On the eve of the second match of the Gagarin Cup final, the main question was whether Avangard would be able to confirm that the victory in the first meeting was not an accident and beat CSKA on its ice for the second time in a row. If successful, Bob Hartley's wards would not only have dealt a serious blow to the psychology of the reigning champion, but would have finally strengthened their status as a favorite. Earlier in the history of the KHL, no team managed to take a trophy, losing in two starting games of the series.
It would seem that a major victory and dominance over two thirds of the meeting should have contributed to the fact that Avangard's chances of success in the second match would be quoted very high. But in reality, everything turned out to be a little different. Bookmakers bet on CSKA, well-known hockey players in the past also preferred the army team. Thus, two-time Olympic champion Alexander Kozhevnikov expressed confidence that Muscovites would only improve during the playoffs, and Boris Mikhailov even stated that they would prevail over any opponent if they could put their game in order.
And we must admit that they had good reasons for such an opinion. The main argument in this regard could be considered the history of the confrontation between Avangard and CSKA during the period of Hartley's work. In 11 matches, Omsk hockey players won only two victories, and the remaining nine lost with a total goal difference of 12:30. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that many perceived the recent failure as a system glitch caused by poor implementation and bad luck. Suffice it to recall that in the first period alone, the hosts made 17 shots on goal by Shimon Grubec, and ten more were blocked.
Two-time world ice hockey champion Mikhail Biryukov expressed the opinion that CSKA did not need to change anything before the second meeting of the series, but Igor Nikitin had his own opinion on this matter. The army coach brought back forwards Mario Kempe and Alexander Popov, as well as young defender Daniil Chaika, to the main squad. At the same time, Nikita Soshnikov, Yegor Afanasyev and John Gilmore were out of the application. As for the rest, the owners really stayed with their own people. They still controlled the puck much more and were more often in the opponent's zone, and had a solid advantage in shots. Yes, only seven out of 19 reached the alignment, but this fact should be counted among the guests' merits.
The main difference from the previous confrontation was the dramatically increased number of rigid joints. Already in the fifth minute, the best scorer of the playoffs, Sergei Tolchinsky, was hit in the face with a stick, and starting from the eighth a series of penalties began. The first opportunity to realize the majority presented itself to the "hawks", but they did not take advantage of it. And this despite the fact that two days earlier it took them 12 seconds to excel in unequal compositions. And then the army team had three chances in a row. First, Yegor Chinakhov received "2 + 10" for a blow to the head to Yegor Rykov, and then Kirill Semyonov and Korban Knight took turns on the penalty box. According to Hartley's reaction, it was noticeable that he clearly did not agree with the decision of the judges for the Canadian - the mentor covered his face with his hands and laughed.
The striking differences between the two matches began to be clearly seen in the course of the second period. If in the previous CSKA Moscow significantly reduced its activity and allowed Avangard to take the initiative, now, on the contrary, it added. Even before the removal of Reed Boucher, the hosts made 22 shots (16 more than the opponent), half of which reached Grubec. Nevertheless, the most striking episode took place at the gates of Lars Johansson. Chinakhov, who had served the penalty, returned to the ice and performed a throw on a penny. Ilya Kovalchuk grabbed the puck, but missed the far corner.
Nevertheless, it was the removal of Boucher that became the key in the second period. From the fourth attempt, Nikitin's wards were still able to take advantage of the numerical superiority and for the first time took the lead in the 2021 Gagarin Cup final. The multi-move with the participation of Konstantin Okulov and Maxim Sorkin was completed by Maxim Shalunov. The striker closed the cross and with 11 goals established himself as the best sniper in the playoffs.
Thus, CSKA was able to solve the main, according to some experts, problem in the current meeting. Alexey Badyukov, two-time Gagarin Cup winner, expressed confidence that in order to win the army team needed to score first, Biryukov was of the same opinion. And this is not surprising. The Red-Blues are famous for their defense and know how to defend the advantage, which has been proved more than once during the playoffs. Suffice it to say that in as many as six meetings they have not conceded a single goal - more than any of their rivals.
And already in the opening of the third period, the opinion of the famous hockey players in the past was confirmed. "Vanguard" went ahead in large forces, but began to act less intensively in defense. This led to the fact that during the next attack of CSKA Artyom Sergeev was left without tutelage on the blue line and was able to freely throw the puck. She walked past the gate, but ricocheted from Anton Slepyshev into the net. The referees turned to the video replay, but did not see the kick played by the forward.
And four and a half minutes later, the situation of the Omsk people became critical. Yegor Bereglazov and Damir Sharipzyanov failed in defense and completely forgot about Alexander Popov. Yegor Rykov made a pass through half the area, and the 40-year-old forward opened right between the defenders and implemented an impromptu bullet. Thus, a former hockey player and record holder in matches played (900) and points scored (422) actually deprived them of chances for a comeback "Avangard".
Hartley's wards missed one of the last chances to turn the tide of the confrontation in the middle of the third segment.
Andrei Svetlakov got two minutes for the bandwagon, but the guests again could not cope with the four hosts.
The army team missed two opportunities to realize the majority, but this hardly upset them.
As well as the fact that Popov and Shalunov could easily issue doubles, but lost in a duel to Grubets.
The Czech goalkeeper was again at his best and made 31 saves, but this was not enough.
CSKA took a convincing revenge for a major defeat two days earlier and sent three unanswered goals to the Avangard goal.
CSKA equalized the score in the final series of the Gagarin Cup, and Bob Hartley's team was defeated for the tenth time by direct competitors.