In Kazan there are holidays: the “Green Derby” has moved to the capital of Tatarstan. A little over a week ago the first round of one of the main KHL classics was played in Ufa. Then Salavat Yulaev managed to win in a difficult and interesting match (3-2).
After that match, Viktor Kozlov’s team managed to win twice, in the last match the Ufa team lost to Avtomobilist (0:1). Ak Bars took both their games: with Torpedo (4-3) and with Vityaz (5-4 overtime). Interestingly, Salavat Yulaev is currently one of the lowest scoring teams in the KHL – only 17 goals in 8 games. “Ak Bars”, on the other hand, scores a lot and in different tastes: 29 goals.
KAZAN DECIDED AT THE START
As in the first part of the confrontation between Kazan and Ufa, the Ak Bars hockey players started much more active than their opponents, immediately imposing tough forechecking during the attempts of the Ufa players to comfortably leave their zone. Such pressure caused a quick expulsion of the guests.
Almost until the end of the numerical advantage, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team continued and then scored. The Ak Bars players won the throw-in and performed another combination, which Galiev completed with an excellent throw from the service circle. The forward played low with his wrists, the puck slid between the goalie’s pads and into the net.
HC “Ak Bars”
THE UFA WON
Surprisingly, the Ufa players could not wake up in the first half. Ak Bars loaded the defense from the first minutes and continued to do so at the end of the first half. The visiting defense had a lot of difficulty containing Ak Bars’ pressure. Dmitry Yashkin himself had several excellent opportunities to increase the score in the game. The home team’s advantage was also seen in the number of faceoffs won: at the end of the period the score was 10-1 in favor of Kazan.
RIA Novosti
In the last minutes of the first segment, Salavat’s hockey players became more active and periodically shot at Timur Bilyalov’s possessions. The Kazantsevs loosened their grip on him slightly, as if taking a breather before a new burst of activity. In the last minute, the guests’ actions were more like storming the goal. This is understandable: it was absolutely necessary to recover. Ufa finished the first segment with the majority.
MAIN BOMBERS OF THE GREEN DERBY
The start of the second half was identical to the first. Once again Ak Bars took off on the pitch, charming the visiting defenders with his movement. In addition, the Kazan team again received the right to play in majority, which created an even greater difference in shots and overall advantage. Almost seven minutes into the period, the Leopards, based on the flow of the game, logically scored the second goal. Ak Bars’ best scorer in the history of the green derby, Kirill Petrov, snatched the puck from the Ufa defense and threw it over the goalkeeper’s shoulder.
A few minutes later, the hosts finally paralyzed Kozlov’s team. A failed throw of the puck over the backboard by defenseman Komarov led to a quick Radulov-Bykov-Safonov combination, where the latter scored the third goal. Ak Bars didn’t do anything special, but they made the most of their opportunities. The guests clearly could not keep up with one of the leaders of the KHL.
EVIL GENIUS “AK BARS” LESCHENKO
At the beginning of the third period Salavat Yulaev had the opportunity to play with the majority and the guests took advantage of their rare opportunity in this match. Vyacheslav Leshchenko also scored in Kazan, who decided the outcome of the match in the last “green derby”. A couple of minutes later, the “Leopards” were again in the minority and the Ufa team punished the home team again.
This time Khafizullin received a pass from Khmelevsky and shot from the blue line. Bilyalov could not do anything. Intrigue broke out in the match, the Kazan team flew to regain the advantage, but the moral advantage passed to the Ufa team.
HC “Salavat Yulaev”
There were moments after moments for the Ufa club, but the puck simply could not enter the goal. The people of Kazan defended themselves as if they had their last moral strength. It’s hard to come back to a game you abandoned during the third period. And yet, Ak Bars was able to recover. A prolonged attack in which Luchenikov played from the blue line to the left towards Evseev, who from an acute angle from the service circle “pierced” the Ufa goalkeeper with a powerful shot. As a result, Ak Bars’ victory was, one might say, class.
The Green Derby became a thriller. Ufa crushed Radulov and company.
Joker in Fedorov’s deck. Sorkin gave CSKA the victory in the match against Lokomotiv
