Ak Bars, the undisputed favorite, came to the match against Metallurg from Magnitogorsk in the Chelyabinsk Region Governor’s Cup. In the presentation match at the Arena-Tractor named after Valery Belousov in Chelyabinsk, Kazan scored three points and, if he won, would practically clinch first place in a short-lived but representative pre-season tournament.
ALL IN THE HANDS OF KAZAN
Already in the first half, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s pupils showed their sharp teeth. The game went very fast, practically non-stop. Ak Bars was faster and more pragmatic in all components. A few minutes from the end of the initial segment, the shooting ratio was 10-1 in favor of the Kazan Club. The score at the end of the 15th minute 0: 2 also said that if the helmsman of the metallurgist Andrey Razin does not change anything in the game of his team, then nothing will shine for the hockey players from him.
In the 5th minute, Kirill Semyonov opened the scoring after a long, multiple attack with assists from Stanislav Galiev and Dmitry Yudin. It was Yudin who joined the attack and shot from the blue line, Semyonov could only substitute a stick. And after 8 minutes, the Magnitka defender Robin Press made a mistake on the pass behind his own goal, and the agile Artyom Lukoyanov turned out to be agile. He intercepted the puck and discounted Daniil Zhuravlev. The powerful striker shot goalkeeper Alexander Sudnitsin almost point blank.
MODIFICATIONS MADE BY RAZIN
Probably, the Metallurg coaches did an explanatory job during the break of the match, Georgy Dronov recovered a puck with a powerful shot from the Ak Bars area. 1:2. It seemed that at the beginning of the second half the Kazan players came out a bit broken. In his game in the first minutes there was too much fuss and disorganization in defense. Andrey Razin’s coaching ideology does not forgive such relaxation.
HC “metallurgical”
Surprisingly, after the lost puck, the Kazan players did not rush to restore the status quo, but, on the contrary, timidly began to back down with a hint of “if nothing had happened.” Magnitogorsk at that time calmly entrenched in the favorite’s zone and fired one shot after another.
Image of the game exactly opposite compared to the first half. In addition, the second periods differ in that the teams have the benches very close, so possession can be played for a long time. Metallurg, seizing the advantage on the move, pushed Ak Bars into his zone for five minutes, preventing Bilyaletdinov from substituting the five defenders for five minutes.
AK BARS RECOVERED
At the end of the second half, the Kazan club players managed to get the puck out of their zone and organize some attacking maneuvers. Almost immediately, the pressure brought success. The goal is named after Alexander Radulov, who turned the carousel around Sudnitsyn’s gates and allowed Ilya Safonov to increase the lead to 1:3.
HC “Ak Bars”
That’s what it means to increase speed and pressure. It was immediately clear that Ak Bars was a more talented team. Magnitogorsk tried to regain their lead at the last minute, but the atmosphere was no longer as lively as it was throughout the second segment.
Magnitogorsk DOES NOT GIVE UP, KAZAN DOES NOT BEND
Magnitka began a period of health again. The first attack ended with a goal from Timur Bilyalov. Denis Zernov entered the box in the middle and passed to the right flank, Maxim Karpov moved forward and with his hands put the puck into the top corner. 23
However, any club should always remember the Radulov factor in Ak Bars. Kazan’s forward link easily broke through the opposing defense. Vadim Shipachyov and Yevgeny Svechnikov brought Alexander into a lethal position in the center of goal, who does not fail in such situations. 2:4.
HC “Ak Bars”
Razin’s wards did not try to attack, despite the fact that the sixth field was on duty instead of the goalkeeper a couple of minutes before the end. On the contrary, there was even more activity from Kazan. The result was Stanislav Galiev’s fifth goal in the empty net for Metallurg and 2-5 in favor of the more organized and skilful Ak Bars.
