KHL Playoff Preview
The match-ups for the upcoming Kontinental Hockey League playoffs are set. Teams played just 54 regular season games, down from 56 in previous years because of the Yaroslavl plane tragedy last October. The playoff teams were decided with several games remaining, the only thing that remained uncertain was the seeding. Those seedings have been finalized with last night’s culmination of the regular season. The top seed in the Eastern Conference, Traktor, claimed the Kontinental Cup and home ice advantage throughout the tournament with the most regular season points with 114, edging out West leader SKA by one point. The KHL playoffs begin February 29th with SKA renewing hostilities with Army counterpart in Moscow, CSKA. Meanwhile, Dynamo Moscow will battle fellow namesake Dynamo Minsk. Here is a closer look at each match-up.
Eastern Conference
#1 Traktor vs. #8 Yugra
Vs. Opponent: Traktor 1-1-2, Yugra 3-1-0
Leading Scorers: Konstantin Panov (38 pts, 20 G, 18 A)*, Yegor Milovzorov (38 pts, 18 G, 20 A)
Goalies: Michael Garnett (1.97 GAA), Mikhail Biryukov (2.21 GAA)
Prediction: Traktor in 6
*Evgeny Kuznetsov leads Traktor with 41 pts, but will not play in series due to injury.
Evgeny Kuznetsov to miss playoff series due to injury. (Keara Dowd/The Hockey Writers)
#2 Avangard vs. #7 Amur
Vs. Opponent: Avangard 1-3-0, Amur 3-1-0
Leading Scorers: Roman Cervenk (39 pts, 23 G, 16 A), Jakub Petruzalek (51 pts, 22 G, 29 A)
Goalies: Karri Ramo (1.96 GAA), Alexei Murygin (2.21 GAA)
Prediction: Amur in 7
#3 Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs. #6 Barys
Vs. Opponent: Metallurg Mg 0-2-0, Barys 2-0-0
Leading Scorers: Sergei Mozyakin (39 pts, 20 G, 19 A), Brandon Bochenski (58 pts, 27 G, 31 A)
Goalies: Ari Ahonen (2.16 GAA), Vitaly Yeremeyev (2.47 GAA)
Prediction: Metallurg Mg in 6
#4 Ak Bars vs. #5 Salavat Yulaev
Vs. Opponent: Ak Bars 1-1-0, Salavat Yulaev 1-1-0
Leading Scorers: Alexei Morozov (50 pts, 21 G, 29 A), Alexander Radulov (63 pts, 25 G, 38 A)
Goalies: Petri Vehanen (2.35 GAA), Erik Ersberg (2.47 GAA)
Prediction: Salavat in 5
Western Conference
#1 SKA vs. #8 CSKA
Vs. Opponent: SKA 4-0-0, CSKA 0-4-0
Leading Scorers: Tony Martensson (59 pts, 22 G, 37 A), Sergei Shirokov (48 pts, 18 G, 30 A)
Goalies: Ilya Ezhov (2.26 GAA), Rastislav Stana (2.06 GAA)
Prediction: SKA in 5
#2 Torpedo vs. #7 Dynamo Riga
Vs. Opponent: Torpedo 1-0-1, Dynamo Riga 1-0-1
Leading Scorers: Martin Thornberg (38 pts, 18 G, 20 A), Mikelis Redlihs (44 pts, 13 G, 31 A)
Goalies: Vitaly Koval (1.75 GAA), Christopher Holt (2.27 GAA)
Prediction: Torpedo in 6
Former Flyer Nikolai Zherdev leads Atlant into KHL playoffs. (BridgetDS/Flickr)
#3 Dynamo Moscow vs. #6 Dynamo Minsk
Vs. Opponent: Dynamo Minsk 2-0-0, Dynamo Moscow 0-1-1
Leading Scorers: Marek Kvapil (28 pts, 12 G, 16 A), Teemu Laine (40 pts, 20 G, 20 A)
Goalies: Alexander Yeryomenko (1.91 GAA), Kevin Lalande (2.40 GAA)
Prediction: Dynamo Minsk in 6
#4 Atlant vs. #5 Severstal
Vs. Opponent: Atlant 3-0-1, Severstal 1-2-1
Leading Scorers: Nikolai Zherdev (40 pts, 16 G, 24 A), Vadim Shipachyov (59 pts, 22 G, 37 A)
Goalies: Konstantin Barulin (2.26 GAA), Vadim Tarasov (2.21 GAA)
Prediction: Atlant in 7
No Western Conference team has ever won the Gagarin Cup.
James Gazzale
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