The confrontation between Metallurg and CSKA has become a real cherry on the cake of the current KHL season.
Both teams played well in the playoffs and deservedly made it to the finals.
Moreover, on the way to the decisive meetings, Magnitogorsk knocked out the current champion Avangard from the fight, and the army team turned out to be stronger than SKA in the seven-match thriller.
In the very first full-time game, the opponents faced the most important task - to successfully start the series.
Indeed, as practice shows, the side that won the opening game subsequently takes the Gagarin Cup.
This has happened on the last four occasions.
But in 2016, the sign did not work.
Then CSKA and Metallurg also fought for the trophy.
Muscovites started with a home defeat (5:1), but eventually lost - 3:4.
Six years later, they have a great opportunity to take revenge.
However, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov looked like the favorites.
Unlike the rival, they quickly finished the Eastern Conference Finals with Tractor and got a whole week to rest.
The team of Sergei Fedorov had the last difficult meeting with SKA only four days ago and after that went to Magnitogorsk.
In addition, the hosts approached the game without personnel losses.
Even Artyom Minulin managed to recover, who last went out on the ice almost a month ago.
The defender is located in the third pair of defense together with Grigory Dronov.
The guests could also count on all the performers.
As a result, the headquarters made only one castling in comparison with the last match.
In the fourth link, the young Takhir Mingachev replaced Matvey Guskov.
Contrary to expectations, it was the Muscovites who took the initiative at the start.
From the first minutes they took the puck under their control and carried out several dangerous attacks.
The third line, led by Alexander Popov, looked great and played a decisive role in the confrontation with SKA.
It almost organized an early goal.
After the transfer of the veteran from behind the gate, Maxim Sorkin struck a powerful click right off the bat, but Vasily Koshechkin managed to move and rescued his partners.
However, the Metallurg players soon came to their senses and began to act in their favorite manner - skillful fast forwards quickly crossed the middle zone and each time tried to bring the matter to the throw.
As a result, in the first period, the hosts outperformed their opponent in this indicator - 11:8.
Repeatedly saved the army Ivan Fedotov.
For example, he coped with a mid-range shot from Brendan Leipsik and deflected an unexpected shot from Andrey Chibisov from the boards with his shield.
I also remember the throw of Philippe Maillet, which the goalkeeper parried with his shoulder.
At the same time, there was enough nervousness in his actions.
The goalkeeper of the Russian national team was often unable to fix the puck and gave the opponents an excellent opportunity to finish off.
Only by a miracle before the break they did not use it.
Koshechkin had less work to do, but he confidently coped with all threats.
And the defenders worked competently on the penny, not allowing the guests to interfere with Vasily.
In the first period, the fans did not wait for the goals, but the second turned out to be much more productive.
Moreover, his hosts unexpectedly failed his debut.
In just three minutes they conceded twice.
First, the Metallurg players failed to get the puck out of the zone and allowed CSKA to open an account.
After the transfer of Artyom Sergeyev, Sergey Andronov struck Koshechkin on the second attempt.
Not the best way played in this episode Chibisov, who failed to prevent the attacker.
And the captain scored the first goal in the playoffs.
Having missed, Vorobyov's wards continued to make mistakes, and winged rivals used them.
They soon doubled the lead.
Magnitogorsk failed to change in time and was pressed against its own goal.
A protracted attack with a powerful click from an average distance was completed by Nikita Nesterov - 2:0.
Metallurg found itself in an extremely difficult position.
However, at this moment, the army team themselves extended a helping hand to the opponent.
They tried to act as tough as possible and sometimes crossed the line.
As a result, the guests spent six minutes in the minority.
For the removal of Andrei Svetlakov, the guests failed to punish them.
But an unnecessary foul by Semyon Pankratov led to Maxim Karpov's goal.
The striker replaced Denis Zernov and scored from close range five seconds before the offender returned to the ice.
The judges studied the episode for a foul on Fedotov, but the goal was counted.
Moreover, the army team in the minority, even with the score 2-0, could put an end to the confrontation.
Konstantin Okulov and Artyom Sergeev organized a two-on-two, but missed a 100% moment.
Experienced Koshechkin moved to the far corner in advance and easily parried the defender's throw.
It seemed that in the third period CSKA would have to be extremely difficult.
However, in fact, the Muscovites spent the final 20 minutes almost exemplary.
They predictably gave the puck to the opponent, but they defended calmly and did not leave free zones in their own half, into which the hosts could break into.
Moreover, the attackers of the army regularly went into high pressure and did not allow the defenders to calmly start attacks.
As a result, Metallurg's offensive lost its trademark speed.
Moments at the gates of Fedotov Vorobyov's wards, if they created it, then with great difficulty.
An eloquent indicator: they struck only five throws, although they should have staged an assault.
I remember the dangerous exit of Nikolai Goldobin and Josh Curry, which ended with an inaccurate throw of the Canadian from a lethal position.
A little later, an unpleasant click from an average distance was caused by Anatoly Nikontsev.
Fedotov dealt with him, but Karpov was not allowed to play on the rebound.
Hockey players of CSKA acted with extreme discipline in martial arts.
As a result, not a single deletion.
And in equal compositions, the hosts did not look so impressive.
Therefore, the team had only one hope for salvation - the replacement of the goalkeeper with the sixth field.
Three minutes before the final siren, Vorobyov took a timeout and immediately sent Koshechkin to the bench.
However, this did not help either.
In just half a minute, the army team put an end to it.
Anton Slepyshev fought for the puck near the boards and completed a pass to the empty balls to Sergei Plotnikov - 3:1.
CSKA started the final series of the Gagarin Cup with a victory and created an excellent starting groundwork.
Fans of Magnitogorsk should not worry, because their favorites started the confrontation with Avangard with two home defeats with a total score of 6:15, but in the end they turned out to be stronger.