Prague and Nizhnekamsk book their playoff tickets

Eastern Conference leaders Avangard Omsk opened the matchday with a shootout loss in the absolute top game against Western Conference leaders SKA St. Petersburg. Vladimir Pervushin opened the score for Avangard already at 03:23 during their first power play but afterwards the hosts failed to use another of their good scoring opportunities. This made possible the equalizer for SKA ten minutes later when Patrick Thoresen used the first power play of the guests. Only then did Avangard continue with their pressing and they restored the lead through Tomas Zaborsky at 17:10. In an even second period the guests from St. Petersburg were more effective and even turned the match into their favour through goals by Alexander Kucheryavenko and a great no-look shot from the blue line by Kevin Dallman. In the third period Avangard tried everything to come back but this only happend at 58:21 through Anton Belov from the blue line, just seconds after a SKA penalty had ended. After a scoreless overtime, the shootout was over very fast. Viktor Tikhonov and Patrick Thoresen were successfull with their penalty shot attempts and gave SKA the extra point while Alexander Bumagin and Alexander Frolov were stopped by goalie Ilya Ezhov. For SKA this was already their 7th (!) consecutive win, underlining their great form while Avangard now lost three in arow.

For Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk their clear 4-0 win over current Gagarin Cup holders Dynamo Moscow was not enough to keep their playoff dreams in Eastern Conference alive as the better positioned Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk also won their match and left them chanceless with a four-point deficit and just one game left. Mikhail Zhukov, Alexei Pepelyaev, Anton But and Sergei Demagin scored the goals for Yugra. Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis stopped all the 28 shots he faced and won a shutout. Their third consecutive loss on the road gives the Dynamo fans not a lot of reason for hope with the playoffs that near.
 
Neftekhimik NIzhnekask gained their playoff tickets with a clear 4-1 win on the road against Vityaz Chekhov. In the middle period Vityaz' Josh Hennessy tied the initial guest lead through Vitaly Shulakov but Neftekhimik's imports Martin Cibak, Tomas Netik and Oskar Osala made everything clear in the last 20 minutes. After missing the playoff qualification themselves Vityaz have lost all the last four matches in regulation.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk ended a five-game losing streak by defeating bottom side Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg easily 3-1, extending their losing streak to seven in a row. Sergei Mozyakin, Mats Zuccarello and Dmitry Kazionov were the goal scorers for Magnitka while Denis Sokolov had tied the match for Avtomobilist in between.

Outsiders Metallurg Novokuznetsk gained a very surprising away win against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Alexander Mereskin and Alexei Yefimov - with one second left to play - brought the guests in front during the first period before Alexander Chernikov and Vitaly Vishnevsky tied the match for Lokomotiv. Pavel Yatsenkov scored the game winner for Metallurg at 56:11 but this was not yet the end as Damir Zhafyarof and Anton Lazarev (empty netter) made it even 5-2.

In a meaningless game for the league table of two teams already qualified for the playoffs, Severstal Cherepovets defeated Salavat Yulayev Ufa at home with 3-0. The goals were scored by Alexander Ryazantsev, Niclas Bergfors and Mikhail Anisin. Severstal goalie Vasily Koshechkin also earned a shutout with his 32 saves.

Despite missing a playoff spot, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod offer their fans great hockey at the end of the season. After a 5-2 in the last game against Novokuznetsk, today they beat Sibir Novosibirsk clearly 4-0. Dmitry Makarov, Martin Thörnberg and Alexei Ugarov made it a three-goal lead for the hosts in the first 20 minutes. At 57:20 again Thörnberg even added another one. Goalie Vitaly Koval earned a shutout due to his 23 saves.
 
Dinamo Riga gained a prestige win against CSKA Moscow by beating them 3-2 after shootout. Yakov Rylov and Shaone Morrisonn twice tied the Dinamo lead through Roberts Bukarts and Krisjanis Redlihs before again Roberts Bukarts and Jamie Johnson won the extra point for the Latvians in shootout. 

Czech league newcomers Lev Prague knew that an away win against Spartak Moscow would give them their playoff participation in their first year and so they didn't wait too long with their pressure. After only 13 seconds Nicklas Danielsson scored one of the fastest goals of KHL history to get the Czechs in front but they had do wait until 58:09 when Tomas Rachunek made everything clear for them. Guest goalie Tomas Pöpperle kept the small lead for his team with 24 saves and earned a shutout for his efforts.

Dinamo Minsk were the clearly better side in the first period against top team Ak Bars Kazan but only scored once through Zbynek Irgl. When Ak Bars became stronger Niko Kapanen, Denis Golubev and Jarkko Immonen gained a two-goal lead for the guests until 57:10. Alexander Kulakov only could score the 2-3 with 65 seconds left on the clock but Dinamo failed to get the equalizer in the last minute. While Ak Bars now have best chances to win the first place in Eastern Conference, Dinamo missed the big opportunity to make everything clear and book their palyoff ticket one matchday early but still they have the best position of all three competitors left in the West.
 
After a hard fight Donbass Donetsk lost the duel of two league newcomers against Slovan Bratislava on home ice. Sergei Varlamov brought the hosts in front early before Milan Bartovic and Vladimir Mihalik turned the result around in favour of Slovan even before the first intermission. With the knowledge of the importance of a win today, Donbass answered through Fredrik Pettersson and Petteri Wirtanen in the middle period but they couldn't avoid the equalizer through Juraj Mikus at 46:28. In overtime Roman Kukumberg even gave the extra point to Slovan.

Atlant Moscow Obklast kept their playoff ambitions in the West alive with a small 2-0 win over Amur Khabarovsk but this was only possible due to the setbacks for Dinamo Minsk and Donbass Donetsk. Ilya Kablukov and Konstantin Koltsov were successful for Atlant at the start of the third period while Amur couldn't avoid their fourth consecutive loss anymore. Atlant goalie Stanislav Galimov was quite busy with 42 shots on goal but he didn't let one through to get a shutout.

Situation before the last matchday on Sunday:

There are several decisions left open. Avangard and Ak Bars still have chances to end the regular season as leaders of Eastern Conference. More important though is the question who gets the last playoff spot in Western Conference. Dinamo Minsk have the best position with 71 points and a three-point win on home ice against Salavat Yulayev Ufa would be enough for them. Their competitors Atlant Moscow Oblast (against Metallurg Novokuznetsk) and Donbass Donetsk (against Lev Prague) not only need a win but also have to hope for a loss of the others.

Tweets by @eurohockey