Four more KHL decisions with relevance for playoffs

Donbass Donetsk defended their playoff position with a 4-1 away win against Amur Khabarovsk. At 08:54 Igor Ozhiganov put the hosts Amur in front but Donbass reacted with a double through Vaclav Nedorost and Sergei Peretyagin who both scored within 22 seconds of the 17th minute. At the end of the middle period Randy Robitaille added another one shorthanded for Donbass before Tuomas Kiiskinen made everything clear in the last 20 minutes.
 
For Sibir Novosibirsk today's 2-0 win against Dinamo Riga was a huge step towards their playoff qualification in the East with eight points more than 9th placed Yugra and one game less played - three / four matches before the end of the regular season. Alexander Kutuzov and Nikita Zaitsev pathed the way for the Sibir success against Riga with a double in the 23rd minute when they scored within 30 seconds. Sibir goalie Jeff Glass made 28 saves for a shutout.
 
Metallurg Novokuznetsk beat guests Spartak Moscow but still they are out of the playoff candidates now as also the competitors gained points. Filipp Metlyuk brought Metallurg in front already at 08:20. With the start of the middle period Spartak took over the initiative and just when they were close to the equalizer Anton Lazarev made everything clear with his strike at 55:43. Metallurg goalie Yuri Klyuchnikov stopped all the 32 shots he faced and earned a shutout.

In one of the top games of the day Salavat Yulayev Ufa butchered Eastern Conference leaders Avangard Omsk with 6-1. Anton Slepyshev, Sergei Zinovyev, Miroslav Blatak (2) and Stefan Ruzicka grabbed a five-goal lead for Ufa until "half time" before Tomas Zarborsky scored the consolation goal for Omsk. With less than five minutes to play Alexei Kaigorodov made half a dozen perfect for Ufa.

Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, the only team outside the playoff positions in the East that still can make the playoffs, gained an incredibly important 5-4 away win against top team Ak Bars Kazan. In an even match Sergei Demagin and Igor Skorokhodov pathed the way for the away success with a double at the end of the middle period when they made it a 4-2 lead for Yugra. At 57:52 Ilya Nikulin brought Ak Bars back in fighting distance but despite playing the last minute with an additional skater instead of their goalie, Kazan couldn't react anymore.
 
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk defended their 8th spot in the East by beating Kazakh side Barys Astana. The guests went in front through Konstantin Romanov at 11:08 before Maxim Pestushko and Yegor Milovzorov turned the result around in favour of Neftekhimik in the following two periods who had a clear advantage in shots on goal - 42:17. The 2-1 win for Neftekhimik doesn't only mean that the team stays ahead of Yugra in their playoff race but also that Barys has to wait at least another two days before they can confirm their playoff participation.
 
Severstal Cherepovets made the entrance to the playoffs despite giving away the road game against CSKA Moscow in the last minute. Evgeny Ryasensky opened the score for CSKA in power play during the first period but Nikita Alexeyev and Vadim Berdnikov changed the result in favour of Severstal. When the home side had to risk everything and pulled out their goalie for an additional skater, super star Alexander Radulov scored the equalizer with just 57 seconds left in regulation. With only the second shot on goal in overtime, Denis Denisov evend won the extra point for CSKA at 61:07.

Today current Gagarin Cup holders Dynamo Moscow almost gave away a three-goal lead in the match against bottom side Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, just to come back with an overtime win. Grigory Shafigulin, Denis Kokarev and Dmitry Vishnevsky made it 3-0 for Dynamo until 42:47 but guests Avtomobilist showed what effectiveness means with four consecutive goals within just eight minutes through Sergei Gusev, Stanislav Zhmakin, Rastislav Spirko and Alexei Simakov to get in front 4-3. Just when Avtomobilist looked like the winners, Dynamo answered through Denis Kokarev in power play at 57:12. With 17 seconds left in overtime Marek Kvapil made the comeback for Dynamo perfect and gave the team the extra point.

With a solid 3-0 home win against a terrible Metallurg Magnitogorsk, home side SKA St. Petersburg have come very close to win the regular season title of the KHL, the Continental Cup, for the first time with now six points more than second-placed Avangard Omsk and only three matches left to play for Omsk. The goal scorers for SKA were Patrick Thoresen, Tony Martensson and Gleb Klimenko. Their goalie Ilya Ezhov only needed 11 saves to get a shutout against the non-existing Magnitka offense.
 
Atlant Moscow Oblast and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod today shared points when they faced each other. The 3-2 overtime win for Atlant could very well mean the end of all playoff hopes for both teams though as they have five (Atlant) and eight (Torpedo) points less than the 8th place in the West. Andreas Engqvist and Roman Rukavishnikov brought Atlant in front twice while Torpedo answered through Mikhail Varnakov and Dmitry Makarov. Just when a 5 on 3 power play ended Atlant's Rafael Batyrshin won the game for the hosts in the 5 on 4 after 01:54 of overtime had been played to give Atlant the extra point.

Belarussian side Dinamo Minsk lost ground in their race for the playoffs in the West by losing on home ice 2-5 against top team Traktor Chelyabinsk. Valery Nichushkin opened the score for Traktor in a counter attack at 07:29 but with a double in the following minutes Andrei Mikhalyov and Tim Stapleton made it a 2-1 lead for Dinamo. This lead could have beend easily increased but Dinamo missed a huge number of chances. With three goal within ten minutes of the middle period through Maxim Karpov (penalty shot), Yegor Dugin and Konstantin Panov the guests from Chelyabinsk earned the advantage back. At 42:29 Vladimir Antipov decided the match for Traktor.

With a convicing 5-2 win against Vityaz Chekhov league newcomers Lev Prague kept their playoff chances high. Petr Vrana scored for Lev late in the first period before Yakov Seleznyov tied the match for Vityaz around "half time". In the third period Nicklas Danielsson, Richard Gynge, Jakub Nakladal and Jiri Novotny decided the match in favour of Lev. The guests from Chekhov only could react another time through Evgeny Timkin. Now the Lions from Prague are two points behind Dinamo Minsk and Donbass Donetsk in Western Conference but they also played one game less than their competitors.

Tweets by @eurohockey