2013 Gagarin Cup (Western Conference)

Western Conference

#1 SKA Saint Petersburg vs. #8 Atlant Moscow Oblast

SKA is coming in as the KHL regular season champion. The Bobrov Division and Western Conference Champion will try to continuing their scoring ways in the playoffs. The team led the league by scoring 182 goals this season. SKA didn't just score though, they played defense. SKA only allowed 116 goals all season, which was forth best. Patrick Thoreson led the team in scoring with 51 points. Thoreson also led the team in goals with 21 and assists with 31. The Columbus Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky was this team's goalie for a lot of the season. SKA will now have to rely on new addition Ivan Kasutin. Kasutin had a 0.928 save percentage this season but a 2.56 goal-against average.

Atlant brings in one of the best goalies in the league. Stanislav Galimov had the best save percentage (0.943) and the forth best goal-against average (1.94). This will help the team that battled their way into the playoffs during the final days of the regular season. This team will have to figure out how to score goals if they want to beat SKA, as they were only 14th in goals scored and were shutout seven times over the course of the season. They will have to look to Maxim Mayorov for goal production. Mayorov scored 16 goals, leading the team and placing 25th in the league. Goals will be able to be generated from the blue line. Sandis Ozolins was 12th in the league in assists by defensemen.

#2 CSKA Moscow vs. #7 Lev Praha

CSKA has some fire power as they were seventh in goals scored this season. A large chunk of those goals came from Alexander Radulov, who scored 22 this season. Radulov's older brother Igor was second on the team with 17 goals. With the two of them and the third highest scoring defenseman in the league (Yakov Rylov) on the team, this team has a kick. Their goaltender is also astrong point. Rastislav Stana led the league in goal-against average with 1.76 average. The team allowed the fewest goals of any team all season, with 109 goals against. He was also third in the league in save percentage with a 0.934. CSKA used this to secure their Tarasov Divisional Championship.

Lev only scored 132 goals all season, putting them at 16th in a league that has 26 teams. On the flip side, they only allowed 133 goals against them, putting them at 12th. Lev's leading scorer, Jakub Klepis, finished 23rd in the league with 38 points. Klepis's 20 goals was also good enough for him to 11th in the league. For Lev to do well in this match-up, they will have to keep CSKA from shutting him down. Lev can look to former NHLer Erik Christensen for help in this aspect. He finished second on the team in both goals and points with 10 and 21 respectively. Tomas Popperle's numbers will need to improve as well. His 2.25 goals-against average and 0.917 save percentage was sub-par this season.

#3 Dynamo Moscow vs. #6 Slovan Bratislava

Dynamo Msk brings an excellent goaltender to this match-up. Alexander Yeryomenko had a save percentage of 0.931 and a goal-against average of 1.85. Yeryomenko was also able to have five shutouts this season. If he keeps that up, Dynamo Msk could go through to the next round, but they will need to be able to score goals as well. As a team that had 29 of their 150 goals come from Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin (19 G; 21 A) and Niklas Backstrom (10 G; 15 A), they will have to look for other talent. Denis Kokarev (13 G; 9 A) is the scoring leader on this team by default. He's accompanied by defenseman Ilya Gorokhov (7 G; 15 A) atop the team's top scorers. Look for Alexei Tsvetkov (5 G; 16 A) and Konstantin Gorovikov (2 G; 17 A) to step it up in the playoffs.

Slovan intends to shut down Dynamo Msk with goaltender Jaroslav Janus. Janus posted a 0.928 save percentage, a 2.17 save percentage, and five shutouts of his own. This match-up has potential to be a goaltending battle. This is a team that only allowed 127 goals this season. Their issue will be scoring. The team only scored 124 goals this season, which was the leagues sixth worst. Slovan's best scoring threats are Michel Miklik (9 G; 15 A), Roman Kukumberg (10 G; 11 A), Libor Hudacek (11 G, 9 A), Michal Vondrka (9 G; 11 A), and Mario Bliznak (9 G, 11 A). These players are not the most threatening, but Slovan will need them to step up if they want to get past Dynamo Msk.

#4 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl vs. #5 Severstal Cherepovets

Lokomotiv last year experienced one of the most tragic incidents last season when their plane crashed on their way to their first game in Minsk. Everyone on board was killed or died a few days later. Last season, they withdrew from competition in the KHL, but have returned this season. The KHL allowed Lokomotiv to play with more than six non-Russian players this season as a result of the plane crash.

This season's leading scorer for Lokomotiv was Sergei Plotnikov (14 G; 16 A). Plotnikov will receive help from Niklas Hagman (12 G; 8 A) and Averin Yegor (11 G; 7A). These three players will be some of the biggest threats to Severstal. Defenseman Staffan Kronwall (10 G; 12 A) will also have some say in the offense, as he may be the biggest threat. As one of the teams top players, both offensively and defensively, he was able to record a plus/minus of +6, lead the team in powerplay goals with seven, and lead the team in game-winning goals with five. Goaltender Curtis Sanford will be in net for Lokomotiv. He had the 11th best save percentage at 0.927 and the 15th best goals-against average at 2.25. He also never recorded a shutout. He will have to improve in the playoffs.

Severstal has two major threats in Vadim Shipachyov (17 G; 23 A) and Evgeny Ketov (12 G; 22 A). These two players led the team in scoring, with Shipachyov also leading the team in goals. Severstal only scored six more goals this season than Lokomotiv and they allowed four less goals that Lokomotiv, placing fifth in goals against. This effort was led by goaltender Vasily Koshechkin. Koshechkin had the tenth best goal-against average (2.13) and the 16th best save percentage (92.3).