Five-star Goldobin, 300-up for Radulov. September 15 round-up

Three games on Tuesday’s card saw Alexander Radulov’s 300th KHL goal help Lokomotiv reel off a fifth straight win. The defending champ won 4-1 in Traktor’s home opener. Andrew Poturalski scored his second OT winner in three days as Avangard again won 3-2 in the extras. And Nikolai Goldobin stormed to the head of the scoring race with a five-point display against Shanghai Dragons. The SKA forward scored his first goal of the season, added four assists, and currently has 12 (1+11) points. 

Poturalski pots OT winner again

Avangard Omsk 3 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 OT (0-0, 0-2, 2-0, 1-0)

Despite trailing by two, Avangard rallied to claim an overtime win at the end of its opening home stand of the 2026/2027 season. After victory over Metallurg last time out, head coach Guy Boucher continued with an unchanged roster.

His opposition number Alexei Kudashov had to make changes from the team that won in Novosibirsk. Forwards Anton Slepyshev, Daniel Sprong and Nikita Shashkov were unavailable for various reasons, leaving Avto to skate with 11 forwards and Kale Clague back in the team as seventh D-man.

Both teams sought the initiative from the start. Avangard looked for swift attacks with early chances for Josh Leivo and Vasily Ponomaryov. Avtomobilist had more puck possession and looked to shoot whenever a lane opened up. There were good chances at both ends, but by the end of the session the Hawks looked to be gaining the upper hand and earned the first power play of the night but Vladimir Galkin in the Avto net kept the game tied until the intermission.

After the break, the Motormen steadily found their way back into the game, moving play away from Galkin’s net and eventually gaining control of the play. Alexander Barabanov and Anatoly Golyshev wasted glorious chances, but after 27 minutes Maxim Denezhkin beat Nikita Serebryakov when he found space in front of the net.

Avangard was unable to rekindle its earlier offensive game and Avtomobilist was far more ambitious going forward. Midway through the session it got on the power play and Barabanov converted it, finding a way to goal despite being surrounded by opponents on the slot.

Everything changed at the start of the third. Avangard needed a swift response, and Andrew Poturalski delivered after Yegor Afansyev forced an error from Danil Gushchin and set up his team-mate. The Hawks took wing, surging forward and winning a power play. That brought a tying goal from Dmitry Rashevsky on 45 minutes, putting away the rebound from Nail Yakupov’s shot.

Neither team could settle it in regulation, and for the second time in two days, the action in Omsk was tied at 2-2 after 60 minutes. And, as against Metallurg, Avangard went on to win in overtime on a goal from Poturalski. This time he needed just 34 seconds to finish an odd-man rush with Mikhail Gulyayev, wiring a wrister to the short side.

Radulov’s milestone wraps up Loko’s win

Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4 (0-0, 1-1, 0-3)

Alexander Radulov scored his 300th KHL goal as Lokomotiv defeated Traktor for the second time this season. In Yaroslavl on opening day it finished 5-1 to the defending champ; today it was 4-1 in Chelyabinsk.

Loko reeled off a fifth successive win to maintain its 100% start to the season, but Traktor fell to a third loss in four games in its home opener. Scott Gordon replaced defenseman Sergei Telegin with Vladislav Yusupov and gave Dmitry Nikolayev the start in goal ahead of Henrik Haukeland. Loko had Alexei Melnichuk in goal, while Danil Romantsev played on a try-out contract.

For a time, it seemed that home advantage might be the boost Traktor needed. Backed by a sell-out crowd, the host had the better of a goalless first period Artemy Nizameyev, Stepan Gorbunov and Nathan Legare all had good chances, but Melnichuk remained unbeaten.

Traktor’s good play continued in the second, helped by a couple of power plays. The pressure finally paid off in the 34th minute. Defenseman Vladislav Valentsov, celebrating his 30th birthday, set up the play, Alexander Rykov fired a shot from the slot and 20-year-old Nizameyev converted the rebound for Traktor’s first goal in Chelyabinsk this season.

However, the lead did not last long. Radulov set up Georgy Ivanov, whose finish kept up his run of picking up points in every game this season.

Level at the second intermission, Lokomotiv began to tighten the screws in the third. The Railwaymen spurned two power play chances, but soon moved in front at equal strength. Ilya Nikolayev finished off a pacy passing move in front of his namesake’s net midway through the period. And the visitor sealed the win with two empty-net goals. Matvei Kotkov, who scored the first goal of the KHL season when these two teams met in Yaroslavl, was on target again. Then Radulov completed his latest milestone to wrap up a 4-1 scoreline. 

Goldobin stars in big win for SKA

SKA St. Petersburg 7 Shanghai Dragons 2 (2-0, 3-1, 2-1)

Nikolai Goldobin produced a five-point game – including his first goal of the season – as SKA crushed the Dragons.

Last season’s Petersburg derbies produced some dramatic, close-fought games. But today’s encounter between SKA and a Shanghai Dragons team still based at the SKA Arena, was a one-sided affair.

Although Igor Larionov’s team had won four out of five ahead of tonight’s action, not everyone was convinced of SKA’s quality. Two overtime wins against unfancied Lada and a 1-0 road win at Sochi did not have the feel of championship form, even if a 5-3 comeback win over Dynamo Moscow was more impressive.

Today, though, everything clicked. Two goals for Scott Wilson led the way as SKA roared into a 5-0 lead before Stepan Khripunov got the Dragons on the board at the end of the second period.

Wilson started the rout in the seventh minute. Sergei Plotnikov surged down the wing and his shot cannoned off the end board for the Canadian center to beat Amir Miftakhov from close range. Miftakhov was soon called into action again, getting just enough to turn a close-range effort from Danil Aimurzin onto the post. But the reprieve was brief: a couple of minutes later Plotnikov doubled the lead after racing onto Nikolai Goldobin’s feed.

At the start of the second, Wilson got another, finishing off a four-on-two rush after a breakdown in Shanghai’s play. Midway through the middle frame, Goldobin set up defenseman Sergei Sapego for the fourth, chasing Miftakhov from his net and bringing Pavel Khomchenko into the game. He was beaten almost immediately as Goldobin continued his single-handed dominance and made it 5-0 after deking past Pavel Koledov.

That was Goldobin’s first goal of the season, adding to the 11 assists he had produced in the five games and two periods he had played up to that point.

The teams traded goals at the start of the third, with Goldobin not involved for the first time as SKA made it 6-2 thanks to Nikolai Chebykin’s shot on the turn. Dmitrij Jaskin replied a minute later, but the gap was back up to five on 45:58 when Aimurzin netted his second goal of the season.