At the start of the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, everything turned upside down. Kunlun responded to a series of defeats of the capital army with a completely unexpected three-match winning streak at the start and became the leader of the championship. However, in their last match the Chinese club lost, and not to anyone, but to the favorite of the season, Kazan Ak Bars. CSKA, on the other hand, defeated Neftekhimik after unsuccessful matches.
But there is intrigue in the confrontation between the wards of Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Ignatiev: Kunlun beat the army team in the last three matches, which means that the current meeting in Mytishchi statistically did not favor the winner of the Gagarin Cup.
CSKA ON HORSE
The main intrigue of the match was whether Kunlun’s experienced goalkeeper Jeremy Smith would muster his courage. And the army team from the first minutes began to process the traps and brushes of the North American wall. At the beginning of the match, CSKA received the majority (Devin Brosso played inadvertently) and the guests opened the scoring for a short time. Pavel Kornaukhov irresistibly launched the puck into the corner of the goal.
After scoring the goal, Sergei Fedorov’s team had an overwhelming advantage, shooting at the home goal from different positions. At that time it was not very clear how the Chinese club rose so high in the standings. Even the nominal fourth line of the army team organized wild dances in the hosts’ area. There was always the feeling that the guests had one more player on the ice. It seemed that way because of the constant support of each other in the army team. All the rebounds stayed with the red and blue. If it weren’t for Smith’s brilliant performance, the Chinese club could have gone into the break in a worse mood.
HC CSKA
CHINA RISEN
The beginning of the second period was left to Kunlun. Such a course of the match could not be suitable for one of the leaders of the regular season, so they demonstrated their advantage and even made several harmless shots at Ivan Fedotov’s goal. But all this continued until the army team won another majority. The visitors kept the puck in the Chinese club’s zone and one shot even hit Smith’s goal post.
Thanks to the nearby bench, Viktor Ignatiev’s pupils managed to move the game to the CSKA zone in the middle of the second segment and organize a kind of assault on the goal. Due to this activity, the army team caused itself elimination and Brandon Yip quickly equalized the difference on the scoreboard after being led to the empty goal with a series of passes.
KHL
It seemed that now the advantage, mainly moral, would go to Kunlun, but the red and blue hockey players quickly came to their senses and transferred the game to the hosts’ zone. However, all this came to nothing. The teams went to half-time with equal opportunities heading into the third period.
CURIOSITIES OF THE DESTINATION
CSKA took the third half from the start. Again there were many shots, some of which posed an immediate danger to the Kunlun goal, but the owners of the Mytishchi palace fought back. The Chinese team had a power play just in time. During the two minutes the locals carried the puck through the military team’s zone without threatening Fedotov’s goal. As Darren Dietz was about to take the ice, Ignatiev’s team scored a goal. The multi-move game between Merkley and Rodewald ended with a precise shot from the latter. Thus, with 10 minutes left in the third half, the red and blue found themselves in a difficult situation.
HC CSKA
The guests recovered thanks to a fun goal. The army team calmly controlled the puck in the Kunlun zone and Nesterov’s routine attack ended in a goal. One of the best players in today’s game, Pu, put his skate under the shot and the puck, along an intricate trajectory, parachuted behind the goalie.
The teams reached the logical overtime, where the Chinese hockey players took advantage of another adventurous decision by Sergei Fedorov to change the goalkeeper for a sixth field player, shooting from his field into an empty goal. This lucky guy turned out to be Rodewald, who scored a double in today’s match. And CSKA lost to Kunlun for the fourth time in a row.
“Kunlun” – CSKA – 2:2 (0:1, 1:0, 1:1, 1:0)
Goals: Karnaukhov (Grigorenko, Nesterov), 03:00 – 0:1. Yip (Fu, Pu), 28:58 – 1:1. Rodewald (Merkley, Pu), 47:27 – 2:1. Nesterov, 52:00 – 2:2. Rodewald (Somerby), 61:12 – 3:2.
