SKA victory in the 114th minute, defeat of “Salavat” in Ufa and the third defeat of “Metallurg”: what are the memorable matches of the KHL playoffs

The defeat of “Salavat” in Ufa

The series between “Salavat Yulaev” and “Vanguard” is so far the most intriguing in the first round of the Gagarin Cup. After the Ufa team went ahead following the results of three matches, Omsk players were able to equalize on other people's ice, and even defeating the opponent with a difference of four goals.

Immediately after the puck touched the Vanguard bar at the beginning of the meeting, the guests responded with several wonderful moments on the opposite side of the court. Alexey Potapov realized a solo exit to the gates of “Salavat”, Kirill Semenov helped a lot of partners on the spot - by the beginning of the seventh minute, Omsk led 2-0. And as soon as they first appeared in the majority, Juha Metsola could not cope with Cody Franson's most powerful throw. The Ufa team went for the break with an advantage in shots and at the same time with a gap of three goals.

The same cautious attitude to the moments of “Vanguard” and demonstrated in the second period. While the hosts continued to aim at the bar, Alexei Emelin sent Metsola to the bench with his accurate throw. The defender did not score goals in the regular season, but in the playoffs he scored twice already. Semyonov also got the same amount of the match - in the 38th minute, he scored the second for the series, sending the puck to Andrei Kareyev.

From the score 0: 5, “Salavat” could not win back for one period, risking only to increase its backlog. The hosts nevertheless played one goal of prestige - Teemu Hartikainen immediately corrected the shot and found a space in Bobkov’s goal. If Nikita Soshnikov still does not recover from the injury by the next match in Balashikha, there will be very few chances for Salavat to get into the second round.

39 saves by Pasquale against Metallurg

The fourth match in the series between Metallurg and Barys was a logical continuation of the third. The owners of the ice continued to play as carefully as possible, without risking once again making a fatal mistake for themselves. Magnitogorsk fans might not have liked a typical cup hockey, but in a situation where the team is inferior in the series, Ilya Vorobyov’s wards had to take such measures.

Such a game plan could have worked if it had been able to withstand in the first period, but right before the break, Barys nevertheless opened Vasily Koshechkin’s gate. Atte Okhtamaa sent the puck from the right circle to the far post, where Anton Sagadeev was waiting for her, having scored his first point in the Gagarin Cup. In the second period, “Metallurg” had to open up and attack by all means, although there were fewer than usual - because of the injury, Tomas Filippi finished the match ahead of schedule. “Barys” coped with the onslaught thanks to the incredible game of Eddie Pasquale - the Canadian did not miss the puck even after 27 throws of Magnitogorsk players in the first two periods.

The Kazakhstan goalkeeper was reliable in the final third of the match, when Metallurg tried its best to take advantage of the numerical advantage. But the hosts did not turn the tide of the game, and then in the 56th minute Dustin Boyd with a throw from an average distance finally removed the question of the winner. Pasquale ended the meeting with 39 saves and the second “cracker” in the playoffs. But Magnitogorsk runs the risk of its worst campaign in the Gagarin Cup - with past flights in the first round, Magnitogorsk residents have won at least two matches, but now they may not even return the series home.

Consolation for Lokomotiv fans

Lokomotiv managed to avoid a complete defeat in the series with Jokerit. According to the results of three matches, Yaroslavl did not win a single victory, and the total goal difference was 14: 1 in favor of the Finnish club. In the fourth game, the wards of Mike Pelino still pleased their native fans, although they continued to experience certain difficulties.

The first period, the "railroad" should have ended in their favor, at least psychologically, but too soon they were thoughts in the locker room. Antti Pilström intercepted the puck in a foreign zone and handed it to Marco Anttil, who opened the score 12 seconds before the siren. After the break, Lokomotiv continued to bend its line and finally achieved success. Nikita Cherepanov and Arthur Kayumov forced Jokerit to be in the role of a catch-up team. Their business was continued by Yegor Averin, who competently figured out someone else's patch at the beginning of the third period.

In response, the Finns sharpened the game to the limit. Over the past 20 minutes they have delivered 19 shots on goal by Ilya Konovalov. In two cases, this helped them to influence the score, and Henrik Haapala scored the second goal 26 seconds before the final siren. But the players of Lokomotiv did not sit idly by, waiting for moments for a counterattack. So they managed to earn a double numerical superiority, which led to the victorious goal scoring of Stephen Da Costa. Yaroslavl continue to fight for access to the second round, but now the series is returning to Helsinki.

SKA long exit in the second round

In the same way, until the last, Vityaz tried to delay the relegation from the Gagarin Cup, which had already suffered three defeats from SKA. The final match between them stretched in fact into two games - only in the third overtime did St. Petersburg players score the winning goal, which made them the first participant in the quarter-finals of the playoffs.

The beginning of the meeting in Podolsk for the wards of Alexei Kudashov turned out to be too easy. Already at the 48th second, Anton Belov decided to charge from the blue line and got on someone else's goal. This development of events somewhat relaxed the guests, and especially Sergei Plotnikov - he managed to retire twice in the first period, and Vityaz answered for this. Ville Lajunen realized the majority on the eve of his 32nd birthday.

In the second period, SKA did not manage to regain the advantage, although the attacking actions of the guests were extremely dangerous. Gradually, the “heroes” adapted to such a game and began to look for happiness in counterattacks. It turned out pretty quickly - already at the beginning of the third period, Alexey Makeev, with the filing of Alexei Byvaltsev, led the Moscow Region team ahead. Although the wards of Mikhail Kravets felt confident in themselves, they could not keep the advantage. Plotnikov elegantly played the puck with Eugene Ketov and turned the match into overtime.

For Vityaz, this was the first experience of playing in extra time, which lasts until the winning goal. The team coped well with the new test for itself and continued to resist for almost three periods. During this time, Ilya Yezhov managed to make 29 saves in addition to 38 in the first three periods. But as soon as Evgeny Artyukhin earned the removal, the chances of Vityaz to continue the struggle were cut short. Lucas Bengtsson just threw off the blue line when the clock in the arena showed 113 minutes and 27 seconds - this match was the longest for SKA and Vityaz, and for the wards of Kudashov it was also victorious.