The passes of Ak Bars and CSKA, the second victory of Spartak over Dynamo and the first goal of Datsyuk: what made the KHL playoff matches memorable

Five goals of Avtomobilist and hope for a miracle

The next game day of the KHL playoffs began with an unexpected defeat in Novosibirsk. Avtomobilist, having suffered three consecutive defeats from Siberia, was on the verge of relegation from the Gagarin Cup and no longer had the right to make a mistake. Only in this situation did Yekaterinburg finally manage to wake up and demonstrate why they took fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Moreover, the first period ended without abandoned washers, but after a break the guests broke through. Within six minutes, the wards of Andrei Martemyanov scored three times. Pavel Datsyuk also said his weighty word. It was he who helped to open the account for Georgy Belousov, and then competently substituted a club on a nickle.

So the 41-year-old hockey player opened the scoring for goals in the current Gagarin Cup and became the fourth in the list of the oldest puck authors in the KHL playoffs. The record belongs to the current coach of Vanguard Vyacheslav Kozlov, who distinguished himself at the age of 42 years and 254 days.

Danil Romantsev's goal was given some hope to the hosts' fans in the majority, but 30 seconds after the start of the third period, Avtomobilist legionnaires carried out a quick counterattack, which Dan Sexton completed with an accurate throw. And five minutes before the end, Maxim Berezin set the point - 5: 1.

Three goals in the majority and equality in the series

In an extremely difficult position at the start of the series with Dynamo was Spartak. The Red and White lost two matches and nearly lost in the third. By the fifth minute, the team missed three times, but found the strength to recoup, and ultimately snatched out a victory in overtime.

On the emotions of an incredible comeback, Oleg Znark's team inclined the second home match to their advantage. The hosts from the first minutes laid siege to the gate of the experienced Alexander Eremenko, who got his chance in connection with the uncertain game of Ivan Bocharov, and in the middle of the starting period opened an account. Spartak realized the first majority.

The second goal did not keep itself waiting. This time Ilya Zubov threw from the blue line with his brushes, and Andrei Mironov unsuccessfully substituted himself under the puck.

A good moment to return to the game with Dynamo was at the beginning of the second period, when the opponent earned two consecutive deletions. But Spartak survived, and then he punished the principal opponent. Now the guests were three for 70 seconds, and the red-and-white simply had no right to miss this opportunity.

As a result, most of the blue and white were realized only at the start of the final 20-minute effort of Vadim Shipachev. After that, wards of Vladimir Krikunov besieged the gates of the owners, but Nikita Bespalov acted beyond praise. Only 20 seconds before the final siren, Andre Petersson reduced the lag to a minimum, but there was no time left for a Dynamo comeback. Spartak equalized in the series, and the next meeting will take place at VTB Arena. In a derby, everything starts anew.

Comeback CSKA and 21 save Bilyalova

But the leaders of the Ak Bars and CSKA conferences did not postpone the matter and stepped into the next round following the results of four matches. At the same time, both teams again faced fierce resistance from Neftekhimik and Torpedo, respectively.

CSKA in Nizhny Novgorod were completely inferior to the beginning of the third period - 0: 2, but managed to turn the tide of the meeting and snatch victory in overtime.

And even three minutes before the end of regular time, the guests were losing, but Maxim Shalunov closed the transfer of Maxim Mamin and still managed to break Andrei Tikhomirov, who caught the courage.

And in overtime, CSKA in the class took advantage of the opponent’s first mistake. The defender of the hosts Sergey Zborovsky received the removal for the bandwagon, and the guests realized it after 20 minutes. The author of the winning puck was Kirill Kaprizov, and Alexei Marchenko, who spent the 300th match in the KHL, was noted for an assist.

In turn, Ak Bars, with a rare minimum score for hockey on the road, beat Neftekhimik. The goalkeeper Timur Bilyalov became the main character in the Kazan team. The 24-year-old goalkeeper repelled 21 shots and for the first time in his career played “zero” in the KHL playoffs.

The only puck in the middle of the meeting was chalked up by Stanislav Galiev, who scored a hundredth anniversary point in the Continental Hockey League.

The hosts could only complain about the referee team, which even with an equal score canceled the goal of Zach Mitchell due to an attack on the goalkeeper.