This locomotive can’t stop! Lokomotiv beat Avangard and will now close the series in Omsk?
Dmitry Storozhev March 22, 2024, 22:04 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The Hawks are one step away from being eliminated from the Gagarin Cup.
After the defeat in Omsk and the dismissal of coach Mikhail Kravets, Avangard was able to win the third match of the second round of the Gagarin Cup series with Lokomotiv. The team, temporarily led by Sergei Zvyagin, withstood the pressure of the railway workers in regulation time and was able to decide the outcome of the match in overtime: the best sniper of the regular season and playoffs, Reed Boucher, shot through by Daniil Isaev. and revived the intrigue in this confrontation. To finally even the odds before returning home, the “hawks” had to win the second match in Yaroslavl.
The guests had a fairly active start, as they did a couple of days ago, but this time Igor Nikitin’s team not only quickly took the initiative, but was also able to open the score: the puck, after Georgy Ivanov’s shot, flew. under the arm of Pavel Khomchenko and ended up in the net.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. The video can be seen on the league’s official website.
Soon Denis Alekseev apparently doubled the lead, but Sergei Zvyagin immediately accepted a request from the coach, which was granted: entering the attacking zone, the Lokomotiv striker found himself in an offside position.
The most realistic opportunity to restore balance before the break remained Boucher himself. A perfect pass from Vladimir Tkachev left the American one on one with Isaev, but the forward could not beat the railway goalkeeper, who moved to an open corner in time and saved the shot, maintaining a minimal advantage for his team.
Apart from the second match, in which Lokomotiv destroyed the opponent, in this series a small number of opportunities are created in each match and most of the time is dedicated to fighting. This time it also turned out like this: the bright moments could be counted on one hand, and the hockey itself was quite sticky, and for the most part active actions took place at Khomchenko’s goal. But the second twenty minutes ended goalless: in the final third, Avangard’s difference was the same as at the end of the first half.
The “hawks” did not want to return to Omsk with the score 1-3, but already at the beginning of the third period this option became much more realistic. Avangard failed to keep the puck in the Lokomotiv zone and received a quick counterattack in response – Ivan Chekhovich scored the second goal in this match, which became the second in the current Gagarin Cup.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. The video can be seen on the league’s official website.
After this, the inhabitants of Omsk woke up, but were unable to mount any organized attack on the Isaev gate. The opportunity to take over the game came seven minutes before the end of regulation time: 18-year-old Mikhail Gulyaev shot from the blue line, beating the traffic created by the Lokomotiv defenders and Isaev (2:1).
But after just two minutes at Arena 2000, the locomotive began to hum again: most of the hosts had left to take a turn, but this did not prevent the two remaining players from organizing the third goal for the Yaroslavl team: Nikita Kiryanov was able to keep the puck in the zone and take a shot from the blue line, but everyone’s forgotten penny, Artur Kayumov, corrected it and put it in the goal.
Video rights belong to KHL LLC. The video can be seen on the league’s official website.
This goal became essentially decisive: after that, Avangard no longer found the strength to recover. 3-1 in the match and 3-1 in the series: Lokomotiv is preparing to close the series in Omsk. It seems that this locomotive cannot be stopped.
