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Metallurg Magnitogorsk won the 2024 Gagarin Cup on Wednesday, completing a sweep of Lokomotiv with a 2-1 victory in Yaroslavl. It’s the third time the Steelmen have lifted the cup, matching Ak Bars’ record. In addition, Magnitka now joins Dynamo Moscow on six post-Soviet championships.

Metallurg won the 2024 Gagarin Cup, lifting the trophy for the third time in its history. A road win in Yaroslavl saw the Steelmen sweep Lokomotiv, with Daniil Vovchenko claiming the winning goal midway through the third period. Vovchenko is one of several players who followed head coach Andrei Razin from Severstal to Magnitogorsk. Behind a different bench, Razin claimed his first championship in his first season with the club, consolidating his status as one of Russia’s most exciting coaches.

It’s a lonely life being a goalie, and Lokomotiv’s Daniil Isayev will be feeling that more than most tonight. He was beaten in overtime when an innocuous shot from Alexander Petunin bounced off the boards and into the net off the goaltender’s skate. That gave Metallurg its third win of the 2024 Gagarin Cup final, with Ilya Nabokov making 32 saves to secure a 2-1 scoreline. The Steelmen could wrap up the season when the teams meet again on Wednesday.

Metallurg survived a last-second drama to claim a second victory in the Gagarin Cup final series. Denis Zernov’s goal 21 seconds into the third period was all that separated Magnitka and Lokomotiv in game two, with Ilya Nabokov making 32 saves. The home goalie was beaten by Georgy Ivanov in the final second, but a video review spotted a hand pass in the build-up and the Steelmen took the tightest of wins.

A late power play goal from Alexander Petunin saw Metallurg edge a tight verdict in the opening game of the 2024 Gagarin Cup final. After a high-scoring semifinal series, the Steelmen found themselves locked into a cagey encounter against Lokomotiv. The visitor got the opening goal early in the third period, but Magnitka tied it up quickly and Alexander Polunin’s penalty in the closing stages cost the Railwaymen dear.

Metallurg edged past Avtomobilist in game seven of the teams’ 2024 KHL semi-final, booking its place in the Gagarin Cup final for the fifth time. A dominant first-period display proved sufficient, with goals from Dmitry Silantiev and Danila Yurov setting the Steelmen on the right path. Maxim Denezhkin scored twice for Avtomobilist to keep the game alive, but Denis Zernov’s 24th-minute tally proved decisive. The 2024 Gagarin Cup final starts April 18 in Magnitogorsk, with Andrei Razin’s Metallurg facing Ilya Nikitin’s Lokomotiv. The two head coaches previously met as players in the 2001 Russian Superleague final, with Razin’s Metallurg defeating Nikulin’s Avangard.

We’re going to game seven! Avtomobilist kept its Gagarin Cup semifinal series alive with a home victory over Metallurg. Anatoly Golyshev, the leading scorer in this year’s playoffs, had two assists to take him to 18 (9+9) points in post season. Danil Romantsev had three assists, and Nikita Tryamkin finished with 1+1 to lead the home team to the win. That ties it up at 3-3, so the action moves to Magnitogorsk on Monday for the deciding game. The winner will advance to face Lokomotiv in the final.

Metallurg is just one game away from reaching the 2024 Gagarin Cup final after a 4-2 win over Avtomobilist in game five. Denis Zernov was the star man, grabbing a hat-trick to put Magnitka up 3-2 in the series. Victory on Saturday would send the Steelmen to the final for the fifth time. However, Avto will have home ice advantage as it looks to force game seven.

A thrilling battle in Yekaterinburg saw Avtomobilist fight back to tie this Gagarin Cup semi-final series. Despite allowing three goals in the first eight minutes, the home team rallied to win the game on a last-minute Stepan Khripunov counterattack goal.

Lokomotiv swept into its first Gagarin Cup final since 2009, wrapping up this semi-final series with a 3-0 win in Chelyabinsk. Goals from Martin Gernat,  Artur Kayumov and Sergei Andronov paved the way to victory, while Daniil Isayev made 25 saves to record his third shut-out of this year’s playoffs.

Avtomobilist grabbed a last-minute goal to save this game in regulation. But Danil Romantsev’s late effort was in vain as Metallurg recovered to regain the lead in this Gagarin Cup semi-final series thank to an overtime tally from Luke Johnson.

Lokomotiv is just one game away from returning to the Gagarin Cup final for the first time since 2009. Igor Nikitin’s team won 2-1 in Chelyabinsk, adding to the victories it enjoyed on home ice, and could wrap up this KHL playoff semi-final series on Monday.

Stephane Da Costa lit a fire under Avtomobilist’s power play on Friday, colliding 3 (2+1) points to lead his team to a 4-2 win in Magnitogorsk. That leaves the 2024 Gagarin Cup semi-final series tied at 1-1 as the teams head north to Yekaterinburg for Sunday’s instalment.

Many had Lokomotiv as hot favorites in game two of this Gagarin Cup semi-final series. However, Traktor had other ideas. The visitor shrugged off a damaging injury to force overtime in Yaroslavl, but ultimately fell to Georgy Ivanov’s goal in the extras. The teams head to Chelyabinsk on Saturday with Loko up 2-0.

Goals from Alexander Petunin and Pavel Akolzin helped Magnitka edge a 2-1 verdict over Avtomobilist in the opening game of their 2024 KHL semi-final series. Danil Romantsev grabbed a last-minute tally for the visitor, robbing Ilya Nabokov of back-to-back shut-outs for the second time in this year’s playoffs, but he couldn’t salvage the verdict for his team.

The first of this year’s KHL semi-final series got underway in Yaroslavl. Lokomotiv secured a 5-2 win, with Alexander Polunin scoring twice and Pavel Kraskovsky collecting 3 (1+2) points. Traktor’s problems were compounded by an injury to goalie Zach Fucale, who left the game late in the second period when the score was 2-1.

Saturday saw Lokomotiv and Metallurg secure the two remaining spots in the 2024 KHL Playoff Semi-finals. Both teams won on the road, both blanked their opponents and both will move into the last four as the higher-seeded team in their pairing. Lokomotiv, third in the West, will take on Traktor (sixth in the East). Metallurg, first in the East and the highest-ranked surviving team, face Avtomobilist (fifth in the East).

On a day of two fightbacks, Avangard rallied from 0-2 to win in Yaroslavl and take its series with Lokomotiv to game seven. Earlier, Spartak made it a one-goal game after trailing 0-4 at Metallurg but could not finish the job. Magnitka returns to Moscow up 3-2 and hoping to finish the job at the weekend.

It would be a brave man who predicted the winners of the two remaining Gagarin Cup second round series. The two on-going match-ups resumed after an unexpected delay and in both cases the team that was trailing grabbed a vital victory to remain in contention. Avangard prevented Lokomotiv from booking its place in the next round, winning 4-2 on home ice in game five to take the series back to Yaroslavl. Then Spartak edged out Metallurg 1-0 to tie that clash at 2-2.

A thrilling 5-4 victory in St. Petersburg saw Avtomobilist progress to the 2024 Gagarin Cup semi-finals. The fifth seed from the East joins another outsider, Traktor, in booking a place in the last four. SKA, second in the West, falls days after regular season champion Dynamo Moscow was eliminated from the competition.

SKA kept its season alive with victory in Yekaterinburg. However, despite today’s 2-4 loss, Avtomobilist still leads the series 3-1 and can finish the job when the teams meet in St. Petersburg next week. Saturday’s other scheduled game between Spartak and Metallurg was postponed to March 26 following Friday night’s terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow. The Avangard vs Lokomotiv game, scheduled to take place in Omsk tomorrow, is also postponed until March 26.

KHL updates its playoffs schedule.

Traktor, ranked sixth in the East and the lowest-rated team left in the competition, completed a sweep of regular-season champion Dynamo Moscow to become the first team to secure a place in the last four. Lokomotiv is one game away from confirming its match-up with Traktor after defeating Avangard in game four to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

Spartak found its scoring form after suffering two shut-outs. Today’s victory over Metallurg brings that series back to life. Today’s other action saw Avtomobilist push SKA to the brink of defeat: an overtime goal from Curtis Valk in Yekaterinburg puts the Motormen up 3-0 in the series.

After replacing Mikhail Kravets in mid-series, Avangard got an instant reward. Interim head coach Sergei Zvyagin led his team to an overtime victory in Yaroslavl, bringing the Hawks back to 1-2 in the second round playoff series. In Chelyabinsk, Traktor came from behind to claim a third win over Dynamo Moscow. Alexei Zavarukhin’s men can complete a sweep of the regular season champion with victory on Friday.

Avtomobilist continued to defy the seedings with a second win in St. Petersburg. The Motormen are up 2-0 in that series, with two home games in Yekaterinburg coming up later this week. Metallurg collected a second shut-out win over Spartak to take a 2-0 advantage before the series heads to Moscow on Thursday.

The outsiders are in control of these two series. Lokomotiv picked up a second successive win in Omsk, this time with an emphatic 7-0 verdict that left Avangard reeling. Traktor also heads home with a 2-0 lead in its series against Dynamo, thanks to a 5-4 victory in overtime against the regular season champion.

Fresh from dumping Ak Bars out of the playoffs, Avtomobilist continued to upset the formbook with victory in St. Petersburg at the start of round two. Metallurg eased to 4-0 success against Spartak, and became the only team to win its opening game on home ice this weekend.

The second round of KHL playoff action began with two road wins. Lokomotiv edged past Avangard in the second period of overtime before Traktor’s first-period blitz sank Dynamo Moscow.

The top team in the regular season became the eighth and last to take its place in the second round of the playoffs. Dynamo Moscow had to come from behind to win game six in Minsk, but a 3-1 verdict on Tuesday completed all the first-round action for 2024.

Eastern conference top seed Metallurg booked its passage into the second round with victory over Amur in game six. Once again, though, it was a tough battle against an opponent that finished eighth in regular season.

Traktor became the sixth team to advance to round two of the 2024 playoffs, completing a 4-2 series win over Salavat Yulaev and eliminating the Eastern Conference third seed. Now there are just two series left unresolved after Dinamo Minsk came from behind to defeat Dynamo Moscow in overtime, denying the regular season champion the chance to progress in game five.

Saturday’s action brought two more series to an end. Avangard’s 4-0 win at home to Lada sent the Hawks through in five games. SKA matched that outcome with a 3-0 victory over Torpedo in game five in St. Petersburg. Metallurg still has to go back to Amur, but can finish its contest in the Far East after today’s victory put it up 3-2 in the series.

Both of 2023’s Gagarin Cup finalists crashed out of the 2024 playoffs today. Defending champion CSKA was unable to recover after successive home losses and fell 6-2 to Lokomotiv in game five. At the same time, beaten finalist Ak Bars went down 1-2 at home to Avtomobilist in a frustrating end to a frustrating season in Kazan. Spartak also secured its place in the second round with a comfortable win over Severstal to complete a 4-1 series success. Two series will continue: Traktor has the edge after a 2-1 win at Salavat Yulaev and could wrap it up on home ice in game six. The Minsk-Moscow clash ended with Dynamo taking an OT verdict on the road. The Muscovites can finish it off on home ice at the weekend.

Avangard missed the chance to become the first team to advance to the second round. A 4-1 defeat at Lada sends that series back to Omsk for game five on Saturday. Like the Hawks, SKA will hope to complete its battle with Torpedo when it returns to home ice. Today’s victory in Nizhny Novgorod gives Roman Rotenberg’s team a 3-1 series lead. Earlier in the day, Amur enjoyed a 5-2 win over Eastern top seed Metallurg, tying that series at 2-2.

Friday’s action kept five series bubbling away nicely. Ak Bars got the biggest result of the day, thrashing Avtomobilist 5-0 to avoid a sweep. Last season’s other finalist, CSKA, is also down 1-3 after suffering a second home loss to Lokomotiv. Spartak’s OT win against Severstal put the Muscovites up 3-1 in that pairing. Salavat Yulaev’s win at Traktor ties that battle at 2-2, while Dinamo Minsk improved to 1-2 after a home victory over Dynamo Moscow.

A 3-1 win at Lada put Avangard up 3-0 in its first-round series. Mikhail Kravets’ team can finish the job on Thursday with another success in Togliatti. Tuesday’s other action also went according to the seedings. Metallurg took a 3-2 verdict at Amur to regain the lead in that series, while SKA moved in front of Torpedo for the first time with a 5-2 victory in Nizhny Novgorod.

Anatoly Golyshev scored the first hat-trick of this year’s playoffs and helped Avtomobilist open a 3-0 series lead over Ak Bars. Dynamo Moscow is also unbeaten after two late goals turned its second game with Dinamo Minsk upside down. Spartak’s offense was back on song at Severstal, winning 7-3, while Traktor moved ahead of Salavat Yulaev with a 3-2 verdict. CSKA recovered from 0-2 to force overtime against Lokomotiv, only to fall in the extras.

There was a huge battle in St. Petersburg, where SKA recovered from 0-2 to force overtime at home to Torpedo. After 33 minutes of the extras, Vasily Glotov completed the comeback to tie the series for the home team. Avangard also had to fight back from 0-2 at home to Lada, and Ivan Nikoloshin’s OT winner gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead in the series. In an opening round full of surprises, Amur provided the latest upset with a 3-2 win at Eastern top seed Metallurg. That series is tied as the action moves to Khabarovsk next week.

Day three of the playoffs saw Salavat Yulaev, Lokomotiv and Severstal hit back to tie their series against Traktor, CSKA and Spartak respectively. Avtomobilist went 2-0 up on Ak Bars before that pairing continues in Yekaterinburg on Monday. The final match-up in the West got underway, with Dynamo Moscow scoring three late goals to sink Dinamo Minsk.