Away, like home: Lokomotiv and Traktor won away victories in the first quarterfinal matches of the Gagarin Cup

53 shots at the opponent’s goal and Berezkin’s goal in the 90th minute

The meetings between Avangard and Lokomotiv were initially supposed to be extremely difficult and sticky.

It was assumed that the railway workers, acting ideally in defense, would not allow the opposing star strikers to feel at ease.

And already the first game fully justified the forecasts, ending only in the second overtime.

To top it all off, the Hawks were faced with an unexpected personnel problem.

Ryan Spooner kept company in the “infirmary” for Ivan Igumnov, whose poor health was previously reported.

Thus, Mikhail Kravets had to break up the leading attacking trio and send Nikolai Prokhorkin to Reed Boucher and Vladimir Tkachev.

At first, it seemed like it didn’t have much impact on the team.

She started strongly and almost opened the scoring in the second minute, when Boucher miraculously did not convert Prokhorkin’s cross into a goal.

Daniil Isaev blocked the goal in a timely manner.

The goalkeeper later helped out his partners several times.

And in the middle of the period, Martin Gernat's removal for tripping helped the hosts open the scoring.

Already at the end of the majority, Ivan Nikolishin finished off the puck into the net with a ricochet on his opponent’s stick.

Only after conceding did the guests come to their senses and press their opponents to the goal.

They tried to deliver the projectile to someone else’s zone as quickly as possible and throw it as often as possible.

Now Pavel Khomchenko, who had previously played only one match in the playoffs for Spartak, had to constantly enter the game.

However, the Russian acted reliably and did not make mistakes, as sometimes in the regular season.

In the second 20 minutes, the pressure from Yaroslavl only increased.

The indiscipline of Omsk residents largely contributed to this.

For example, Artyom Chmykhov went to the penalty box for two minutes for tripping, and Nikita Kholodilin received four for hitting Gernat in the face with his stick.

But Kravets’ team defended exemplarily in unequal lineups and did not allow the opponent to score.

And Khomchenko continued to work miracles at the last stage.

The final segment was completely marked by the complete dominance of Igor Nikitin’s team.

Realizing that they needed to save themselves, his players simplified their hockey extremely.

At every convenient opportunity, they tried to deliver the puck to someone else's penny and tried to throw it at the goal from the blue line in the hope of setting up.

At the same time, they quickly managed to pass through the middle zone, which made it possible to organize rapid counterattacks.

The guests also secured an advantage in the face-offs won - 50:44.

And already in the 44th minute they absolutely deservedly restored the balance.

Artur Kayumov picked up the puck in the opponent's zone and organized a two-on-one.

Khomchenko deflected his shot with his pad, but the forward immediately returned the puck and made an empty pass to Maxim Shalunov.

Moreover, almost immediately Kayumov brought Loko forward, tennis-style finishing off a shot into the net from close range.

But Kravets took a look at the goalkeeper’s attack by Georgiy Ivanov, and the judges supported him.

Even after this, the red-greens did not slow down and could have put an end to it if not for Khomchenko.

At the same time, the opponents made only two shots in the third period.

In the end, everything was decided only in the second overtime.

But even there the Yaroslavl team was closer to success.

Before the hockey players had time to return to the court, Boucher went to the bench for playing with a high stick.

In the majority, Ivanov tried to push the projectile into the net from the spot, but Damir Sharipzyanov miraculously cleared it from the ribbon, provoking a massive brawl.

And in the 90th minute, Lokomotiv naturally put an end to it.

Moreover, shortly before this, Avangard earned the majority, but failed to realize it the second time.

The punishment followed immediately.

And Bogdan Kiselevich made a fateful mark in his zone.

He fell and gave the puck to Maxim Berezkin.

He eliminated

Mikhail Gulyaev on the swing and calmly beat Khomchenko.

Pavel did everything for his teammates to win: he stopped 51 shots, setting a personal record in the KHL, but even this was not enough.

“Avant-garde”, from whom they expected an attacking extravaganza, spent most of the meeting on the defensive and made only 27 shots in an hour and a half.

Perhaps the absence of Spooner had an impact, since without their usual partner Tkachev and Boucher also faded somewhat.

35 saves by Fucale and three goals by Traktor in 207 seconds

On the eve of the first confrontation between Dynamo and Traktor, fans wondered whether Nikita Gusev would help the Muscovites.

Alexey Kudashov assured that the best scorer of the regular season would play and did not deceive.

The striker was included in the lineup and joined Jordan Weal and Cedric Paquette in the leading line.

It seemed that this should have a beneficial effect on the team.

In fact, the starting segment turned into a cold shower for him.

Moreover, at first there were no signs of trouble.

The Chelyabinsk team, as expected, sought to act on equal terms with their formidable opponent and, in addition, were the first to earn a majority.

However, the blue and white defended calmly and then opened the scoring.

Artyom Ilyenko climbed onto the nickel at an acute angle and failed to beat Zach Fucale, but Maxim Dzhioshvili was the first to finish.

All the more unexpected was the quick return goal, which largely did not follow from the course of the meeting.

Alexander Soshnikov simply shot at random from the blue line.

The puck didn't even hit the target, but bounced off the front board onto the penny so well that Nikita Soshnikov sent it into the net.

The hosts, who found themselves in a state of groggy, then conceded two more in 104 seconds.

In both cases, Maxim Shabanov played brilliantly.

First, he turned beautifully behind someone else's goal and, stretching back, threw.

And Vladimir Tkachev, who was in the way of the puck, unwittingly corrected it on target.

To top off all the troubles, Wil received two minutes, and Shabanov, already in unequal lineups, fired an empty cross to Danil Yurtaikin.

Kudashov was forced to replace the floating goalkeeper and release Maxim Motorygin instead of Ilya Konovalov.

In the second period, the difficulties did not end for the current Continental Cup winner.

At the equator of the match, another leading striker, Paquette, who recently returned to action, was injured.

Without him, the actions in the attack went even further.

It was not possible to take advantage of even the signature majority, since the “tractor drivers” defended in an exemplary manner.

And soon Artyom Blazhievsky increased the guests' advantage.

The defender delighted fans with a powerful flick from the blue line, taking advantage of Charles Robinson's discount.

But shortly before the break, Eric O'Dell revived the intrigue with a good wrist shot into the near corner and at the same time broke the five-game goalless streak in the current playoffs.

In the final period, the blue and white had no choice but to go forward, especially since Paquette’s injury turned out to be not serious, and he returned to the court.

“Tractor Drivers” had to lock themselves in their zone, but they defended perfectly.

Firstly, the opponents were left with no free zones in the center and were forced to move to the sides.

Secondly, the Chelyabinsk team, realizing how strong the Muscovites are in the majority, committed only one violation of the rules, although in the series with Salavat Yulaev they fouled regularly.

Even the only serious brawl broke out after the siren.

Finally, we can’t help but mention Fucale, who made 35 saves.

He instilled confidence in his partners and in 90% of cases he caught the puck tightly, not allowing his counterpart to act on finishing moves.

The only 100% chance the hosts had in the end was missed by Igor Chernyshov.

Having received a pass from Daniil Pylenkov, he shot from the right circle towards an empty target, but hit the crossbar.

The guests immediately responded with Yurtaikin coming out almost one on one with Motorygin.

And in the last minutes, even replacing the goalkeeper with a sixth fielder did not help the opponents.