28 saves from Grubec and two assists from Tolchinsky: how Avangard defeated CSKA in the first match of the Gagarin Cup final

The winner of the 2021 Gagarin Cup is determined in a duel between CSKA and Avangard.

The army team was initially considered one of the main contenders for the main KHL trophy, and the “hawks” began to be seriously considered by experts as favorites during the playoffs.

Bob Hartley's wards demonstrated bright and high-speed hockey, and experienced serious problems only in the confrontation with Ak Bars, which took first place in the East at the end of the regular season and did not suffer a single defeat on the way to the final of the conference.

In turn, the reigning champions had a seven-match streak with Lokomotiv in the second round, and then spent a lot of energy in the derby with SKA.

Yes, we managed to solve everything in six meetings, but those turned out to be extremely tense.

Of course, all this did not elevate Avangard to the status of a favorite, but at least it gave hope that the remake of the 2018/19 season finale would turn out to be more competitive. Two years ago, CSKA easily dealt with the opponent and did not allow him to win a single victory. Then Omsk showed decent resistance only in the fourth match, losing in the remaining three with a total goal difference of 2:10.

This time, many noted that the position of forces had changed markedly. Two-time Olympic champion Boris Mayorov, although he still preferred CSKA, noted that Avangard had become much stronger over the past two years. The former coach of the Russian national team, Vladimir Plyushchev, agreed with him, and the honored coach of the country, Yuri Novikov, on the contrary, relied on Hartley's wards. At the same time, he was not at all embarrassed by the fact that, under the leadership of the Canadian mentor, the “hawks” won only one out of ten meetings against the army team.

The same Plyushchev assumed that a tense series with Ak Bars would certainly affect the physical condition of Avangard. According to him, the victory in the Eastern Conference took a lot of strength and emotion from him, as a result of which the Canadian coach may need to move away from his bright attacking model of the game and pay more attention to defense. And according to the first period, it became clear that he was not mistaken in his forecasts. CSKA acted as the first number, and the advantage in the number of shots was colossal - 17: 5. Moreover, it was not so much the star trio in the person of Maxim Shalunov, Konstantin Okulov and Maxim Mamin who was especially zealous, as the hockey players of other links. Maxim Sorkin harassed Shimon Grubec five times, and Brendan Lipsik three times, but the goalkeeper acted beyond praise. Moreover, the Czech could have had much more work, if not for the dedication of his partners.They blocked ten attempts of the owners at once.

Surely in the second period CSKA would have continued to storm the Avangard goal with the same intensity, if at the end of the first period it had not received a blow in the gut in the form of Yegor Chinakhov's goal. One of the few positional attacks of the guests ended with a powerful throw from the blue line, for which Lars Johansson was not ready.

The impression was that the missed goal seriously hit the psychology of the owners. Yes, they continued to possess territorial advantage, but they did not often force Grubec into the game. In 20 minutes they were marked with six throws, only five of which reached the target. Avangard took full advantage of this. CSKA hockey players again pressed too hard to their own goal during a positional attack and left the players on the blue line uncovered. Sergei Tolchinsky found Kirill Gotovtsa, who was left without guardianship, with a pass, and he followed Chinakhov's example and caught Johansson by surprise.

Another goal could completely demoralize the reigning champions of the KHL. To cheer them up, they needed a bright episode, and this happened two minutes before the siren. The first link of CSKA finally came to the fore and almost narrowed the gap in the long run. Shalunov fought great outside the goal and rolled out a pass to Mamin, but he was unable to quickly orient himself, and the puck, after being thrown from an uncomfortable hand, hit the post. However, what did not work out for Maxim, Andrey Loktionov succeeded in the third period. The ex-Los Angeles striker took advantage of Ville Pokki's gross mistake and left Grubec out of work with a subtle movement.

For the next ten minutes, there was an equal fight. At first, Ivan Telegin could restore parity, but hit Grubetsu's helmet, and then Sergei Tolchinsky could increase the gap. The puck even ended up in the net, but the goal was not counted - a second before that, the gate was moved. At the same time, the guests, although they were inferior in the long run, put more pressure on the opponent. However, gradually the impression began to take shape that the army team was either physically imperfectly prepared, or lost their form during the six-day break.

The key episode of the match took place in the 52nd minute. Power play is one of the Vanguard's trump cards. Up to the final series, Hartley's wards upset their opponents 13 times in unequal compositions - more often only Metallurg (15) succeeded. CSKA hockey players were clearly aware of the strong qualities of their competitors, therefore, until the middle of the third period, they did not earn a single removal. As a result, the chances of success were canceled out by the violation of the numerical strength. 12 seconds after the throw-in, the same Tolchinsky and Korban Knight brought Reed Boucher to the throw and reduced the hosts' chances for a comeback to the limit.

This is not to say that CSKA did not try to recoup.

Nikitin threw all his strength forward, and three minutes before the siren completely removed the goalkeeper.

However, the appearance of the sixth fielder on the ice did not benefit the reigning champions.

Uncoordinated actions in a foreign zone led to the loss of the puck and allowed Avangard to complete the rout.

The author of the fourth puck was Ilya Kablukov, who scored the first point for performance in the playoffs.

Avangard interrupted an unsuccessful streak of three consecutive defeats in the confrontation with CSKA and took the lead in the Gagarin Cup final.

The stars of the match were Gotovets, Grubets and Chinakhov, but from a statistical point of view, it was Tolchinsky who performed the most impressively.

With two assists, he became the most productive player of the meeting and came out on top in the KHL scorers' race (5 + 13), bypassing Okulov (5 + 11).