Avangard's logical victory
The confrontation between Metallurg and Avangard in recent years has become an integral part of the KHL playoffs. Surprisingly, the teams had to meet for the third time in a row in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference. They approached the next series with an equal score. In 2021, Omsk were stronger in six matches and put a spectacular point on the road - 5: 1. In 2022, they started with a crushing 8-1 away win, and in the second meeting they scored seven goals. But in the end, Magnitogorsk made a memorable save in seven games and stopped one step away from winning the Gagarin Cup.
This time the charges of Mikhail Kravets had a chance to take revenge. Firstly, unlike the opponent, who held the last difficult fight with Avtomobilist on Tuesday, they got a week of rest, since they did not experience problems in the series with Sibir. Secondly, the team played most of the regular season games at home in February and got the opportunity to lay a functional base before the playoffs. Finally, at the G-Drive Arena, she was provided with excellent support. With an average audience of 11,527 spectators, the Hawks made it into the top 3 most visited clubs in Europe.
The opening period, as expected, remained with the hosts. They looked fresher, faster and naturally came out victorious from most of the martial arts and joints. For example, Kravets hockey players made six successful power plays and three tackles, and in terms of the number of shots on goal they surpassed the opponent more than twice (14 against six).
It is not surprising that Eddie Pasquale from the first minutes had to work on the last frontier. Avangard tried to get the puck into someone else's zone as quickly as possible in search of free space. And before the break, it worked. Had it not been for the Canadian, Metalurh could have conceded more. For example, in one of the episodes, he made an impressive double save: first he deflected Victor Svedberg's sketch in front of him, and then parried a finish from Alex Broadhurst with a shield. I also remember the episode when Grigory Dronov fell at his own goal and gave the puck to Fedor Malykhin. The striker was one on the spot, but failed to beat the goalkeeper.
However, in the 11th minute, Pascaule was also powerless. Ziyat Paigin sent the puck to the spot, and there Korban Knight competently fought for it. As a result, it bounced straight to Reed Boucher, who had to hit an empty target. Having conceded, Magnitogorsk gradually came to their senses and also began to create chances. But Vasyl Demchenko, who recently renewed his contract with the club, acted above all praise.
In the second period, the game leveled off, and Omsk moved to a favorite defensive manner, calmly covering the clicks of opponents and leaving them almost no free space. But they were let down by unnecessary deletions. First, Vladimir Tkachev earned a minor disciplinary penalty for hitting his opponent with a stick. The hosts defended exemplarily in the minority, but with seconds to go, they conceded. Closed by his own and others, Demchenko could not cope with Semyon Koshelev's shot from the right circle. Immediately, Ivan Telegin left the court for two minutes, hitting Andrei Chibisov in the face with a stick. This time, Avangard persevered.
And at the very end of the period, Metallurg almost scored in equal compositions. After Denis Zernov's pass from behind the goal, Maxim Karpov threw at point-blank range, but the goalkeeper managed to raise the trap, and it was in it that the puck flew.
In the final period, the teams acted extremely cautiously, realizing that any mistake could decide the outcome of the match. Wrestling came to the fore, not attacking actions. Often, hockey players sent the puck to the sides, where they fought for it. But still, it was the hosts who looked a little more active. Periodically, they delivered a shell to someone else's spot, and then the opponents had difficulties. But Pasquale continued to bail out his teammates, recording seven more saves. Moreover, he tightly fixed the puck, not allowing to finish off. Magnitogorsk had fewer shots, but this is due to the fact that eight of them were blocked by defenders.
In overtime, Metallurg looked the favorite, because it won three matches in the series with Avtomobilist in extra time, including the decisive one. Avangard and Sibir reached overtime only twice and lost once. But within the home walls, the Hawks literally crushed their opponents, and fatigue began to run through their actions. The hosts could have put an end to the match almost immediately, but Boucher's shot took over the post, and in a couple of episodes Pasquale was on top. As a result, the last word remained for Arseniy Gritsyuk, who in the 69th minute finished off the puck into the net after another hit to the rack.
CSKA's amazing luck
For the third time in a row in the framework of the Gagarin Cup, CSKA and Lokomotiv had to compete. At the same time, the two previous confrontations remained with the army men. And if in the semifinals of the Western Conference-2021 they won in seven games, then in the quarterfinals of 2022 they did not suffer a single defeat. The coach of the Railwaymen Igor Nikitin, on the eve of the next meetings with Sergei Fedorov, even joked that, probably, his fate is to play with CSKA.
In this pair, Yaroslavl found themselves in the position of Avangard. They easily broke the resistance of the Vityaz and did not go on the ice since March 9. The Muscovites, like Metallurg, went the entire distance with Severstal and squeezed the Cherepovets with great difficulty. According to Fedorov, his wards received only one day of rest. Of course, this had to play into the hands of the red and green.
The first third of the match was not easy for the hosts. They had absolutely no way out of defense to attack, and Daniil Isaev was left almost without a job. Even if the defending champions got to someone else's zone, the puck did not hold on to them.
Rivals against this background showed speeds of a different order. They gladly ran forward again and again and created chances. Only by a miracle CSKA did not concede in the first period. And the name of this miracle is Adam Reideborn. In a difficult moment, the goalkeeper was really half of the team and helped out his teammates. Artur Kayumov, Daniil Tesanov, and Nikita Cherepanov tried to penetrate him with dangerous shots. The Swede acted calmly and with each save instilled confidence in the team. Army had the only shot on target in the first period only in the 14th minute.
Fedorov's charges recovered only after the break. They gradually gained control of the puck and even played from a position of strength. And the Railwaymen, after a decisive assault on someone else's gates, had an inevitable decline. Now the red and blue missed great chances to open the scoring. However, Loko was still closer to the goal. And sometimes, when Raideborn was powerless, fortune smiled on the owners. So, Maxim Shalunov miraculously did not get into an empty corner from a meter, and a little earlier Stepan Nikulin made an inexplicable mistake.
All the more unexpected was the turning point in the game in the final period. Initially, nothing has changed on the ice. Nikitin's charges continued to create chances and regularly disturb Reideborn. However, everything was decided by one unsuccessful episode. Army won the fight at the front board, and Maxim Mamin jumped out from behind the goal and found an excellent pass to Yaroslav Dyblenko, who did not miss his chance. And soon the guests were still in the minority. Georgy Ivanov got two minutes for the trip. Just 32 seconds was enough for the opponents to realize the majority. Pavel Karnaukhov competently substituted his stick on the spot after Darren Dietz's cross from the blue line. Thus, CSKA won a crucial victory and showed a championship character, being stronger with only 13 shots on target. And Reideborn, who made 35 saves, became the main hero of the team.