Ice hockey: the main stories of 26.09.2026

Neftekhimik now lead the Eastern Conference. The Nizhnekamsk side won 6:3 away at Barys and have 13 points from 9 games, which puts them above Metallurg. According to one report, the game was settled early: Barys were 0:5 down after two periods, and their coach Mikhail Kravets said he was ashamed of those 40 minutes. Igor Grishin said goals were the difference from last season, when his side struggled to score. Neftekhimik play again today, away at Admiral.

Spartak lost 2:4 at home to Avtomobilist, and Alexei Zhamnov called his side's power play inept. The defeat comes days after Spartak lost to Avangard in overtime. Dynamo Moscow lost 1:3 at home to Salavat Yulaev, two days after they beat Minsk in overtime. Salavat were without Panin, who, Viktor Kozlov said, stayed at home for family reasons. Away from the rink, Vladislav Tretiak said Alexander Ovechkin deserves a monument, a few hours after he thanked the Washington captain for appearing in a United Russia campaign video.

• Sergei Samsonov told one outlet that Ivan Demidov's ice time in Montreal is not first-line ice time, and that this limits his numbers.
• Barys defenceman Logan Day called it "madness" that Ovechkin, Malkin and Kucherov cannot play for Russia.
• Severstal beat Sochi 3:1, their third win in a row, which began with the 5:2 against Avtomobilist on 24 September. One report has them 7th in the West.
• Avangard forward Josh Livo said the question of Russian citizenship came up in Ufa but was dropped when the club let him go.
• Goalkeeper Nikita Serebryakov is out indefinitely after taking a knee to the head against Torpedo, according to one outlet. Earlier in the week Bob Bouchard had described Avangard's injury crisis as survival mode.
• Shanghai beat Dinamo Minsk 2:1, and Metallurg beat Ak Bars 2:1, according to single reports.
• Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman says Carolina have allowed Alexander Nikishin to talk to other clubs.
• Nikita Gusev's agent, Yuri Nikolaev, said the forward will sign with a KHL club soon.
• In the NHL preseason, according to one outlet each: Roman Kantserov scored the winner in Chicago's 3:2 against St Louis; Yaroslav Askarov stopped 28 of 30 shots in San Jose's 4:2 against Vegas; Buffalo lost Mattias Samuelsson for at least a week.
• One report says a court in Satka gave a man an 18-month suspended sentence for attacking a referee at a tournament in July 2025.
• Tretiak said he hopes Russia will have a seat on the IIHF council. The IIHF elects its president on 2 October in Tenerife.
• Also in the KHL today: Admiral host Neftekhimik, Lokomotiv visit Sibir and Barys face SKA.