Spartak the next team not to make the playoffs

Spartak Moscow gained their second win on the road within 48 hours by defeating hosts Amur Khabarovsk with 2-1 but as the teams positioned higher in the table also won, they are out of the playoff race already. Branko Radivojevic and Oleg Gubin brought Spartak in front twice with the equalizer through Topi Jaakola in between. Amur clearly dominated the third period but couldn't get another strike.

Metallurg Novokuznetsk still have the theoratical chance to make the playoffs in the East - but it is not very realistic as they have a 14-point deficit with five games left - after beating DInamo RIga on home ice. Alexander Bumagin and Anton Lazarev pathed the way for the Metallurg win in the first period before Paul Szczechura cut the lead for the Latvian guests at the start of the second. In the same period though Nikita Vyglazov maded everything clear for Novokuznetsk with the 3-1.

Ukrainian league newcomers Donbass Donetsk earned a very important 5-2 away win against SIbir Novosibirsk that keep them on a playoff spot in the West. Lukas Kaspar and Dmitry Kagarlitsky (both 2) and Randy Robitaille scored for Donbass while Jori Lehterä and Alexander Nikulin had turned the initial guest lead around at the start of the middle period,
 
Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk missed the opportunity to get back on a playoff spot in the East after losing 4-5 on the road against Salavat Yulayev Ufa. Home side Ufa was always a step ahead and in front 4-1 and 5-2 before Andrei Kuzmin and Marek Troncinsky brought hope back for Yugra with goals early in the third period. Yugra played without a goalie in the last two minutes but couldn't force the equalizer anymore despite the additional attacker.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl earned a 2-1 lead against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod that could very well mean the end for Torpedo's playoff dreams. Daniil Apalkov and Staffan Kronwall opened the score for Lokomotiv while Maxim Potapov only could cut the lead to the half during the second period. Torpedo is six points behind the playoff spots now.
 
Kazakh side Barys Astana were able to surprise top team Ak Bars Kazan with a solid 4-2 win. Alexei Morozov opened the score for Ak Bars at 11:33 but just four minutes later Brandon Bochenski had tied the match. In an eventful second period Andrew Hutchinson turned the game around completely for Barys before Ilya Nikulin answered for the hosts from Kazan. At 34:11 it was Ilya Solaryov who earned the game winner for Barys but this was not yet the end as Roman Starchenko added a power play strike at 53:51.
 
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk were not able to use the loss of their biggest rivals for a playoff spot in the East, Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, as they lost themselves at home against Eastern Conference leaders Avangard Omsk. Renat Mamashev brought Neftekhimik in front at 21:13 but in the same period Alexander Popov, Dmitry Syomin and Igor Volkov grabbed a solid two-goal lead for Avangard. When the hosts risked everything, Sergei Kalinin even added an empty netter for the team from Omsk at 58:34.
 
In the duel of two top teams who struggeld a bit during last weeks, Dynamo Moscow were able to make a last-minute comeback against Metallurg Magnitogorsk and to beat them in shootout. League topscorer Sergei Mozyakin opened the score for Magnitka around "half time". That was the points when Dynamo started to become the better side but they only could used their pressure for the equalizer at 58:01 through Ilya Gorkohov in power play. At this point Dynamo had taken a timeout and left their goalie on the bench. In the shootout Jakub Petruzalek was the only one to score and he gave the extra point to Dynamo to make their comeback perfect.
 
SKA St. Petersburg had an easy win in their race for the regular season title. Viktor Tikhonov, Tony Martensson (2), Petr Prucha and Yuri Alexandrov scored for SKA while Stanislav Chistov had tied the match during the first period for guests Traktor Chelyabinsk.

It seems that underdogs Vityaz Chekhov just don't want to give up that fast in their fight for a playoff spot as they beat the last in the league table Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg at home with 2-1 for their third consecutive win. Anton Tikhonov and Josh Hennessy scored for Vityaz while Stanislav Zhmakin only was able to cut the lead to one at 52:50.

After five consecutive losses and falling out of the playoff spots in the West, Czech side Lev Prague have finally shown a reaction by defeating Severstal Cherepovets with 5-4. This was even more important as the team showed a great level of moral after laying behind 0-3 and 2-4. In the end Michal Birner gave the three points to Lev at 47:23. The team from Prague remains two points behind the playoff spots.
 
Belarussian side DInamo MInsk just made another important step towards the playoffs by defeating surprise team Slovan Bratislava away with the score of 2-1. Lukas Krajicek and Tim Stapleton earned a two-goal lead for Dinamo in the first period and Tomas Mojzis only was able to cut this lead to the half at 29:03. 

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