The importance of the second match of the final series of the Eastern Conference of the Gagarin Cup was difficult to overestimate. Ak Bars, who beat Avangard in overtime in the previous meeting, the new victory gave a solid advantage and a charge of self-confidence before the trip to Omsk. The visitors needed to equalize the score in order to actually start the confrontation at home from a clean page, and not to solve the difficult task of returning to the fight.
At the same time, Mikhail Kravets expressed confidence that his charges would not unglue after an offensive failure, and also did not agree that they were negatively affected by too long a break after four victories over Metallurg.
"In the media, those who probably do not quite understand the situation write about the loss of tone. I believe that rest and recovery bring only benefit, "the specialist emphasized.
The return of another leading defender was to play into the hands of the visitors. Following Damir Sharipzyanov, Semyon Chistyakov got into the squad, missing the first game due to injury. The hosts also made just one castling on the roster and also in the defensive line - Konstantin Luchevnikov took Vasily Tokranov's place in the third pair.
From the first minutes, Omsk demonstrated that the unfortunate failure did not affect them in any way. They seized the advantage and led a siege of someone else's gate. On the one hand, in terms of offensive time (3:18 to 3:27), they even lost to their opponents. On the other hand, they conducted excellent quick raids into someone else's zone and threw Ak Bars four times (12 against three).
Dangerous moments began to arise immediately. And it is important that in the team of Kravets showed themselves not only the first link, but also other hockey players. No sooner had the game started than Ivan Telegin made a click from the left corner, but Timur Bilyalov rescued his teammates. Following Sergei Tolchinsky's shot from under Vyacheslav Voynov, a post came to his rescue. Bilyalov then parried Nail Yakupov's powerful shot from the right with the edge of the trap. Each time, the visitors were a little faster and one step ahead of their rivals.
Avangard's pressure turned into an absolutely natural goal by Viktor Svedberg in the 17th minute. The defenseman successfully caught the puck bouncing off the left side and sent it into the far from mid-range. At the same time, no one prevented him from aiming and making a shot - the hosts froze at their goal. So the Swede playing for the national team of Kazakhstan became the author of only the second goal in the current playoffs.
Kazan missed a single chance to score, and even that was thanks to the loss of Chistyakov behind the goal. Kirill Petrov, after passing his partner, threw from a killer distance, but hit the guardian. In the middle of the stretch, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov's charges earned the majority for a trip from Alex Broadhurst, but immediately Voynov allowed a block, and the lineups were equalized.
In the second period, Ak Bars' position became almost hopeless. The Greens were forced to move forward, which the hawks gladly took advantage of. They regularly organized sharp counterattacks and at speed broke into free zones in the other half. One of these forays miraculously did not end with a goal by Alexei Bereglazov. After another Svedberg shot and a rebound from the front board, the Russian was right in front of the goal, but from a zero angle did not hit the target.
Soon, the hosts in a similar situation remained in the minority. This time, Vladimir Tkachev laid a turn behind someone else's gate and was shot down by Bilyalov. Despite the bandwagon, he managed to give a pass to Tolchinsky. In front of Sergei, all the near was open, but his accuracy let him down, and the goalkeeper miraculously managed to move and make a save. However, this only delayed the inevitable. Instead of Timur, Alexander Radulov went to serve his sentence. And the guests only needed 50 seconds to play the extra. Reed Boucher, taking advantage of Tkachev's discount, sent a shot into the far from the left circle. Thus, Omsk in the confrontation with Kazan realized all three majoritys.
To the credit of Bilyaletdinov's hockey players, they did not give up and did not give up, but led a siege of someone else's gate. At these moments, Vasily Demchenko, who was playing his 300th meeting in the KHL, was reliable, making 11 more saves. And in the situation with dmitry Kagarlitsky's shot in the near nine, the post came to his aid.
Shortly before the siren, the Avangard, having withstood the assault, distinguished itself again. Tellingly, it was possible to do this in incomplete compositions. Radulov and Svedberg staged a brawl and almost got into a fight, and the judges wrote both of them on a small fine. Ak Bars immediately organized a two-on-one attack, but Galiev unsuccessfully disposed of the puck. The punishment followed instantly. Sharipzyanov launched a swift counter-attack, and Tolchinsky took Broadhurst one-on-one. In turn, the American carefully sent the puck between the legs of Bilyalov.
It was incredibly difficult to escape in such a situation, but Kazan residents almost did the impossible. First of all, Bilyaletdinov in the locker room decided to make a substitution at the last frontier. The place of the not very successful Bilyalov was taken by the young Amir Miftakhov, who had not previously appeared on the ice in the current season of the Gagarin Cup. And he managed to play back to zero, although only six shots were made on his goal. At the right moments, the reservist helped out and did not make mistakes.
But Demchenko had to spin like a squirrel in a wheel. In the final period, he recorded almost half of all saves — 15 out of 31. It's hard to remember moments when Vasily made truly mind-blowing saves, but he perfectly occupied a position on the line and tried to immediately take the puck, not allowing opponents to act on the finish. When such clicks passed, the goalkeeper showed miracles of reaction.
He did not save in those episodes when it was difficult to make claims. For example, Artem Lukoyanov sent the puck exactly into the far nine 14 minutes before the siren from the left circle. Questions rather arose to his teammates, who left the striker all alone. As a result, he had plenty of time to aim.
And with three seconds left, the hosts, having removed the goalkeeper, still reduced the gap to a minimum, but it was too late. Again, their hockey player managed to make a terrific shot. This time, Dmitry Yudin did not leave Demchenko any chance. It is noteworthy that a minute before that, Avangard could remove all questions. Tkachev ran away to a rendezvous with Miftakhov, but hit the post.
However, this hardly greatly upset the team, which managed to take revenge for the defeat in the previous match and equalized the score in the series. Now in Omsk it will actually start from scratch. Kazan, despite the misfire, also have no reason to sprinkle ashes on their heads, because having missed three unanswered goals, they reduced the gap to a minimum in the last period.