Dynamo Moscow beat league leaders

League leaders SKA St. Petersbug twice had a lead against their biggest rivals in Bobrov Division but still lost in regulation. Dmitry Kalinin and Gleb Klimenko opened the score for SKA twice in the first period while Nikita Lukin scored the equalizer in between. In the follwing two periods the hosts stayed the dominant force but Dynamo turned the game around through Janne Jalasvaara and Sergei Konkov. After this match the Dynamo deficit in the table melted to just four points.
 
In another top game Traktor Chelyabinsk beat Salavat Yulayev Ufa. Alexander Shinin and Evgeny Kuznetsov brought the hosts in front within five seconds of the 4th minute before Igor Mirnov cut the lead to the half in the same period. In an even match Maxim Yakutsenya scored the decisive goal at the start of the third period. While Traktor is in an excellent position before the playoffs, Ufa still has to fear for their playoff qualification.

In a match that was full of penalties, the special teams played a decisive factor when Metallurg Magnitogorsk received Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Metallurg scored all three goals in power play. First Yaroslav Kosov made it 1-0 at 06:36 before Mats Zuccarello and Denis Platonov made everything clear in the middle period. Despite the high deficit Neftekhimik tried it with an additional attacker instead of their goalie in the last minutes of regulation after Metallurg's Justin Hodgman sat in the penalty box. In the end Georgy Gelashvili really deserved his shutout with 35 saves.
 
Now at the end of the regular season Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg proofed that they are at the same level as the best teams of the league when they give 110% and so they did today. Dmitry Obukhov brought the guests Ak Bars Kazan in front in power play at 12:19 before Stanislav Zhmakin - also with the man advantage - and Janne Pesonen turned the match around for Avtomobilist until the start of the middle period. Janne Pesonen twice scored the equalizer for Ak Bars in the second period with the 3-2 for Avtomobilist through Branislav Mezei in between. In the 4th round of a really even match Nikolai Zherdev transformed the decisive penalty to give the guests from Kazan the extra point. In the shootout it was already the second goal for him but Igor Yemeleyev saved Yekaterinburg a bit longer.
 
Bottom side Vityaz Chekhov lost their home match against Metallurg Novokuznetsk with the same result but they stayed without a single point. Evgeny Timkin and Sergei Lesnukhin tied the match twice for Vityaz after Dmitry Chernykh and Sergei Lesnukhin brought Metallurg in front. With eleven seconds left in the middle period again Chernykh restored the lead for Metallurg which was doubled at the start of the third period through Zakhar Arzamastsev. Anton Tikhomirov only was able to score the 3-4 for Vityaz at 52:41 but the race to catch up by Vityaz came too late. Despite the three points the playoff dream is already over for Metallurg aswell.
 
An extraordinary performance by their goalie Jeff Glass, who stopped 53 shots on goal, saved guests Sibir Novosibirsk a point during their visit to Severstal Cherepovets. Vadim Shipachyov had brought the hosts in front at the start of the middle period before Jonas Enlund gained the equalizer at 45:45. After a scoreless overtime the lucky streak was over for Glass and he let through both Severstal attempts through Mikhail Anisin and Ignat Zemchenko. 
 
Dinamo Minsk keep the playoff fight in the Western Conference exciting until the last minute. Today Tim Stapleton, Dmitry Meleshko and Alexander Kulakov decided the match against bottom side Amur Khabarovsk already in the first 12 minutes before Alexander Kulakov added another one for the hosts at 34:05. Dinamo goalie Lars Haugen was close to a shutout but he was stopped in his efforts by Topi Jaakola at 54:07. 

Tweets by @eurohockey