Sibir stays afloat, Hawks close on round two

Sibir needed almost five full period to find the opening goal of its game against Metallurg – but Anton Kosolapov’s snipe on 99:59 earned a 1-0 victory to keep that series alive. Magnitka, up 3-1, will look to finish it in Magnitogorsk on Wednesday. Eastern Conference second seed Avangard is also one home win away from round two after a 5-2 success at Neftekhimik put it up 3-1 in the series.

Kosolapov keeps Sibir alive in series

Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 0 2OT (0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)
Metallurg leads the series 3-1

A goal from Anton Kosolapov moments before the end of the second period of overtime kept Sibir’s season alive. Metallurg was unable to solve Mikhail Berdin, who claimed his first ever KHL shut-out, and missed the chance to complete a sweep in this first-round series.

Instead, the teams will head back to Magnitogorsk on Wednesday, with Andrei Razin’s team hoping to finish the job with no further fuss.

However, the Steelmen might have to do so without first choice netminder Alexander Smolin. He was ejected from today’s game midway through the second period after spearing Ilya Fedotov after the whistle.

Earlier in the game, Smolin made a huge save to keep the game goalless at the first intermission. After his misplaced clearance went straight to Vyacheslav Leshchenko, the goalie managed to get across and pluck the forward’s shot out of the top corner when a goal seemed certain.

Meanwhile Fedotov, in the Sibir team in place of injured captain Sergei Shirokov, produced an energetic, physical performance. He finished the night with eight penalty minutes, picking up a double minor after just 98 seconds. It was that kind of game: the final count brought 55 PiMs between the two teams, 25 of them taken by Smolin.

The goalie’s expulsion brought 2024 Gagarin Cup winner Ilya Nabokov into the game for his first playoff action of the season. He faced plenty of action as Metallurg repeatedly found itself on the penalty kill, but Sibir’s PP was missing Taylor Beck’s incisive contribution.
At the start of the third period, one-time Sibir prospect Nikita Korotkov stripped Yegor Alanov of the puck and went to Berdin’s net. However, he could not find a way past the home goalie, who would finish the game with 41 saves. The third period was perhaps the first time Metallurg looked to gain some control of the game, with the visitor spending more time in Sibir territory. A late power play might have seen Magnitka finish the game – and series – but the home team survived to take it to overtime.

Metallurg seemed to have more energy in the first additional period. The Steelmen were constantly on the offensive, but struggled to turn possession and pressure into serious scoring chances. Sibir made it safely through 80 minutes, and began to redress the balance in the fifth period. Another penalty for

Fedotov slowed Novosibirsk’s progress, and Alanov made a goalline clearance shortly after his team returned to full strength. The game continued, becoming the longest in this year’s playoffs before the Sibir defenseman played a big role in the winner. Alanov fired in a shot that Nabokov parried all the way out to the right-hand circle, where Kosolapov was waiting to return it with interest into the net. For Kosolapov, whose hot form following his move from Torpedo did so much to get Sibir into the playoffs, it was his first post season goal. Crucially, it keeps the team alive for at least one more game.

Volkov’s double downs Wolves

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 2 Avangard Omsk 5 (0-2, 1-2, 1-1)
Avangard leads the series 3-1

The Hawks are one win away from flying into round two of the 2026 KHL playoffs after comfortably beating Neftekhimik in game four.

The East’s second seed had some struggles in the previous meetings, dropping an overtime verdict at home in game two, then needing late goals from Dmitry Rashevsky to edge a 2-1 scoreline in game three.

But today, Guy Boucher’s men produced the kind of commanding performance expected of them against Igor Grishin’s battlers.
Clinical finishing made the difference. By the second intermission, the shot count was tight at 23-21, but Avangard had a 4-1 lead and Alexander Volkov had three points.

It started after 99 seconds. Rashevsky turned provider this time, spinning away from Nikita Khlystov behind the net before Volkov took the puck from him to score from close range. And the visitor doubled its lead before the intermission through Konstantin Okulov. Mike McLeod battled away in the corner and the puck bounced out for Okulov to fire in a deflected shot from the boards.

Avangard was good value for its first-period lead, and increased its advantage at the start of the second. Once again, the Rashevsky-Volkov double act took to the stage. Rashevsky brought play from his own zone to Filipp Dolganov’s net, setting up Volkov for his second of the game.

It was vital for the home team to get the next goal if it was to have any chance of rescuing the game. There was a big alarm when a shorthanded counterattack saw Vasily Ponomaryov redirect Ibragimov’s long-range shot onto the post. But Neftekhimik recovered and managed to get one back in the 28th minute when German Tochilkin put away the rebound from Sevastyan Sokolov’s shot.

But that was as close as the Wolves would get to salvaging this game. Volkov turned provider in the 34th minute as Nikolai Prokhorkin made it 4-1 and the game was already heading out of reach.

Home goalie Dolganov did not come out for the third period, replaced by Yaroslav Ozolin. Following a flood of penalties, Prokhorkin beat him on a four-on-three power play after 46 minutes, sending the understudy briefly back to the bench. Dolganov was on the ice when Andrei Belozyorov got a consolation effort for the home team, but made way for his junior partner once more.

There was still time for a fight, with Neftekhimik’s Ilya Pastukhov getting the better of his battle against Kirill Dolzhenkov. But after that, things calmed down and the closing stages saw little from either team as Avangard closed out the win.