For the first time in KHL history, all teams in the first round of the playoffs will have to play five games to determine the series winner. It became known after the games on Saturday.
In Moscow, CSKA hosted Cherepovets Severstal. On Thursday, the army team achieved victory without any problems. But this time Andrey Razin’s team put up a more stubborn resistance.
In the fifth minute, Alexander Suvorov knocked on the CSKA gates. The next abandoned drive had to wait over 40 minutes. In the middle of the third period, Vladislav Kamenev restored equality. Almost immediately after that, Mikhail Grigorenko put CSKA ahead. But Sergei Fedorov’s wards could not keep the victory. Nikolai Timashov managed to beat the CSKA goalkeeper for the second time in the 52nd minute. As a result, the game went into extra time, where in the 83rd minute Nikita Guslistov sent the puck into the net and gave Severstal the victory – 3: 2. The series score became 1-1, with the next two games taking place in Cherepovets.
Nizhny Novgorod “Torpedo” at home took revenge on Moscow “Dynamo” – 5:2. Igor Larionov’s team already in the first period hit the gates of the guests twice after shots from Vladislav Firstov and Andrey Belevich. Maxim Dzhioshvili narrowed the gap, but Maxim Fedotov and Kirill Voronin answered Dynamo’s goal with two. At the end of the match, the teams exchanged goals. The hosts answered Dynamo’s Dmitriy Rashevsky’s goal with a well-aimed shot from Nikolay Kovalenko. And then equality in the series – 1:1. The next two matches will take place in Moscow.
In Yekaterinburg, the local Avtomobilist lost to Metallurg Magnitogorsk after extra time – 3:2. The winning shot was made by Magnitogorsk captain Yegor Yakovlev. With the score 1-1, the series moves to Magnitogorsk.
Omsk “Vanguard” took revenge on Novosibirsk “Siberia” – 4:1. The score in this matchup is also a draw – 1-1. The next two team meetings will take place in Novosibirsk.
