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Former Traktor forward Maxim Shalunov potted the OT winner to give Lokomotiv its first ever Gagarin Cup. One year after the Railwaymen were swept in 2024, Igor Nikitin’s team got it right tonight, edging Traktor in game five as Shalunov settled the first overtime of this year’s final series.

Lokomotiv’s fine form on the road in this year’s playoffs continues – and a 3-1 win in Chelyabinsk puts the Railwaymen one game away from lifting the Gagarin Cup.

After dropping the opening game for the third series in a row, Loko moved up 2-1 for the third series in a row after picking up a win in Chelyabinsk. Traktor’s first Gagarin Cup final home game since 2013 ended in disappointment as the visitor skated to a 5-2 victory.

Lokomotiv hit back to tie the 2025 Gagarin Cup final with a big win in game two. It’s the third series in a row that the Railwaymen have responded after dropping the opener and it means we’re headed to Chelyabinsk with the teams tied at 1-1.

Game One of the Gagarin Cup final went to Traktor. Maxim Shabanov made the difference in Yaroslavl, moving to 20 points in this year’s playoffs with a game-winning display.

Traktor is on its way to the 2025 Gagarin Cup final after a dramatic finish in Chelyabinsk this afternoon. Benoit Groulx’s team was looking to wrap up the series in game five but blew a 3-1 lead in the third period. However, with overtime looming, Maxim Shabanov grabbed a 59th-minute winner to send the home team through to face Lokomotiv.

The master and the apprentice combined to finish this KHL 2025 playoff semi-final series in five games. Alexander Radulov and Yegor Surin shared four goals and seven points as Lokomotiv returns to the Gagarin Cup final.

A 3-1 win on home ice means Dynamo Moscow escaped a sweep at the hands of Traktor in the 2025 KHL playoff semi-finals. Now the teams are poised to continue their battle in Chelyabinsk, with Benoit Groulx’s men looking to finish the job on Tuesday.

A 3-0 win at Salavat Yulaev puts Lokomotiv up 3-1 in this 2025 KHL playoff semi-final. Daniil Isayev blanked the home offense, and goals from the visitor’s promising young forwards settled the outcome.

For the first time in this year’s Gagarin Cup semi-finals, we went to overtime. Dynamo and Traktor tied 2-2 in Moscow before Maxim Shabanov gave the visitor the verdict.

A sell-out crowd in Ufa was hoping for a parade as the 2025 KHL playoff semi-finals came to Bashkortostan. But Lokomotiv derailed those hopes, taking a 4-2 victory to get in front in the series.

A second home victory put Traktor 2-0 up in its 2025 Gagarin Cup semi-final series against Dynamo. Zach Fucale made two big saves in the final minute to preserve the home team’s one-goal lead and send the series to Moscow with the Chelyabinsk team on top.

The regular season champ got back on track in game two of its Gagarin Cup semi-final. A 2-1 verdict over Salavat Yulaev means its all square as the series moves to Ufa.

Despite trailing 0-2 to Dynamo Moscow, Traktor recovered to win the opener in this 2025 KHL semi-final series. Vasily Glotov got the winner in the 54th minute to settle an entertaining game in Chelyabinsk.

The first game in this year’s KHL playoff semi-finals went to Salavat Yulaev with a 3-1 win in Yaroslavl.

Wednesday brought two game sevens and both were as close as the series that brought us here. In Ufa, Salavat Yulaev saw Spartak claw back an 0-2 deficit before winning 3-2 on a late Alexei Vasilevsky goal. And it was a similar story in Yaroslavl, where Lokomotiv got up 2-0 before Avangard forced overtime. Here, Alexander Polunin decided the series in the 87th minute.

A 6-1 win in Kazan saw Dynamo Moscow power past Ak Bars into the semi-finals of the 2025 Gagarin Cup. It’s the Blue-and-Whites’ best run since winning it all in 2013, while Anvar Gatiyatulin will take Ak Bars no further in his first season as head coach.

Both of these series are heading the full distance. Avangard made it back-to-back wins against Lokomotiv to tie its second-round series at 3-3 having trailed 1-3. Then Salavat Yulaev defeated Spartak in overtime in Moscow. Alexei Vasilevsky’s goal snapped a 1-1 tie to send the series back to Ufa for Wednesday’s decider.

Traktor became the first team to reach the 2025 Gagarin Cup semi-finals after wrapping up its series against Dinamo Minsk in five games. A 3-1 win in Chelyabinsk saw Benoit Groulx’s team through the final four for the second year running. In Sunday’s other action, Dynamo Moscow recorded the first home victory of its series against Ak Bars and leads 3-2 ahead of the return to Kazan on Tuesday.

Both Salavat Yulaev and Avangard earned vital victories in game five of their KHL Gagarin Cup second round series on Saturday. The Eastern Conference contenders were facing elimination but found ways to win and prolong their seasons. Salavat Yulaev edged Spartak 4-3 in overtime, while the Hawks travelled to Yaroslavl for a 3-2 success over Lokomotiv.

In Minsk, Traktor edged a 3-2 verdict to go up 3-1 in the Gagarin Cup second round playoff series against Dinamo. Just two days after an 8-0 drubbing, Benoit Groulx’s team is just one win away from the semi-finals. Today’s other series is all square: Dynamo Moscow won 3-2 in Kazan despite a dominant performance from Ak Bars. The teams had back to the capital tied at 2-2.

After four games, Lokomotiv and Spartak are up 3-1 in their KHL playoff second round series. Loko took an overtime verdict at Avangard thanks to Alexander Radulov’s goal before Spartak’s power play paced a 6-2 thumping of Salavat Yulaev. Both teams will hope to complete the job on Saturday.

After four days of the second round of the KHL playoffs, all four series are at 2-1. Today, Dinamo Minsk reduced its deficit against Traktor with an emphatic 8-0 victory, while Dynamo Moscow won 3-1 in Kazan to move closer to Ak Bars.

Tuesday’s playoff action saw two Western Conference teams forge ahead in their series. Lokomotiv won 6-2 at Avangard in game three, then Spartak took a 4-2 verdict at home to Salavat Yulaev in the Gagarin Cup second round playoffs.

Traktor pulled off another comeback win to open a 2-0 lead over Dinamo Minsk in its Gagarin Cup second round series. The Belarusians led 3-0, but tied 3-3 in regulation before Grigory Dronov’s goal sent the pairing to Minsk with Traktor in control. Ak Bars also holds a 2-0 lead in its series against Dynamo Moscow. A 2-0 success in the Russian capital has Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men heading home in a strong position.

The first round of the 2025 KHL playoffs was tight, and the second could prove even tighter. Sunday’s action saw Spartak win in overtime at Salavat Yulaev to tie that series, before Lokomotiv cancelled out Avangard’s opening win to level things off before the pairing resumes in Omsk.

There was drama in the closing stages of both KHL playoff games on Saturday. Ak Bars saw a two-goal lead evaporate, but scored twice in the last two minutes to win at Dynamo Moscow. Traktor’s recovery was even more spectacular: down 1-2 in the last minute, it scored three times to win 4-2 against Dinamo Minsk.

It was a good day for the Eastern Conference as the second round of the 2025 playoffs got underway. With the pairings lined up in cross-Conference format, Salavat Yulaev decisively beat Spartak 4-1 helped by two goals from Dennis Yan. Then Avangard won at Lokomotiv, upsetting the seedings against the regular season champion.

A hard-fought 2-1 victory for Salavat Yulaev sealed a 4-3 win in its KHL playoff series against Sibir. That completes the first round of this year’s post season. In the second round, with teams playing cross-conference pairs, Western top seed Lokomotiv faces Avangard (starting Friday) and second seed Dynamo will take on Ak Bars (starting Saturday). The top Eastern seed, Traktor, plays Dinamo Minsk (also starting Saturday) and Salavat Yulaev is up against Spartak.

It took 83 minutes of the seventh game to separate two Eastern Conference foes, but Ak Bars eventually claimed the verdict over Avtomobilist. Kirill Semyonov will claim the winning goal, but it was a heartbreaking moment for home forward Alexei Byvaltsev as he pushed the puck into his own net.

Dynamo became the fourth and final Western Conference candidate to progress to the second round of the 2025 Gagarin Cup playoffs. A 5-2 victory in St. Petersburg completed a 4-2 win in its series against SKA, with Nikita Gusev netting his 250th KHL goal against his former club.

Sunday’s Eastern Conference action brought one more series winner and set up another game seven. Traktor’s 2-0 victory at Admiral put Benoit Groulx’s team through to the second round of the 2025 KHL playoffs. Meanwhile, Sibir defeated Salavat Yulaev 5-2 to send the teams back to Ufa for a final showdown on Tuesday.

Dinamo Minsk dumped CSKA Moscow out of the Gagarin Cup. A 5-2 victory in the Russian capital completed a 4-2 series win for Dmitry Kvartalnov’s men. It’s the first time in KHL history that the Belarusians have progressed beyond the first round of the playoffs, with Kvartalnov getting the better of one of his former clubs to make history.

Avangard is the first Eastern Conference team to advance to round two of the KHL playoffs. The Hawks won 3-2 at home to Metallurg, withstanding a third-period fightback to wrap up the series in six games. Ak Bars thrashed Avtomobilist 5-1 in Kazan, taking that series to game seven.

For the third time in five games, SKA and Dynamo went to overtime. This time, though, it was the Petersburg team that won it in the extras. As a result, the series continues in the Northern Capital on Sunday with Dynamo leading 3-2.

Both Eastern Conference series were locked at 2-2 going into Friday’s games. Admiral must have thought it was destined to leave Chelyabinsk with a 3-2 advantage when it led 4-0 at the second intermission. But Traktor pulled off a spectacular fightback to tie the game in the third period and win in overtime. Salavat Yulaev also came from behind, albeit in less spectacular fashion. Sheldon Rempal’s hat-trick amply cancelled out Sibir’s early goal in Ufa, paving the way for a 5-2 victory.

A comfortable home victory over Severstal saw Spartak safely into the second round of the 2025 Gagarin Cup playoffs. Alexei Zhamnov’s team finished the series in five games and joins Lokomotiv in the last eight. In today’s other Western Conference tie, Dinamo Minsk blitzed CSKA 7-0 to regain the lead in the series. The teams will return to Moscow with Dinamo up 3-2.

Defending champion Metallurg will not give up it title without a fight: after dropping the first three games of the series against Avangard, Magnitka is now back to 2-3 ahead of the weekend trip to Omsk. A 3-1 win in Magnitogorsk means it’s all to play for here. Today’s other Eastern series is also poised at 3-2, with Avtomobilist enjoying the upper hand following a 2-0 win over Ak Bars. The visitor scored seven in game four, but could not beat Evgeny Alikin today.

Lokomotiv secured its place in the next round of the 2025 KHL playoffs, completing a sweep of Torpedo with a 2-1 verdict in Nizhny Novgorod. Two power play goals made the difference for Igor Nikitin’s team, which is the only one to proceed through the first round without dropping a game. If that was straightforward, SKA’s game with Dynamo was anything but. The home team trailed 2-4 with five to play, tied it up then hit the post in the regulation. At the start of overtime, Marat Khairulin missed a penalty shot and SKA had a goal disallowed in the 74th minute before Max Comtois won it for the visitor.

Victories for Traktor and Sibir mean both of these Eastern Conference series are locked at 2-2. However, the two games were very different. Maxim Shabanov powered Traktor’s rally from 1-3, with five points in a 7-3 win. Sibir, meanwhile, edged past Salavat Yulaev with a 2-1 scoreline.