Metallurg had every right to be considered one of the main specialists in the seventh matches in the history of the Gagarin Cup.
Before the current draw of the tournament, Magnitogorsk, like Ak Bars, twice had to determine the winner of the trophy in the decisive match and twice prevailed.
And if for the first time they turned out to be stronger than the Czech "Lion", then in the second they dealt with their current rival.
In 2016, the fate of the championship was decided in Moscow, which did not prevent the guests from achieving success.
Subsequently, CSKA played in the final three more times, but it never took seven meetings to determine the winner.
In 2018, the army team was able to inflict only one defeat on Ak Bars, and both of their confrontations with Avangard were also not protracted.
Nevertheless, the lack of experience in decisive matches did not make Muscovites outsiders in the final duel with Metallurg.
Especially considering his personnel problems.
In the sixth game, Ilya Vorobyov surprised many by not including Arkhip Nekolenko and Yaroslav Khabarov in the application.
The coach never answered what caused this decision, but the effect was not the most positive.
Pavel Akolzin and Maxim Pashnin, who replaced them, did not perform very convincingly, and the latter also earned a fatal removal, after which Mikhail Grigorenko mostly scored the winning goal.
After the failure, Vorobyov continued to shuffle combinations.
Nekolenko and Khabarov returned, but the latter replaced not Pashnin, but Linus Hulström.
And if these permutations were more of a tactical nature, then the appearance of Semyon Koshelev in the composition was forced.
He took the place of Josh Curry, who was disqualified for hitting Claes Dahlbeck in the head.
As it became clear from the first period, the loss of Curry had a tremendous impact on the game of Magnitogorsk.
During the first period, the hosts made only five shots on goal - almost three times less than their opponents (14), and in general they looked devastated.
CSKA immediately began to act in an aggressive manner and put pressure on large forces, for which he was very soon rewarded.
In the ninth minute, Pavel Karnaukhov opened up great on a penny, received a pass from Konstantin Okulov and managed to flash Vasily Koshechkin on the second attempt.
The missed goal demoralized Metallurg.
Magnitogorsk began to make one gross mistake in their own zone after another, losing everything on their own penny, and already after 57 seconds they allowed CSKA to double the advantage.
Distinguished Alexander Popov, who missed the last three matches of the series due to injury.
A few minutes later, the 41-year-old veteran could also score with an effective pass, but Vladislav Provolnev missed from a lethal position.
Apparently, in the locker room, Vorobyov managed to find the right words, and after the break, the course of the meeting turned 180 degrees.
Now the hosts pressed the opponent and practically did not let him leave his own zone, constantly harassing Ivan Fedotov.
But it cannot be said that the guests were strongly against it.
They significantly eased the pressure and focused on protecting their own goal, not giving freedom to the attackers of the opponent.
Although Magnitogorsk possessed a territorial advantage, in the first ten minutes of the period they could not create truly dangerous moments.
But then the Muscovites began to create problems for themselves with regular deletions.
First, Claes Dahlbeck earned two minutes, and then Darren Dietz followed his example.
True, by this time Magnitogorsk had already managed to concede for the third time.
Karnaukhov and Grigorenko organized a lightning-fast counterattack, and Okulov completed it.
Konstantin scored 17 (8 + 9) points and strengthened his position as CSKA top scorer in the playoffs.
Metallurg's position seemed hopeless.
In the current Gagarin Cup, the team has only won twice, conceding three or more goals.
Yes, and the third goal could well break the owners of the ice.
But Anton Slepyshev came to the aid of the opponents, grabbing a penalty for playing with a stick held high.
There were only ten seconds left until the end of the period, but nine seconds were enough to score against the "steelworkers".
Philippe Maillet interrupted a dry series of four matches and gave the hosts hope for a happy ending.
But she was not destined to come true.
CSKA closed tightly on the defensive and reduced the number of dangerous moments at their own gates to a minimum.
And when Magnitogorsk nevertheless broke through the defensive ranks, Fedotov acted beyond praise.
The most reliable goalkeeper of the Gagarin Cup had another fantastic meeting and was extremely cold-blooded throughout the match.
In total, Ivan made 42 saves, and in the end he completely caught the courage, effortlessly reflecting the throws of his opponents from the most lethal positions.
Koshechkin's assets accumulated almost half as many saves, but in the third period it was his efforts that made it possible to maintain the intrigue to the last.
Suffice it to recall how in two minutes he did not allow Maxim Sorkin to score, and then Slepyshev, who literally “shot” the goalkeeper from a meter away.
For the fourth time, Metallurg conceded after the 39-year-old goalkeeper went to the bench.
Vorobyov went for broke and 4 minutes 20 seconds before the siren released the sixth field, but it was not the day of Magnitogorsk.
Vladislav Kamenev scored in the second match in a row and removed all questions about the winner.
CSKA took revenge for the defeat six years ago and won the Gagarin Cup for the second time, equaling Metallurg, Dynamo and SKA in this indicator.
At the same time, quite unexpectedly, Popov was recognized as the most valuable player in the playoffs, by that time he was already in the sub-tribune.
He missed the final period and subsequently did not even manage to take part in the awards ceremony.
The KHL press service explained that in the current Gagarin Cup, the forward scored only 9 (4 + 5) points, but chalked up three winning goals, one of which became “gold” for the army team.
In addition, Popov set a new league record for most playoff appearances among forwards (162).