Ak Bars still achieved its goal and reached the semifinals of the Gagarin Cup. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov's team in Vladivostok broke the resistance of Admiral in the sixth match and won a series of up to four wins (4-2). The Far Easterners have already created a miracle, reaching the second round of the KHL playoffs for the first time in history, and, of course, were loved by the fans, but their fairy tale has come to an end.
Kazan could have decided the question of the winner of the confrontation at home and not tortured themselves with an eight-hour flight, but in the fifth meeting they played inexpressively, gaining momentum only in the third period. This was not enough: the Admiral managed to maintain a minimal advantage in the score. The visitors' goalkeeper Nikita Serebryakov made 49 saves and allowed himself to be upset only by Alexander Radulov, to whom the Far Easterners, according to head coach Leonid Tambiev, had a special attitude throughout the series.
"An athlete who is hated by another team is a good player. In this series, I just hated Radulov, because he is a great hockey player. And our whole team hated him," the coach said.
However, in Vladivostok, other Ak Bars performers came to the fore. This time, Kazan joined the fight without swinging and from the first minutes played as in the final stretch of the previous meeting. Bilyaletdinov's charges got quick exits to the attack, they put constant pressure on the opponent and worked in someone else's zone. At the same time, there was only one reshuffle in the team: instead of defender Vyacheslav Voinov, Daniil Zhuravlyov appeared on the ice.
The first goal was not long in coming. Already in the fourth minute, Kirill Adamchuk gave a long pass forward, and Dmitry Voronkov made a discount on Ilya Safonov. The forward hit a galloping puck and took Serebryakov by surprise. The goalkeeper of "Admiral" even before the sixth match became the hero of the series with "Ak Bars". And this time he regularly saved his teammates, but one in the field is not a warrior. Teammates gave too much freedom to opponents in their zone, which led to another goal. Nikita Dynyak scored. Tambiev immediately took a timeout, but there were no drastic changes on the ice. The game of the opponents in the opening period was most clearly characterized by the statistics of shots on target: 18:3 in favor of the visitors.
The second twenty minutes began with another effective click by Dyniak. The forward, from a sharp angle, drove the puck into a small space between the goalkeeper's trap and the right post. Moreover, the forward scored the first double in the current KHL season. The situation seemed catastrophic for the Far Easterners, but almost immediately the majority worked for them. Nikolay Chebykin gave a pass to Alexander Shevchenko, but the puck hit the skate of Vasily Tokranov and ricocheted into the goal of Timur Bilyalov.
The situation on the ice gradually began to heat up, and everything turned into a brawl six minutes before the end of the second period. Radulov ran into Serebryakov. The goalkeeper left his position to pick up a shot at the side.
"He played me a stick, I boiled a little, you can say, made a power move, and then the guys went to protect me," the hockey player explained later.
Yuri Pautov was the first to rush to Nikita's aid, and Voronkov, in turn, flew at him. As a result, both received a two-minute penalty. As Bilyaletdinov noted after the match, it is almost impossible to exclude such collisions during the game.
"Will I hold a conversation on the topic of repeated skirmishes? I don't even know how to answer you. It's hockey, these things are happening. They are, apparently, and they will be. It is almost impossible to exclude this, although we must strive for this, "the specialist admitted.
An emotional outburst plus a good attack midway through the second period revived the Admirals. Bilyalov's work has increased. However, Kazan acted very disciplinedly, and despite all efforts, the hosts could not score yet. After the match, Bilyaletdinov noted that his players had fully complied with the game.
"I think the team has been very good. I think the result is not accidental. Although the opponent also performed very well and not only today. All the matches that we played turned out to be difficult for us. I had to work hard, to overcome something. Therefore, the series was difficult for us," the coach explained.
Ak Bars hockey players also spoke positively about their opponents. So, according to Dynyak, "Admiral" sometimes looked better on the ice than Kazan.
"After the defeat at home, we talked, sorted out our mistakes and drew the right conclusions. They came out more charged, threw more, added to the aggression. Well done. The Admirals played very well. There are no those who undeservedly pass the first round, they were better in some micro-moments. The Gagarin Cup consists of them. In many ways, the outcome of the confrontation is decided by skill, work and desire, "the press service of the club quotes Dynyak.
Tambiev, in turn, praised the coaching talent of his colleague. According to him, such a master as Bilyaletdinov is not ashamed to lose.
"We slept through the beginning of the meeting, for two periods the opponent completely dominated. We regrouped a bit in the third, the game was of an equal nature - we began to throw, win martial arts. In this match, the opponent was objectively stronger and deservedly won. If you take the whole series, it turned out to be very interesting, the team looked decent, but a very strong opponent, and, importantly, a very strong coach," Tambiev said.
By the way, after the final whistle, the head coaches hugged and warmly thanked each other for the confrontation. In the locker room of Kazan after the fight, emotions raged. Radulov thanked everyone for the excellent game and sent the winning puck from the match to a special case. Bilyaletdinov praised and at the same time chastised his charges.
"Well done today! We should have done it earlier. But, as you can see, we decided to take a ride, to fly, "the coach joked.
In the final of the Eastern Conference, Kazan will meet with Avangard Omsk. The first match will take place on April 1. "Admiral" goes on vacation and waits for news about Tambiev. The specialist's contract with the club expires at the end of the season, but after such a performance in the playoffs, he simply must be extended if he wants to do so.
"To be honest, I was so absorbed in the playoffs that I didn't even talk to an agent. Now the season is over, I will discuss everything. I know that preliminary talks with the Admiral are underway, and we'll have to wait and see. I haven't said that all season: I'm as tired as I've ever been on any team. I can't even imagine how tired they [admiral players] are with these constant flights, lack of sleep. I just respect, respect these players, "the specialist summed up.