The fourth match of the series against CSKA could be safely considered the key one for Avangard. Another defeat, if not crossed out, then minimized the chances of Bob Hartley's wards to win the trophy. Earlier in the history of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), not a single team managed to recoup in the Gagarin Cup final with a score of 1: 3. And the army team clearly did not give the impression of a team ready to lose such a serious advantage.
And on the eve of the meeting, there were hardly any serious prerequisites for the triumph of Avangard. First, the Omsk people were clearly not in the best mood after two consecutive defeats, while the Muscovites felt confident. Secondly, personnel problems also seriously influenced the prospects of the owners. The company of the injured Nail Yakupov, Jiri Sekach, Alexei Emelin and Maxim Chudinov was Kirill Semyonov, the KHL record holder in terms of the number of matches played in a row. The defender has not missed a single game since August 2017 and has been on the ice 291 times during this period.
CSKA, on the other hand, had reasons for joy. The main one was that Maxim Mamin, who had missed the third meeting of the series due to injury, returned to the roster. Surely it was expected that one of the most productive (11 points) red-blue players would take his usual place in the top three with Maxim Shalunov and Konstantin Okulov, but head coach Igor Nikitin judged otherwise. The striker, who recovered from an injury, ended up in the top three with Sergei Andronov and Pavel Karnaukhov, and the trio with the best sniper and playoff scorer was 40-year-old Alexander Popov. Also, defender John Gilmore returned to the base, and Mario Kempe and Marsel Ibragimov were out of the application.
The start of the match was tense. The rivals acted very tough and selflessly, and there were more than enough forceful techniques. But with the dangerous moments, everything was not so hopeful. During the first eight minutes, the hosts never bothered Lars Johansson, and the guests, although they twice checked the vigilance of Shimon Grubec, could not catch him by surprise. The most striking episode arose after Popov again showed himself from his best side and with a spectacular pass brought Okulov to a shock position, but Konstantin did not use his chance.
Yes, the superiority of Nikitin's charges was felt at the start, but what happened in the period from the ninth to the 13th minute could completely demoralize the Avangard hockey players. First, Aleksey Bereglazov slept through Anton Slepyshev's opening on a penny and allowed him to easily convert Brendan Lypsik's pass into a goal. And then the well-known sports rule "if you don't score, you score" worked. "Hawks" staged an assault on the opponent's goal and forced Artem Blazhievsky to break the rules. The defender pressed the puck with his hand in the goal area and forced the referees to issue a bullet. Reed Boucher went to a rendezvous with Johansson, but lost to the Swede in an impromptu duel. The reckoning followed immediately. The lightning-fast counterattack of CSKA ended with a two-on-one exit - Karnaukhov shot along the alignment, and Mamin was ahead of Grubec.
It would seem that the army team created a comfortable ground for themselves and had no cause for concern, but at the end of the period they not only allowed the “hawks” to press themselves against the goal, but also lost one of the most important performers. Central striker Andrei Loktionov allowed himself unreasonable rudeness and hit with a stick between the legs of Klim Kostin. The referee did not regret the 2012 Stanley Cup winner and wrote him “5 + 20”. Thus, CSKA was forced to spend in the minority not only the end of the first, but also the beginning of the second period, and the player himself earned a disqualification.
Five minutes in the majority is a sufficient time not only to close the gap in the score, but also to restore parity. Especially when it comes to one of the leaders of the Gagarin Cup in playing in unequal compositions. True, in the final, Avangard hardly justified this status, having realized only one of nine attempts. It was not easy this time too. At a certain moment it might have seemed that the allotted time would not be enough, but seven seconds before the appearance of the fifth field hockey player CSKA on the ice, the hosts nevertheless opened the Johansson's gate. The Swede coped with the throw of Kostin, but he could not prevent Korban Knight from making the finishing move.
What happened 18 seconds later was more like hysteria. Andrei Stas was in his own zone and did not threaten Johansson in any way, while Maxim Shalunov hit him in the head at full speed. The Belarusian striker got up only with the help of partners, but was unable to continue his performance. In turn, the best sniper in the playoffs received a match penalty and followed Loktionov to the sub-trick.
This time the special brigade of the majority of "Avangard" failed to achieve a result. Somewhere problems with implementation interfered, somewhere Johansson and partners acted beyond praise. Yegor Chinakhov and Denis Zernov had excellent chances, and Bereglazov could have corrected himself for his misfire in the opening, but none of them could succeed. But the Omsk people were rehabilitated for an unsuccessful start and took the lead in the number of shots. Hartley's wards lost the starting period with a score of 6:17, and won the first half of the second with a difference of 13: 0.
Finding themselves in equal compositions, CSKA threw the rivals (8: 0) and managed to significantly reduce the difference in the number of shots on target, and towards the end of the period again defended well in the minority. This time, the "hawks" were unable to punish the enemy for the incontinence of Claes Dahlbeck, who was removed for the bandwagon. The owners acted extremely straightforward and predictably - they either passed the puck from one flank to the other, or rolled it out to Oliver Kaski, who was located on the blue line, which did not allow the compactly located army men to be taken by surprise. As a result, the shell was constantly "stuck" in the defenders, as evidenced by the number of shots blocked by Muscovites (20).
During the break, Nikitin clearly would not hurt to conduct explanatory work with his hockey players and urge them to go to the penalty box less often. But even if this conversation took place, it did not have the desired effect. In the third minute, Yegor Rykov was punished for deliberately throwing the puck. Kostin completed a sparkling multi-move with the participation of all five representatives of the special brigade in touch. For the 16th time, Avangard scored a goal in the majority in the current playoffs and bypassed Metallurg Magnitogorsk in this indicator.
By the beginning of the third period, CSKA had already spent 14 minutes in unequal compositions, while representatives of Avangard - none. Nikitin's wards managed to dilute the score only closer to the middle of the segment, but this hardly made them happy. Yes, Ilya Kablukov was punished for delaying an opponent, but Slepyshev, who dismissed him, received not two, but four minutes at once. And then Okulov could not restrain himself and in the fall hooked Arseniy Gritsyuk, who went out on the ice instead of the injured Stas.
Again it was not possible to punish the army team for rudeness, but it turned out to upset Johansson in equal compositions. Knight once again splendidly dealt with the throw-in points and made a discount on Damir Sharipzyanov, who with a powerful click pierced the net of the guests' goal. Avangard scored for the third time and stepped forward four minutes seven seconds before the siren. It is all the more offensive for CSKA that a couple of minutes ago Popov missed a great moment, hitting the crossbar.
The current winner of the Gagarin Cup was in an extremely difficult situation. There was very little time left, and even the opponent practically did not allow anything to be created on his third of the site. But at the key moment Ville Pokka lost his nerves. Behind the endline, the Finnish defender braided Popov's legs and gave the enemy a chance to escape. At times it seemed that Grubets and the company would still hold out, but a second before the end of regular time, Mat Robinson left the Czech goalkeeper out of business with a powerful long-range throw, which shocked those gathered in the arena in Balashikha.
In the current playoffs, opponents were repeatedly forced to spend overtime and were not always able to resolve all issues in the first 20 minutes. So, the fourth match between Avangard and Avtomobilist lasted more than 88 minutes, and the fifth game of the series between CSKA and SKA - almost 114. But this time the outcome of the confrontation was decided in the first extra period, and the outcome was as paradoxical as the whole meeting. Kostin earned an unnecessary removal, but the army team not only did not score themselves in the majority, but also missed the smashing counterattack. Pavel Dedunov took advantage of the defender's misfire, went one-on-one with Johansson and “shot” the Swedish goalkeeper. Hartley's wards equalized the score in the Gagarin Cup final series and won on their ice for the first time since March 26.