SKA St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow will fight for a place in the Gagarin Cup final after sealing series wins to book their places in the Western Conference final.
Jakub Stepanek saved 20 shots for a shutout as SKA thrashed Atlant Moscow Region 4-0 away to seal a 4-2 series win, just two days after slumping to a shock first home defeat of the playoffs.
In Friday's second game, Dynamo came from behind twice on home ice to beat Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3-2 and win the series 4-2.
Ex-Anaheim Ducks center Tony Martensson made the difference for SKA in the second period, setting up goals for Dmitry Vorobev and Maxim Rybin as the St. Petersburg team built a 2-0 lead.
A solo strike from Maxim Afinogenov made the score 3-0 to the hosts, before Ivan Nepryaev sealed the victory with an empty-net goal.
Jakub Stepanek was the key to SKA’s success in a game that was more even than the scoreline suggested, KHL president Alexander Medvedev said.
“Stepanek played well, the SKA defense fought selflessly. If the scoreline had changed, if Atlant had scored, the game could have changed,” he said.
“You have to admit that objectively SKA was stronger.”
SKA players were jeered and their coach Milos Riha mocked by the home fans in Mytishchi for leaving the team’s bench before the end of their defeat to Atlant on Wednesday, and Medvedev said the fans’ reaction tarnished the KHL’s reputation.
“We thought this wouldn’t happen in the league. The Mytishchi fans always give great support, and to become like the worst sort of our fans, to abuse players, that’s wrong.”
Atlant coach Janne Karlsson praised his team’s determination in defeat.
“I congratulate SKA on reach the next stage. I said after the last match that I’m proud of my team, and I won’t go back on those words now.”
The Atlant fans cheered their team for a long time after the game ended, which Karlsson said the players fully deserved.
“Our team earned it by fighting to the end, performing to 100 percent, and the spectators saw that.”
In Moscow, Dynamo fell behind after six minutes to a Robert Nilsson strike before Marek Kvapil quickly leveled the scores, only for Martin Thornberg to restore Torpedo’s lead on 10 minutes.
In a defensive game that saw only 39 shots in all, two moments of individual skill were enough for Dynamo to win, as solo strikes from Dmitry Pestunov and Mikhail Anisin gave the hosts a 3-2 lead by the end of the second period.
Dynamo captain Leonid Komarov said he expected an even duel with SKA in the Western final.
“They’ve got a strong team and good coaches and organization. We’ve got all that too. It’ll be a tough and interesting fight.”
Torpedo coach Kari Jalonen said that his team had faced good enough to win the series, but that it had faced an uphill task against a stronger Dynamo said.
Torpedo “were close to winning every game in the series,” he said.
“A sportsman has to be able to recognize and respect the final result. Dynamo was a little stronger all the way through this series.”
On Saturday, regular season champion Traktor Chelyabinsk can book its place in the Eastern Conference final by beating Ak Bars Kazan at home.
Avangard Omsk awaits the winners of that series, after it sealed a 4-1 series win over Metallurg Magnitogorsk on Thursday.
