On the eve of the fourth game of the Gagarin Cup final, CSKA found itself in an extremely difficult situation.
First, the Muscovites lost away to Metallurg in a super-scoring match (4:6) and allowed the opponent to level the score in the series.
This was followed by a home defeat - 0:4.
Thus, the army team suffered two defeats in a row, missed ten goals in them and were pressed against the wall.
Another failure could put them on the brink.
It was curious how strong the changes in the composition will be made by Sergei Fedorov.
As a result, he unexpectedly decided to give rest to 41-year-old Alexander Popov and sent Pavel Karnaukhov to the third link to Maxim Sorkin and Andrey Svetlakov.
Meanwhile, striker Semyon Pankratov returned to the fourth, and defender Vladimir Grudinin did not get into the application at all.
But the coaching staff did not dare to castling at the last line, and Ivan Fedotov again took the place at the gate, having extremely unsuccessfully spent the last two meetings.
A day ago, Fedorov even changed him in the end to Adam Reideborn, but this time the Swede remained on the bench.
In turn, Ilya Vorobyov, as expected, did not change the winning line-up.
After the defeat of CSKA, journalists were interested in whether Pavel Akolzin and Semyon Koshelev would return to service, but they still remained out of the application.
The hosts, as expected from the first minutes, went ahead and tried to unsettle the opponent by organizing a powerful onslaught.
They tried to look for free zones on the edges of the site and from there deliver the puck to the nickel.
This tactic almost worked during one of the first attacks, when Anton Slepyshev left the defender on the right side, but slightly missed the far corner.
In the future, the army team continued to regularly disturb Vasily Koshechkin and kept him in good shape.
In particular, in one of the episodes, an experienced goalkeeper deflected Sergey Plotnikov's click from a couple of meters with a shield.
In total, the goalkeeper had 11 saves in the first period.
As a result, Metallurg even transferred the opponent - 12:11.
Guests in a corporate vein, at any convenient opportunity, quickly ran away to someone else's half.
The first link, led by Brendan Leipsik, looked especially good.
Yes, and the moments of Vorobyov's wards created more dangerous ones.
What is at least the output of two in one Josh Curry and Nikita Korostelev.
However, the Canadian far released the puck from himself and made an unsuccessful transfer to his partner on empty.
Repeatedly, Fedotov also had to come into play, who, on the whole, acted reliably.
It seems that the hockey player came to his senses after the last two unsuccessful matches.
Although he did not make truly spectacular rescues, he always found himself in the right position and rescued his partners.
And in the end of the first period, both teams earned the first removal.
Nikolai Goldobin got two minutes for holding with a stick, and then the army team violated the strength.
But most teams failed to open an account.
And at the beginning of the second 20-minute period, Metallurg managed to score at all.
Moreover, Artyom Zemchenok, who is not famous for high performance, distinguished himself.
After Yegor Yakovlev's pass, the defender from the right faceoff circle sent the puck into the far corner and scored the second goal in the playoffs.
Fedotov was shut down by John Gilmour and failed to react.
CSKA was in an even more unenviable position.
Muscovites were forced to go all-in and expose the rear as much as possible, which rivals enjoyed using with pleasure.
Fast hockey players of Magnitogorsk repeatedly penetrated into someone else's zone and created the most dangerous moments.
For example, Philippe Maillet at high speed broke into the free zone between two defenders and almost increased the team's advantage in the long run.
The Muscovites were saved by Fedotov, sprawled on the ice, who blocked the puck from entering the net with a shield.
A little later, he parried it with a football foot after an unexpected rebound from his own partner.
Fedorov's wards did not do much.
If they disturbed Koshechkin, then at the cost of enormous efforts.
So, Mikhail Grigorenko scored a couple of unpleasant shots.
In total, the hosts recorded only eight clicks in their assets.
And then it was possible to significantly improve the statistics shortly before the break.
The red-blues locked the opponent in his zone and did not allow him to change.
As a result, Grigory Dronov, Artyom Minulin and Linus Hultström spent several minutes on the ice, but survived.
The goalkeeper was also magnificent at the last frontier of the team, who frankly rescued the guests several times.
But CSKA still did not take advantage of a great chance to recoup.
The start of the final period was also extremely difficult for Metallurg.
CSKA again managed to press the opponent to the gate.
For six minutes, the guests really could not get out of their zone.
The apotheosis of pressure from Muscovites was the hit of Sergei Plotnikov in the bar almost from a dime.
In a couple of other episodes, the team was rescued by Koshechkin, who made 12 saves.
However, the guests quickly came to their senses and competently brought down the opponent's attacking mood.
They dragged out the time to the maximum and crushed the game into small segments.
Wards Vorobyov did not hesitate to regularly send the puck to someone else's face and get throw-ins at their gates.
The army team, although they won 64.52%, did not benefit from this.
The hosts had fewer and fewer moments, although the guests practically did not bother Fedotov at all, who had no work after the break.
Koshechkin, on the contrary, continued to help out partners.
For example, he did not allow himself to be pierced at close range by Andronov, who rolled onto a penny from the starboard side.
It was expected that in the end the Muscovites would arrange a serious finishing assault, but this did not happen.
Metallurg's hockey players acted competently in defense, while their rivals ran out of steam and could no longer break into someone else's defense at high speed.
They missed the only real chance to win back a couple of minutes before the final siren, when Koshechkin miraculously did not allow the puck to be sent into the net, closing the near corner with a shield.
CSKA did not even manage to play properly in the majority.
Fedotov gave way to the sixth fielder less than a minute before the end, and Magnitogorsk calmly managed to transfer the puck to someone else's zone.
So Metallurg won the third victory in a row in the Gagarin Cup final and stopped one step away from winning the trophy.
The team has a great opportunity to do it on April 26 on home ice.
Koshechkin again became the main hero in its composition, who scored the second shutout in a row and parried 31 throws.