This Week in the KHL: March 14th 2012

The Gagarin cup finished up its quarterfinal stage on Sunday with Metallurg Magnitogorsk defeating Barys Astana in overtime. This week has brought about the Conference Semi-finals. Hockey is heating up in Russia as they seek a champion. Last years champion, Salavat Yulaev Ufa, was sent packing meaning the KHL will have a new winner.

Western Conference,

(1) SKA St.Petersburg vs (4) Atlant Moscow Region
(SKA leads series 1 - 0)

Game 1 saw SKA dominated Atlant at home, by a 4 - 0 margin. A poor showing put Atlant in a tough position. They failed to take away SKA's home advantage, largely do to the fact that they weren't at their best. SKA came out blasting early on, recording 15 shots in the first and an overall advantage of 28 - 15. Atlant G Konstantin Barulin stood tall but it was not enough to get the win. Goals went to Vladimir Tarasenko, Fyodor Fedorov, Viktor Tikhonov and Mattias Weinhandl. Atlant looks to bounce back on Thursday in St.Petersburg at 11am EST.

(2) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod vs (3) Dynamo Moscow
(Dynamo Moscow leads series 1 - 0)

Dynamo was able to keep pushing through as they picked up another win in the post season, after sweeping Dinamo Minsk out of the competition. A brutal defensive zone turn over proved fatal for Torpedo, as it was the game winner. F Sergei Soin scored the only goal that Dynamo needed as they went on to win 1 - 0. Dynamo G Alexander Yeryomenko improved his GAA to 0.79 while earning his 2nd shutout in 5 games. Torpedo played well aside from a brief defensive lapse, as shots were 23 - 21 in favour of Dynamo. Game 2 runs on Thursday from Nizhny Novgorod at 11am EST.

Eastern Conference,

(1) Traktor Chelyabinsk vs (4) Ak Bars Kazan
(Traktor leads series 1 - 0)

Traktor took game 1 by a score of 3 - 1 as they came from behind to take an advantage in the series. Kazan F Evgeny Skachkov put them out in front 3 minutes into the second period. The lead was short lived as Traktor F Andrei Papov equalized 8 minutes later. Traktor never looked back as F Stanislav Chistov scored late in the third to sink Kazan. F Konstantin Panov added a shorthanded, empty net goal to seal the deal in Chelyabinsk. An even match saw Traktor dig deep and come up big in the third period. Shots were 29 - 28 in favour of Traktor. Kazan G Petri Vehanen kept Kazan in the game with several key saves including a breakaway save on Evgeny Kuznetsov in the first period. Game 2 is Friday in Chelyabinsk at 9am EST.

(2) Avangard Omsk Region vs (3) Metallurg Magnitogorsk

  Metallurg gave Avangard all they could handle and then some in game 1 of their semifinal clash. Avangard swept Amur in the quarterfinals but they are going to have a much tougher second round. Avangard Karri Ramo was huge in game 1 with 28 saves including an incredible reach back on Metallurg's F Maxim Sushinsky in the second period. Metallurg G Ari Ahonen was there when called upon as he helped the tea to a thrilling 1 - 0 overtime win. Off of a terrible turnover by the Avangard defense, F Sergei Mozyakin scored the OT winner off of a beautiful pass from F Alexei Kaigorodov. Metallurg managed to shutdown Omsk superstar F Roman Cervenka, which was key to their success. Game 2 is Friday in Omsk at 8am EST.