In the entire history of the Kontinental Hockey League, only two teams managed to recoup from the score 1-3 in the Gagarin Cup final and become the champion. And in both cases, this was done by representatives of the Western Conference. In 2012, Dynamo turned the tide of the confrontation with Avangard and won the trophy for the first time, and CSKA repeated their strong-willed achievement ten years later. A year ago, Sergei Fedorov's wards were on the verge of defeat from Metallurg, but miraculously managed to recover and win three victories in a row.
Now the rivals of the army team were in a difficult situation. "Ak Bars" started the series well and was completely stronger in the first match, but in the next three games he scored only three times in total. At the same time, Kazan never realized the majority, although there were plenty of attempts. And it was hard to imagine that Zinetula Bilyaletdinov would be able to solve all the problems of the wards overnight and restore their confidence. The situation of the "bars" was complicated by the return to the ice of one of the leaders of CSKA. Maxim Mamin missed three games due to a concussion, but went to the capital of Tatarstan with the team and took a place in the top three with Maxim Sorkin and Mikhail Grigorenko.
In the previous meetings of the final series, the difference was striking not only in the ability to use their chances, but also in the conduct of the power struggle. CSKA was noticeably superior to Ak Bars in this aspect, which Bilyaletdinov could not help noticing. And in the opening period, Kazan offered aggressive, tough and high-speed hockey. And although for a long time they were on a par with their opponents in terms of the number of hits, they still managed to force them to make a mistake. Darren Dietz could not stand the high pace and earned a penalty for pushing with his stick.
But the problems with the implementation of the superfluous have not gone away. During the first minute, Ak Bars was completely pressed against their own goal and almost allowed CSKA to score in the minority, and then again failed to take advantage of a couple of excellent chances. Dmitry Voronkov could only substitute his stick for Dmitry Yudin's cross, but he was disoriented by a ricochet from Yaroslav Dyblenko's skate.
A few minutes later, the special team of most CSKA got the opportunity to prove themselves. And for eight seconds they were opposed by only three rivals. First, Yudin went to boxing for the bandwagon, and then he was accompanied by Konstantin Luchevnikov. He tried to take out the puck in football style, but missed and blocked the path of the army man who burst into the zone. Although there was someone to insure him.
And although CSKA did not score in unequal lineups, until the end of the period, the guests still took Timur Bilyalov by surprise. Prokhor Poltapov picked up the puck in the middle zone, single-handedly dealt with three hockey players in green uniforms and four seconds before the siren irresistibly threw between the goalkeeper's shields, creating one of the most beautiful goals of the final series of the Gagarin Cup.
The hosts could not recover at the start of the second segment, almost paying for it. The guests had a great start to the 20-minute period and could well have doubled the advantage, but Bilyaletdinov's wards were saved by a miracle. Vitaly Abramov's insidious shot from the board almost took Bilyalov by surprise - the puck hit the post, and the goalkeeper lost sight of it, almost allowing the same Poltapov to finish off.
And only after that "Ak Bars" woke up. Again, there was a game on a collision course, in which both sides could succeed. Ilya Safonov attacked dangerously twice from a nickel, but first Adam Reideborn worked beyond praise, and then the Ak Bars striker lacked a little luck or accuracy. By the middle of the second period, the Swedish goalkeeper already had 15 saves, but he could not save his teammates forever. Kazan nevertheless interrupted the "dry" series on the power play, and the team leader helped them do it. Alexander Radulov hit the crossbar and came in second place in the list of the best snipers of the playoffs (ten goals), equaling Vladislav Kamenev.
The Greens caught the courage and spent the rest of the segment on it. In total, they disturbed Reideborn 11 times, while Bilyalov had to demonstrate his skills only five times. But the second time to upset the Scandinavian failed. Moreover, a few minutes before the end of the 20-minute period, Ak Bars lost its defender. Nikita Evseev was injured in a collision with Pavel Karnaukhov and went to the stands.
The game was dictated by Kazan at the beginning of the third period. They may not have been able to punish their opponents for indiscipline twice in a row, but they are unlikely to be very upset. Except for Safonov, who did not take advantage of another great chance. Radulov rolled the puck out to him in a timely manner, but he shot well above the crossbar.
The attacking impulse of Bilyaletdinov's wards could be knocked down only by his own defender. Yudin suddenly lost control of himself, drove up to the opponent's bench and butted the head of one of them, for which he was punished with a double small penalty. Dmitry could well try on the title of the main anti-hero of the meeting and personally deprive the partners of the trophy, but they survived in the minority.
Nevertheless, these four minutes were not only extremely difficult for the hosts, but also helped the red-blues to seize the initiative. Fedorov's wards began to act as the first number and looked better. All the more unexpected was the accurate hit of Stanislav Galiyev, which absolutely did not follow from the logic of the game. The ex-Dynamo striker didn't really succeed in the shot, but the dense traffic at the target did not allow Reideborn to react in time, and the ricochet from his partner deprived him of the opportunity to make another save.
In the end, CSKA tried to storm Bilyalov's goal, but limited itself to only a couple of dangerous moments. Ak Bars not only survived, but could have hit an empty target, but Nikita Dynyak rolled the puck too weakly. One way or another, Kazan kept the winning score and prevailed at home, reducing the gap in the final series of the Gagarin Cup to a minimum. Now they are waiting for the hardest trip to the capital.