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Sochi edged a 5-4 win over SKA, snapping the visitor’s four-game winning streak in a game dominated by players lining up against their former club. CSKA followed up last week’s 7-1 win with a 9-1 demolition of Vityaz, outscoring Metallurg’s eight-goal blast at home to Neftekhimik. Lokomotiv moves top of the Western Conference thanks to victory at Spartak, while Dynamo Moscow stays level on points with the Railwaymen after defeating Kunlun Red Star yet again. Lada edged a 3-2 win over Salavat Yulaev, while Traktor came from behind to down Sibir in OT. Dinamo Minsk enjoyed a comfortable home win against Barys.

There were just two games on Sunday’s KHL card, and both ended in victories for Eastern Conference powerhouses. Ak Bars snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-1 thrashing of Amur. Meanwhile, Avangard ended a four-game skid with an OT success at Kunlun Red Star.

HC Sochi became the first away team to win in Nizhny Novgorod this season. A hat-trick from Borna Rendulic paced a 5-2 victory at the league leader. Lokomotiv also hit five on the road, climbing to second in the West with a 5-0 thrashing of Severstal. Troy Josephs ended Lada’s goal drought, scoring twice in a 2-1 OT win at Dinamo Minsk. Earlier in the day, Sibir defeated Barys for the fourth time this month, Traktor avenged last week’s loss at Spartak and Avtomobilist sank Admiral with three goals in the third period.

All three KHL games ended with a shut-out on Friday. First, Metallurg regained its share of top spot in the overall standings, snapping a three-game skid with a 1-0 squeaker at Salavat Yulaev. Magnitka moves to 19 points, level with Western Conference leader Torpedo. Dynamo closed on the Western summit with an emphatic victory over Avangard. Four power play goals helped Alexei Kudashov’s men to a 6-0 victory. And there was a third shut-out of the day in Mytishchi, where Amur blanked Kunlun Red Star to avenge a shoot-out loss in its home opener 10 days earlier.

CSKA racked up a big win over in-form Sochi, offering hope that the defending champion is putting a stuttering start to the season behind it. This season’s leader, Torpedo, consolidated its position with an OT win against Ak Bars. There were goals in Cherepovets, where Spartak beat Severstal 5-3, but fans in Balashikha endured the exact opposite as Vityaz and Lada went scoreless through 60 minutes before Vladimir Galuzin won it for the host. In Thursday’s opening action, Barys rallied from 0-2, with Riley Barber continuing his hot streak, but lost in a shoot-out to Admiral.

Kunlun Red Star denied Metallurg the chance to move clear at the top of the KHL standings. The Dragons recovered from 0-2 to grab a shoot-out win over Magnitka, which moves to 17 points alongside Torpedo. Two other teams also clawed back two-goal deficits, but neither Traktor nor Amur could finish the job against Salavat Yulaev and Neftekhimik respectively. Early in the day, SKA reeled off a fourth successive victory with a 3-0 success at Sibir. Lokomotiv enjoyed a 3-1 success over Avtomobilist.

Torpedo’s 4-1 win at Vityaz puts Igor Larionov’s team on top of the KHL standings. Among its pursuers, surprise package HC Sochi recorded a sixth successive victory with a 3-2 verdict over Spartak. We saw the same scoreline in Minsk, where Dinamo edged Ak Bars to make it two wins in three. CSKA’s problems continue: the defending champion was unable to build on its road win at Lokomotiv and went down 1-2 against Severstal.

Monday’s big game saw Lokomotiv beat Metallurg 4-1, with the home team scoring three goals from three shots in the third period to seal the verdict. Dynamo, the other conference leader, also suffered defeat, going down 2-3 at Sibir. There were goals aplenty in Nizhnekamsk, where Pontus Aberg had a hat-trick as Barys won 6-5 in overtime. SKA relied on its depth to edge Admiral and make it three wins in a row, while Traktor edged an overtime win at Lada thanks to Zac Fucale’s first KHL shut-out.

The second Green derby of the season saw Salavat Yulaev produce another fightback against Ak Bars. This time, though, it was not enough to turn the game around as Kazan got revenge for its defeat 10 days earlier. In Sunday’s other game, Dinamo Minsk also produced an unsuccessful fightback. The Bison came from 0-3 to tie Torpedo at 3-3 – but only for eight seconds before Daniil Bokun restored the visitor’s lead.

SKA started a busy Saturday of KHL action with a 4-0 win at Amur, a game notable for Alex Galchenyuk potting his first two goals for his new club. He wasn’t the only man to score twice: Shane Prince helped Spartak to victory over Traktor, while Riley Barber and Maxim Karpov finished on the losing side at Sibir and Severstal respectively. Karpov was especially unfortunate: he tied the game for Metallurg in the 58th minute, but Severstal claimed a shoot-out win despite trailing 0-3 after six minutes. Elsewhere, CSKA got a hard-fought win at Lokomotiv, Lada moves to second in the East after thrashing Kunlun, and Dynamo stays top of the West thanks to a 5-4 verdict at Admiral.

Avtomobilist ended a three-game skid with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Salavat Yulaev. Dinamo snapped a longer unsuccessful run, edging a 3-2 verdict at home to Vityaz to record a first win in six. Vityaz remains rooted to the foot of the standings after seven straight losses.

CSKA lost in Togliatti for the first time since 2009, going down 1-3 to a Lada team that could be the most impressive we’ve seen in the KHL era. In the day’s early action, Dynamo Moscow won in Khabarovsk to return to the Western Conference summit while Admiral won its home opener against Kunlun Red Star. Sibir celebrated a first regulation-time win at its new arena, edging past Avangard amid a flurry of late goals. It was a similar story for Sochi, who overturned a 2-3 deficit in the last 10 minutes to beat Traktor. Spartak’s Nikolai Goldobin had five assists in a 6-3 win over Barys.

After five successive losses, SKA got back on track with victory at home to Severstal. However, Dinamo Minsk slipped to its fifth loss in a row at home to Lokomotiv. And Vityaz is even worse off, losing six in a row as Torpedo returned to the top of the Western conference. KHL leader Metallurg kept up its good start to the season with a shoot-out verdict against Avtomobilist, while Salavat Yulaev blew a 2-0 lead before defeating Neftekhimik 4-2.

Amur played its first home game of the season after a long – and not unsuccessful – road trip to begin the campaign. The Tigers after back-to-back wins at Avangard (5-1) and Sibir (2-1, SO) to face a Kunlun team that briefly led the KHL standings but slipped back on a run of three straight losses.

There’s a new leader in the West, as Dynamo defeated Spartak with Yegor Petukhov bagging a lacrosse goal in the closing stages. That moves the Blue-and-Whites clear of Torpedo, which lost in overtime at Salavat Yulaev. In the East, Metallurg consolidated its position on top of the overall standings with a 4-2 win over Avtomobilist before Dmitrij Jaskin’s hat-trick saw Ak Bars edge past Vityaz in OT. The highest-scoring performance of the day – and the season so far – came in Astana, where Barys scored eight on Neftekhimik. There were also plenty of goals in Sochi as the Leopards edged Severstal to make it four successive wins.

Neither SKA nor Sibir came into this game in good form. The home team had lost four in a row after winning its first two games of the season. The visitor, meanwhile, won its home opener on Sep. 7 but was defeated in its next three outings. Both teams, therefore, needed boost in Sunday’s solitary game.

High-flying Torpedo saw a five-game winning streak come to an end after Ak Bars rallied from 0-2 to win in Kazan. Barys, meanwhile, celebrated its first win of the season, ending a five-game skid. Avangard and Lokomotiv enjoyed comfortable wins over Neftekhimik and KRS respectively, before CSKA came from behind to win a thrilling derby in overtime.

Both Friday’s games brought together teams in contrasting form. And both games following that formbook. Dynamo Moscow went to Petersburg and won a fourth successive game, handing SKA a fourth loss. Meanwhile, Sochi recorded a third straight win over Sibir, which has now lost its last three.

A 2-0 lead is notoriously tricky, and so it proved today. Ak Bars blew that scoreline in Ufa to lose 3-2, while Torpedo recovered a two-goal deficit to beat Red Star 5-2. Lada came close to matching those feats, but after getting to 2-2 at Metallurg it lost in overtime. Avangard also saw a 2-0 advantage disappear, and had to recover in the final minutes before defeating Admiral 4-3. There were no such problems for Spartak, comfortable winners at Vityaz, nor Avtomobilist at home to Neftekhimik. Traktor withstood a Dinamo Minsk fightback to win 3-2.

Dynamo Moscow added to CSKA’s sluggish start to the season, winning 4-1 at the defending champion thanks to two goals from Dmitry Rashevsky and three points for Nikita Gusev. Matvei Michkov’s new loan spell at Sochi began with two assists in an entertaining OT win at Severstal. And the day’s third game also finished in a road win as Amur edged Sibir in a shoot-out.

SKA played its home opener looking to bounce back after back-to-back losses on the road. Instead, it suffered a shut-out loss to a Spartak team that allowed 17 goals in its first four games. The Red-and-Whites move to within two points of the early leaders in the Western Conference, while Torpedo’s 3-1 win over Admiral pushes it ahead of Kunlun, beaten 1-2 at Lokomotiv. In the East, Ak Bars needed overtime to defeat Dinamo Minsk while Lada got a revenge win at Traktor.

It was something of a manic Monday in the KHL, with a series of surprise results. Undefeated Avangard suffered a 1-5 drubbing at home to an Amur team that lost its last three. Winless Neftekhimik got off the mark, denying Avtomobilist the chance to go top of the table. HC Sochi stunned Lokomotiv with a 5-0 win in Yaroslavl. Barys came close to its first win of the campaign at Dynamo Moscow, but blew a 3-1 lead to lose in overtime. That all left the way clear for Metallurg to go top of the table thanks to a 2-1 victory at Salavat Yulaev.

The Dragons moved back to the top of the fledgling KHL standings after edging an overtime verdict over CSKA. The defending champion lost twice at Red Star last season after going to OT, and the Mytishchi hoodoo struck again in Sunday’s only game.

Avtomobilist was the day’s big winner, downing Sibir 6-1 in the new Novosibirsk arena with Alexei Makeyev scoring a hat-trick. Lada celebrated its first win since returning to the KHL, thumping Amur 5-1. Dynamo’s Jordan Weal had 1+2 as he inspired his team’s power play in a 4-0 win over Sochi. Metallurg came from behind to win at Vityaz, while Avangard remains unbeaten with a 4-1 success over winless Barys.

Ivan Fedotov returned to CSKA’s net and got his first W of the season in a 5-1 success at Neftekhimik. SKA, meanwhile, suffered a second successive loss, going down to Lokomotiv. Ak Bars bounced back from defeat to HC Sochi, handing league leader Kunlun Red Star its first reverse of the campaign. There were goals aplenty for Torpedo and Admiral, while Traktor edged Vityaz 3-2.

The big game of the day was in Novosibirsk, where Sibir’s new arena hosted its first KHL action. The visit of Barys proved a tense affair, with the host prevailing in a shoot-out. Elsewhere, Avangard inflicted a first loss of the season on Avtomobilist and Metallurg won on the road at Dynamo.

Wednesday was a day of unexpected results. HC Sochi sensationally defeated Ak Bars 3-1 in Kazan to record a first win of the season. Then Torpedo handed SKA a first defeat, edging a 4-3 verdict. Elsewhere, Alexander Chmelevski’s hat-trick brought Salavat Yulaev victory at Lada, Loko got its first win thanks to a late show from Artur Kayumov and two players potted their first KHL goals to lift Kunlun Red Star over Dinamo Minsk.

Tuesday’s only KHL game was a clash of two clubs with title ambitions. Metallurg came out on top to give Andrei Razin his first win since taking over as head coach in Magnitogorsk.

It was a day of milestones. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s 1,200th game as head coach ended in a rousing 5-3 win over Traktor, but Grigory Panin’s 1,000th game on defense finished as a 1-2 loss at Avtomobilist. Nikolai Goldobin grabbed a hat-trick in the day’s best individual performance, helping Spartak to a 6-4 win over Severstal. Nikita Gusev’s first of the season completed a 3-1 win for his new club, Dynamo, against Amur. Dinamo Minsk was the day’s top scorer, firing seven past Vityaz. There were also wins for SKA at Lada, Sibir at Barys (after trailing 0-3) and Kunlun Red Star over Sochi.

After losing to Ak Bars in the season opener, CSKA responded with an assured win over Admiral. Sunday’s other game saw Lokomotiv lose at home to Torpedo, with Alexei Kruchinin scoring twice.

There were nine games and 50 goals on a Saturday full of intrigue. SKA’s 2-1 victory over Dynamo was arguably the biggest game of the day, but Dinamo Minsk’s rousing comeback from 1-4 to win at Neftkehimik produced some of the most memorable action. Severstal was the day’s leading scorer, putting six past Sochi. Lada returned to the KHL, but could not beat Traktor in its season opener.

The big news from Friday’s curtain raiser was CSKA’s decision to start Ivan Fedotov in goal. Fedotov is back in the game after missing last season to complete his national service, and his return to action has sparked a transatlantic transfer wrangle between the Muscovites and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Russian club insists that it signed a valid contract with Fedotov, believing that he was a free agent after his proposed move to the NHL was halted in the summer of 2022. The Flyers, meanwhile, argue that when a player is unable to fulfil his contract, it automatically rolls over and remains valid for the following season.

The final game of pre-season went all the way to a shoot-out before Admiral took the verdict against Dinamo Minsk. Both teams had a busy schedule in the final days of their summer program, and this was the third game in three days for each of them.

Torpedo finished its pre-season campaign with a narrow loss against Admiral in Minsk.

The last tournament of the summer came to an end in Moscow, with Spartak beating CSKA to lift the Mayor’s cup. Earlier in the day, Dynamo beat Vityaz in the third-place playoff, and Kunlun Red Star edged Amur in a shoot-out. Dinamo Minsk’s run of warm-up games continued with an overtime loss against Torpedo.

Two tournaments were settled on Saturday – and it was the host clubs on top. Traktor won the Governor of Chelyabinsk Cup with a 3-0 win over Lada, while in Petersburg SKA won the deciding encounter of the Puchkov Tournament with a 4-2 verdict over Severstal. Vityaz and Dynamo Moscow will contest Sunday’s bronze medal game at the Mayor of Moscow Cup after wins over Kunlun Red Star and Amur respectively. In Saturday’s only warm-up game, Dinamo Minsk downed Admiral 4-1.

The Mayor of Moscow Cup final is set, with CSKA and Spartak recording their second wins of the tournament. That means the capital city rivals will top groups A and B respectively and play off for gold on Sunday. In Petersburg, the Puchkov Tournament is also set for a gold medal showdown after SKA recovered from 0-2 to beat Sibir. The host club is perfect after three games, and faces a similarly flawless Severstal team in tomorrow’s decider. The Blinov Cup ended in Omsk with Barys underlining its trophy win by defeating Neftekhimik 3-1 to finish with a 100% record.

There was action in four summer tournaments, and several comebacks to enjoy. Lada rallied from 0-3 to beat Metallurg at the Chelyabinsk Governor’s Cup, before Traktor came from 1-3 to defeat Ak Bars in a shoot-out at the same event. In Omsk, Avangard trailed 0-2 against Salavat Yulaev but ended a 3-2 winner. The opening day of the Mayor of Moscow Cup brought wins for Spartak and CSKA, while Severstal maintained its perfect start at the Puchkov Tournament by downing Avtomobilist.

With two game days left, Barys is already assured of lifting the Blinov Cup. Today’s win over host club Avangard makes it three out of three for the Kazakhs, although one of those results came after Salavat Yulaev forfeited its first game following the death of Rodion Amirov. Elsewhere, Traktor opened the Chelyabinsk Governor’s Cup with a derby win over Metallurg. In Petersburg, Severstal remained perfect after edging Sibir 1-0 while Sochi gave SKA plenty to think about in the teams’ Puchkov Tournament meeting.

Monday saw both SKA and Salavat Yulaev play their first games at the Puchkov Tournament and the Blinov Cup respectively. And the similarities didn’t end there as both teams enjoyed 5-2 victories.