moscow 0 (0-0, 1-0, 0-0)
CSKA leads the series 2-1

Joseph Blandisi’s power play goal was enough to earn SKA its first victory of the 2026 KHL playoffs. He struck early in the second period to separate the teams as the action moved to St. Petersburg, while Sergei Ivanov made 22 saves to earn a shut-out in his first ever KHL playoff appearance.

Ivanov replaced Artemy Pleshkov as SKA’s starting goalie after defeats in both games in Moscow at the start of the series. Igor Larionov did not make widespread changes after the unsuccessful road trip, but had to replace the injured Pavel Koledov with young Vladislav Romanov. And Markus Phillips, deployed as an impromptu forward at the start of the series, returned to his accustomed defensive duties alongside Sergei Sapego.

The incoming goalie had a relatively gentle introduction to post season hockey. In the first period CSKA was forced to play on the counter and seldom generated big scoring chances. His first notable save came in the 15th minute, denying Rhett Gardner after Vitaly Abramov found the Canadian on the slot.

That was one of just four saves Ivanov needed to make in the opening frame.

Not that SKA’s offense was all that more expressive. Yes, the home team forced eight saves out of Dmitry Gamzin. Again, though, there was only one big chance when Scott Wilson seemed certain to score from close range in the 16th minute.

Both teams produced disciplined hockey in the opening frame, but after the intermission Nikolai Kovalenko got the game’s first penalty. And it proved to be a decisive moment. Marat Khairullin fed the puck back to the left point for Yegor Savikov to unleash a powerful shot; Blandisi was waiting on the slot to apply the finishing touch and SKA had the lead.

The goal did not much change the pattern of play. Once again, SKA had more shots (12-6) in the middle frame and CSKA struggled to get extended time in the opposition zone. There was evident frustration for Igor Nikitin’s team, which spilled over into a spot of pushing and shoving after Alexei Churkin, who replaced Sergei Kalinin in today’s team, failed to beat Ivanov from close range.

Nikitin’s teams, famously, stick rigidly to the system. Even as the third period progressed and SKA’s lead remained intact, there was no sense that CSKA was about to go for broke. With five to play, and SKA’s defensemen passing the puck between themselves with little distraction, the visiting forwards hung back from a serious forecheck rather than compromise the team’s shape in center ice.

Change came only with 70 seconds remaining. CSKA called a time-out but whatever Nikitin had planned for a last push at six-on-five was scuppered when Pavel Karnaukhov’s helmet flew off and he had to rush to the sidelines. SKA cleared the puck on that unplanned change and not even a power play in the final 24 seconds could save the Muscovites.