Minsk marches on, Loko closes in
We have our first qualifier for the second round of the 2026 KHL playoffs. Dinamo Minsk wrapped up a first-round sweep of Dynamo Moscow after Stanislav Galiyev scored twice in an overtime win. Also in Moscow, defending champion Lokomotiv won 2-0 at Spartak to take a 3-1 lead back to Yaroslavl on Wednesday.
Galiyev sends Minsk to round two
Dynamo Moscow 1 Dinamo Minsk 2 2OT (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
Minsk wins the series 4-0
Two goals from Stanislav Galiyev secured Dinamo Minsk its fourth, decisive victory in this first-round playoff battle.
The Belarusians became the first time to reach the second round in 2026 when Galiyev snapped a 1-1 tie in the second period of overtime.
For the Muscovites, it’s the first time the club has suffered a sweep in a KHL first-round contest.
The problem for the Blue-and-Whites in this series was goals. Three previous games had produced just three goals, and Minsk goalie Zach Fucale was leading the way for saves in the playoffs. Although Vyacheslav Kozlov’s team improved its defense after the series moved to Moscow, it could do no better than a tie on home ice and fell in OT on both occasions.
Today’s winner came on 87:02. Vitaly Pinchuk was the architect, collecting Xavier Ouellet’s clearance in center ice and spinning to release Galiyev down the right. He burst into the Dynamo zone, drew Daniil Pylenkov towards him, and rifled home a wrister from the face-off dot to beat Vladislav Podyapolsky and settle the series.
Given the state of the series, the home team could ill afford a slow start. However, in the fourth minute Galiyev seemed give Minsk the lead when he redirected Ty Smith’s elevated shot beyond Podyapolsky. However, the Moscow bench spotted an infringement and the challenge found that Pinchuk impeded the goalie as the shot came in.
However, that reprieve did not inspire the home team to a rush of attacking play. By the middle of the opening stanza, there had been just four shots on goal and at the end of the first the count was 7-5 in the host’s favor.
Only one of those efforts found the net, and it was one from Galiyev. He finished off a counterattack after a home attack broke, giving Minsk a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
Down at the intermission, the Muscovites rallied in the second period. Ryan Spooner’s foul gave the home team the first power play of the game. Nikita Gusev had the puck in the net, but a bench challenge showed that Dylan Sikura was standing on the paint as the shot came in.
But when Ouellet joined Spooner in the box, Gusev got his goal. Jordan Weal picked out his colleague in the left-hand circle, and Gusev wired a wrister inside Fucale’s near post.
Dynamo had hope once again, but could not find that second goal in regulation. The extras saw both teams simplify their game, trying to keep things tight while seeking the winner. Pinchuk almost won it for Minsk in the 78th minute, but his shot came back off the post with Podyapolsky beaten. That alerted the home team, and the Muscovites began the second extra period on the front foot. However, Minsk defended stoutly, and when Pinchuk’s pass unlocked the home D, Galiyev brought the series to an end.
Spartak Moscow 0 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (0-1, 0-1, 0-0)
Lokomotiv leads the series 3-1
The defending champion picked up a 2-0 win at Spartak and can wrap up its first-round series with victory on home ice on Wednesday.
However Lokomotiv didn’t have it easy in Moscow, where Monday’s game brought two legitimate goals and three successful bench challenges. There was also something of a defensive masterclass as the visitor limited Spartak to just 18 shots at Daniil Isayev, who secured his first post-season shut-out of 2026.
Both teams were forced to make changes. Lokomotiv lost Byron Froese to suspension after his foul on Joey Keane in the previous game. Keane was injured in that incident and was replaced by Veniamin Korolyov, while Denis Alexeyev got his first playoff appearance for Loko this season.
The visitor made a fine start, scoring in the first minute once again. This time Rushan Rafikov’s point shot came through traffic, with Alexander Georgiyev screened.
However, Spartak was not disillusioned after that early goal. Instead, the home team responded by taking the game to the Railwaymen. For a long time, Lokomotiv’s only shot was its opening goal, while at the other end Daniil Gutik was closest to tying the game.
Perversely, the home team got the puck past Isayev in the 16th minute, by which time Lokomotiv had already reasserted some control of the play. However, Luke Lockhart’s goal was ruled out after Bob Hartley successfully challenged for interference on Isayev. Loko heeded the warning and stepped up its own attacking efforts. Alexander Radulov hit the crossbar and Andrei Sergei rattled the post in one impressive shift before the intermission.
That pattern continued after the break, with the visitor attacking in the second period. Alexander Polunin should have doubled the lead, but fired wide of what was effectively an empty net. Spartak barely troubled Isayev, running into a wall of opponents any time it tried to get through center ice.
Midway through the session, Lokomotiv got the second goal it deserved. Spartak lost possession on halfway, and Maxim Beryozkin raced away to beat Georgiyev and open his account for this year’s playoffs. In the final seconds of the frame, another vital intervention from the Lokomotiv bench saw another successful challenge; Demid Mansurov was the player denied this time.
Alexei Zhamnov freshened up Spartak’s lines for the third period. That brought some success, with the game less lopsided in the final frame. But Lokomotiv was comfortable to play defensive hockey and run down the clock, albeit still with an eye to the counterattack. Both teams rang the iron, with Beryozkin and Gutik going close. And, after losing two goals to bench challenges, Zhamnov made a successful one of his own, costing Maxim Shalunov a third goal for Lokomotiv. But that was all Spartak had to cheer as the game ended in a result that puts the Red-and-Whites on the brink of exiting the playoffs.
