The confrontation between CSKA and Metallurg Magnitogorsk is one of the most fundamental in the KHL, if we talk about teams representing different conferences. Muscovites and Urals met twice in the final of the Gagarin Cup, and both times came the decisive seventh match.
In 2016, the steel companies turned out to be stronger and six years later the reds and blues were able to take revenge. Moreover, the head coach of the army team at the time of that victorious final was already his current mentor Sergei Fedorov, who spent three excellent seasons as a Metallurg player.
Therefore, the next match of these rivals did not need additional intrigue, even considering that it took place at the beginning of the regular season and the whole season was still ahead. The place at the gates of CSKA again, as in the meeting with the Admiral, was taken by Alexander Sharychenkov. But he clearly had less work in the opening twenty minutes than his Magnitogorsk counterpart.
Inaugural Cup at Ak Bars. Fedotov did not save CSKA from a sensitive defeat
The first dangerous moment of the match was created by the military team. Prokhor Poltapov ran toe-to-toe with Artyom Zagidulin, but failed to beat the keeper. This local failure did not embarrass the owners of the ice – they continued to press the gates of the Urals and opened the scoring in the match, although not without luck. After a shot from Sergei Plotnikov and a rebound from Robin Press, the puck was lobbed over the Metallurg goal line.
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The Muscovites did not slow down and it was even more surprising to see the return goal from Magnitogorsk. Pavel Akolzin, after receiving a pass from Karpov, restored equality on the scoreboard. Before the end of the period, the public saw several more potentially dangerous attacks made by both teams. But the rival arrived at the first break with a 1:1 tie.
The second half began with a cold shower for the owners of the ice. Already in the first attack, Metallurg hit Sharychenkov for the second time in the match. Denis Zernov caught Khabarov’s pass and put the Urals ahead. This start set the mood for the entire period, and as a result, the first period “scoring norm” doubled.
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CSKA recovered thanks to the goal of Pavel Karnaukhov, gaining as a bonus the right to play in the majority – the request of the coach of Andrey Razin became two minutes for the Magnitogorsk team for delaying the game. Here the army team would take advantage of the success, but the rojiazules failed. Semyon Koshelev seized the opportunity from him on the counterattack, masterfully outplaying Sharychenkov.
And shortly before the siren sounded for the second break, the position of the owners of the ice became threatening. In the last seconds of the numerical advantage, Nikita Korostelev with a powerful shot put the fourth puck into the CSKA goal. 2:4 after two halves, and in the third twenty minutes the military team had to solve a very difficult task.
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From the beginning of the final stretch, CSKA hockey players tried to bring Metallurg closer to their goal. But Magnitogorsk defended itself competently, trying to prevent the army team from making accurate shots. Time passed inexorably, and the score on the scoreboard did not want to change. A little over two minutes before the siren sounded, Sergei Fedorov released the sixth outfield player onto the ice, then called a timeout. But this did not bring the desired result to the army team. 2:4: The current holder of the Gagarin Cup loses the second match of three at the start of the season.
