CSKA Moscow demolishes SKA St. Petersburg 6-2 to seal quarterfinal series
SKA St. Petersburg's playoff struggles continued as CSKA Moscow crushed them 6-2 in Game 5 of their KHL quarterfinal series. The decisive win completed a 4-1 series victory for CSKA, knocking SKA out in the first round for the second year running. This latest defeat extends a clear decline in the team's postseason performance over the past five seasons.
CSKA dominated from the start, with Denis Gurianov leading the charge by scoring three goals. Jeremy Roy, Sergei Kalinin, and Nikolai Kovalenko also found the net, overwhelming SKA's defence. Andrei Pedan and Brennan Menell managed to reply for SKA, but their efforts were not enough to shift the momentum.
The result marks another early exit for SKA, who were eliminated by Dynamo Moscow in the first round last season. Over the past five years, their playoff record has steadily worsened. After reaching the Gagarin Cup final in 2021 with an 80% win rate, they fell to conference finals in 2022 (75% win rate), then exited earlier in 2023 (60%), 2024 (50%), and now 2025 with just a 40% win rate. Elsewhere in the Western Conference, Torpedo and Dinamo had already secured their spots in the quarterfinals. SKA's loss leaves them outside the contention once again, reinforcing their shift from title contenders to mid-tier playoff performers.
CSKA's convincing 6-2 victory ends SKA's season early, repeating last year's first-round elimination. The team's fifth consecutive year of declining playoff results raises questions about their future competitiveness. Meanwhile, CSKA advances to the next stage of the Gagarin Cup.
