CSKA and Spartak approached the derby with opposite mentalities. After a confident victory over SKA, the red-and-whites consolidated their success by defeating Vityaz. After the defeat against Kunlun at home, the red and blue team could not face their compatriot Dynamo.
However, all the pre-match arrangements can be forgotten before the head-to-head meeting of the KHL’s main antagonists. The ancient principle of such meetings came to the fore. If we take the history of confrontation in the league, then the Army team has a significant advantage in personal meetings: 34 victories against 16 for Spartak, more than double the advantage for Sergei Fedorov’s wards.
SHOCK THERAPY FOR OWNERS
The start was discouraging for the nominal hosts: Pavel Poryadin defeated Ivan Fedotov in the first seconds (00:35). And the transmission, as usual, came from behind the door, from Ivan Morozov’s so-called “Wayne Gretzky office.” The first minutes passed with an overwhelming advantage for Spartak. For about three minutes, the red and white simply forced the military to go around their zone, constantly bombarding Fedotov’s possessions.
Halfway through the opening period it seemed that Sergei Fedorov’s team had escaped the pressure of the guests, but it only seemed that way. Spartak won all the duels and rebounds, and also continued to create problems for the CSKA defense. This resulted in the logical second goal from the pen of Maxim Tsyplakov, finishing off a shot by defenseman Egor Zaitsev from the blue line. It seemed that the military team was not at all prepared for such an active rival in the derby.
About four minutes before the first break, CSKA managed to straighten the game a little, but the tenacity in Spartak’s actions forced them to look for at least some opportunity to complete the attacks with a significant throw. At the same time, the guests were constantly ready to launch a lightning-fast counterattack, so the army team constantly played with an eye on their own goal.
THE RESPONSE OF SORKIN’S MIRROR
Thanks to its numerical advantage, the army team managed to move the puck into the Spartak zone already at the beginning of the second half. At that time, the red and white exclusively contained and blocked CSKA’s attacks. The guests did not think of counterattack at that time.
In the middle of the period, the hosts really locked the red-and-white hockey players in their zone, constantly bombarding Patrick Rybar with shots from different distances. This led to the fact that Maxim Sorkin managed to score a goal. The army team completely tormented Alexey Zhamnov’s players with their moves and after a combination of multiple moves, Spartak had no chance of salvation.
Image reflected in the second segment. The guests were not visible, the hosts floated on the ice of their house. And two minutes before the end of time, the moment of joy finally arrived for the fans of the military club. Double Sorkin! And everything had to start again.
THE CHAMPIONS FINALLY WOKE UP
The third half began as if the second did not want to end: CSKA’s continuous attempts to finish off Spartak. But the guests at least began to respond with dangerous answers. About five minutes into the segment, Pashin was pulled aside by defender Zaitsev to meet Fedotov, and here the army goalkeeper already showed his class.
In Fedorov-style hockey, the army team can crush any opponent. Even when the team is playing and technically well equipped, CSKA literally devours those cheerful gangs, depriving them of their favorite fans. In the match against Spartak this is exactly what happened in the second and third half. At the moment this cannot be attributed to the perseverance of the KHL favorite, but the helmsman of the military team was able to find some important and necessary words for his players after a failed start to the match. The game went into overtime without a hitch.
Sergei Fedorov traditionally replaced the goalkeeper with a sixth outfield player in extra time and tried to take advantage of the so-called majority. The fisherman spun like a squirrel in a wheel, saving the red-and-whites again and again. But 40 seconds before the end of overtime, Sergei Plotnikov still found an opportunity and put the puck in the net.
