Boucher's brace and three goals in nine minutes: how Avangard pressed Metallurg, and CSKA fought back from 0-2 in the match against Lokomotiv

Failed return of Metallurg

After the defeat in the first match of the series, Ilya Vorobyov started a small restructuring. Forwards Alexander Burmistrov and Andrei Chibisov, who did not show themselves very brightly two days ago, were transferred to the reserves, and Anatoly Nikontsev and Josh Curry took their place. And it was a very adventurous decision. Until now, the Canadian has appeared on the ice only in two meetings of the current Gagarin Cup, but it is unlikely that both the hockey player himself and his partners would like to remember this. Metallurg lost with an aggregate score of 3:10, the hockey player himself did not score a single point, and his utility index in this segment was "-4".

As it turned out later, this castling of Vorobyov influenced the result. But after the first 20 minutes, the Magnitogorsk coach was clearly worried about something else. Namely, how to win back a three-goal deficit. Its defense was literally bursting at the seams, which Avangard skillfully used. Already in the sixth minute, Fyodor Malykhin found Pavel Dedunov on the spot at the second attempt and helped him hit the goal, and less than eight minutes later the special team of the majority, famous for its effectiveness, said its weighty word (before this confrontation, the percentage of numerical superiority among Omsk was 29.1%). The Hawks' attack was protracted, and ended with a precise hit by Alex Broadhurst , the first in the playoffs.

Like his partner, the American shot into the near corner. And even then, Vorobyov could have thoughts about replacing the goalkeeper, because on this day the game for Pasquale was clearly not going. The last straw was a missed puck 103 seconds before the siren at the end of the stretch. Chistyakov's powerful flick was taken by the post, and a timely shot on the spot by Vladimir Tkachev was closed by Reed Boucher. And although it is hardly worth blaming the Magnitogorsk goalkeeper for this goal, 66.6% of saves for the period is a weighty reason for transferring to the bench.

After the break, Vasily Koshechkin took his place in the Metallurg frame. Perhaps it was the appearance of an experienced veteran, coupled with the debriefing in the locker room, that provoked a sharp surge in activity. Only during this period, the visitors scored 21 shots (looking ahead, for the entire match Avangard managed to get 23) and twice managed to catch Vasily Demchenko by surprise. Pavel Akolzin "shot" from the sharpest angle struck the goal of the hosts, and then the power of the click was demonstrated by Grigory Dronov. Magnitogorsk won the faceoff in someone else's zone and found a defender with a pass, and the one that has the power charged under the crossbar.

Two goals in 121 seconds not only allowed the Metallurg hockey players to believe in themselves and build momentum, but also made their opponents nervous. In the remaining time, Avangard only bothered Koshechkin six times, and recovered only in the final period. And in this he was helped by opponents who suddenly earned an unnecessary sending-off for a delay with a stick. However, immediately after the return of Arkhip Nekolenko from the penalty box, Magnitogorsk restored parity. Nikita Korostelev broke into the Omsk zone at speed and hit exactly into the corner.

It seemed that the morally visitors would squeeze the hosts and equalize the score in the series, but Curry framed his partners. Returned from reserve, the Canadian for some reason moved a stick in the face of Sergei Tolchinsky in the middle zone and went to the bench. And after 123 seconds, Avangard scored for the fourth time. Tkachev again acted as an assistant, and Boucher scored a brace.

In the end, Metallurg tried to organize a bulk on the Avangard goal, but did not succeed. During the last minute, Magnitogorsk had the opportunity to win a faceoff in the vis-à-vis zone several times, but each time they lost on the point. Mikhail Kravets' charges held a minimal advantage and took the upper hand for the second home game in a row.

CSKA Willpower

The first match of the series between CSKA and Lokomotiv left mixed feelings. On the one hand, the army men scored twice and achieved success, on the other hand, they lost to the opponent in the game and survived only thanks to the incredible saves of Adam Radeborn. In total, the Swede made 35 saves and earned comparisons with Vladislav Tretiak himself.

It could be assumed that in the second home game Sergei Fedorov would require the wards to work more actively and act as the first number. But there was no change. Lokomotiv again dominated and attacked the target four times more often in the first period (17:4). But if two days ago it did not bring any dividends to Igor Nikitin's team, this time they came forward in their debut. The army men again pressed against their goal and could not prevent Denis Alekseev from irresistibly throwing from distance. Raideborn was unable to react due to traffic and extend the "dry" series.

CSKA needed to start and start demonstrating championship hockey, but it was not possible to do this either after conceding a puck or after a break. The red and blue were enough for short stretches, after which the initiative again passed to the railwaymen. And in the second period, sending-offs followed, almost finally knocking the Muscovites out of the rut. And even though Yaroslavl could not take advantage of the intemperance of either Nikolai Makarov or Maxim Sorkin, but they scored in equal compositions. Maxim Shalunov organized a counter-attack, and Maxim Berezkin left Reideborn out of work.

CSKA's position was critical. Lokomotiv still looked better, shot more often and already had the advantage of two goals. But in 52 seconds, there was nothing left of his advantage. It took only a couple of worthwhile attacks for the army men to upset Daniil Isaev twice and restore parity. First, Maxim Mamin completed the transfer from the wing to the center, and then Darren Dietz put the point in a similar combination. Moreover, the second goal was preceded by the fall of Sergei Plotnikov, who was playing his 800th game in the KHL. The Russian was injured in a collision with his opponent, but his sacrifice was not in vain. This was what distracted the attention of Rushan Rafikov and allowed the Kazakh-Canadian defender of the Muscovites to break freely to the goal.

In the wake of success, CSKA began the final stretch and in the fourth minute again forced Isaev to capitulate - with the full connivance of the Lokomotiv defenders. The Railwaymen allowed their opponents to freely get to their third of the court and make a shot on the spot, where Mikhail Grigorenko was the most agile. As in the episode with the second goal, Konstantin Okulov made an assist and thanks to this he became the top scorer of the army men in the KHL with 283 points.

Fedor's charges, as usual, closed and in the remaining time practically did not think about the countergame, fully concentrating on keeping the score. And they did everything possible for this. Eight attempts by railroad workers were blocked, and in the remaining 13 cases the threat was withdrew by Reideborn. CSKA won a strong-willed victory and came one step closer to reaching the Finals of the Western Conference - 2-0.