Omsk: joker Yakupov
Avangard’s winning coach Bob Hartley watched his former team, which won the Gagarin Cup two years ago, triumph from the stands of the new stadium in Omsk. Having won the sixth match of the final series against CSKA 1:0 in Balashikha near Moscow. The golden goal was scored by Sergei Tolchinsky, who was named MVP of the playoffs.
Today, the hero of those events did not leave the ice without a puck, his throw into an unprotected goal (let us admire the miraculous transfer of Alex Broadhurst) allowed Omsk to consolidate the advantage – 3:1. An assist score was also recorded for Nail Yakupov, who bounced back late in the regular season. Olympic runner-up Gritsyuk’s injury paved the way to the top 6 for the first number of the NHL draft ten years ago. And he seized the opportunity.
Although at first, with two stupid erasures, he gave reason to remember the label that was firmly attached to him: “It is seen in hockey.” The second foul was punished by a goal from the best Siberian sniper Alexander Sharov 1:1. And the scoring was opened by defender Ziyat Paygin, who scored for the first time in the playoffs.
In the 33rd minute, Yakupov made his peace with a daring solo drive. After leaving the body, he rolled to the nearest patch and sent the puck into the net below the ice, then knocked down the gate. To no avail, goalkeeper Denis Kostin tried to knock out the puck with a stick.
Photo source: HC Avangard
By the way, the choice of the goalkeeper as the coach of the guests Andrey Martemyanov was not so surprising, but it was necessary to decide on the replacement of Anton Krasotkin, who played brilliantly the day before yesterday.
Kostin in the 2014/15 season played several games in the playoffs for Avangard, but failed to defeat his former team.
Pavel Dedunov put an end to it, forcing us to remember his turning point in the 2021 final in extra time in the fourth game against CSKA (in a minority!). Let’s also praise Vladimir Zharkov, who recovered the puck and put it on his partner’s stick.
I was surprised that, losing 1:4 and having ten minutes to save, Martemyanov did not dare to replace the goalkeeper, and indeed his wards locked the “falcons” in their zone for a long time. As they say, the goal was brewing, but not ripe.
It would be nice to take an example from SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg, who is looking for a slim chance of salvation. In the first match with the Minskers (4: 6), with the score 2: 5, he shot goalkeeper Dmitry Nikolaev several times, and his team reduced the gap to a minimum.
Yekaterinburg: Magnitogorsk was taken out by a Canadian goalie…
Avtomobilist lost fabulously. At the end of the third half, the hosts removed the goalkeeper and Brooks Maysek equalized. Having scored in the style of his coach Vladimir Vorobyov, who put those washers on Wayne Gretzky’s passes to Rangers. It was Vorobyov who, during the timeout, drew a saving combination on the board.
In the first overtime, the guests hardly moved their feet, they were kept in the game by goalkeeper Eddie Pasquale. The Canadian missed the first game of the series, which was quite a surprise to him.
The denouement came in minute 5 of the second overtime. A weak throw into the goal of the captain of the “steel workers” Yegor Yakovlev unexpectedly became victorious. In the center of the box, striker Georgy Belousov unexpectedly dipped his stick and sent the puck into the net. It is an accident and a mistake at the same time.
Photo source: HC Avtomobilist
In the final with CSKA, Yakovlev himself was in the shoes of Belousov, when at the end of the fifth game he threw the puck over the backboard and landed in a weak spot with a Canadian teammate. And goodbye, Gagarin Cup.
In the locker room of the winners, Pasquale was named the best. It is unlikely that he will now give way to number one seed Vasily Koshechkin, who has played in each of the 15 KHL playoffs.
Moscow: … and Severstal is a Russian goalkeeper
The army team fell asleep the first period, like in the first game, they conceded a goal.
The head coach of the guests, Andrey Razin, immediately after Thursday’s defeat, promised to put great players in the second meeting. It is unlikely that the new striker Alexander Suvorov or the goalkeeper Alexander Samonov will be bigger than the same Kirill Pilipenko or Dmitry Shugaev, but it was they who almost decisively contributed to the sensational victory of the “lynxes”.
Suvorov opened the scoring by intercepting a legible pass below the blue line from Anton Slepyshev, due to the difference in speed he escaped from the slow Vladislav Provolnev and threw it home to Alexander Sharychenkova.
After the break, the red and blues stormed Samonov’s possessions furiously, but the goalkeeper decided to take immediate revenge for all his personal failures in the matches against CSKA, whom he pursued in the SKA kit.
The champions, on the other hand, considered that victory would go nowhere for them, they acted carelessly and often made fouls. Especially your captain Nikita Nesterov.
Midway through the third period, the hosts knocked on the door twice in 45 seconds and finally believed in success. The guests mobilized and after a couple of minutes they responded with a goal from Nikolai Timashov. Sharychenkov awkwardly dodged the puck in front of him after a pass from the blue line by Daniil Vovchenko.
Soon the young Takhir Mingachev, grabbing a penalty for throwing the puck, put the team in a difficult position. But the owners managed to defend the gate.
It cannot be said that the guests passively defended. Fat moments were lost Igor Geraskin and David Dumbadze, unable to beat the goalkeeper in the melee.
Photo source: HC Severstal
The first additional period was held in the “lynx” zone. For half of CSKA, it was quite possible to produce an ice-filling combine. Samonov and his team somehow magically resisted. Before the fourth break, the control of the army began to weaken.
And in the third minute of the second overtime, the guests scored the winning goal. It came after another mistake by Nesterov, who missed the puck on the side. Guslistov at full speed slipped past the Olympic fool and sent the puck between Sharychenkov’s legs with his bottom. To no avail, Swedish defender Fredrik Klasson tried to block the shot on fall, but it was only prevented by the poor fellow goalkeeper.
Before the matches in Cherepovets, CSKA head coach Sergei Fedorov needs to improve discipline in the team and think about the goalkeeper. Maybe we should entrust the number one spot to Sweden’s Adam Reideborn? It seemed that Sharychenkov, after losing 4: 6 to Severstal at the finish line of the regular season, “floated” and lost confidence, which he seemed to have gained after the New Year.
Today, the CSKA coach (by the way, the best coach in the league last season) was remembered for black gloves with the KHL logo, which he put on during the match. It’s frozen?
MARKER
Avangard – Sibir – 4:1 (score in the series 1-1), Avtomobilist – Metallurg – 2:3 OT2 (1-1), CSKA – Severstal – 2:3 OT2 (1 -1), “Torpedo” – ” Dynamo” M – 5:2 (1-1).
