Below their capabilities: Dynamo was eliminated from the Gagarin Cup, Avangard suffered a third defeat from Lokomotiv

Gusev's assist hat-trick and Shabanov's most important goal in the end

If before the start of the second round of the playoffs someone would have suggested that Dynamo would lose to Traktor with a score of 0:3 in the series, no one would have believed it. However, this is precisely the scenario that the confrontation followed. And in the fourth match, the Chelyabinsk team had an excellent opportunity to put an end to it in their own walls. The Muscovites needed to perform a miracle, because in the history of the Gagarin Cup in such a situation the team was saved only once. In 2015, SKA managed to do this in meetings with CSKA.

The starting period turned out to be incredibly eventful and was actually divided into two different halves. At first, everything turned out great for the guests. It was felt that they did not intend to give up and were eager to return the confrontation to the capital. Alexey Kudashov's squad actively combined and met their opponents high.

This led to the hosts having great difficulty getting out of defense and actually being forced to constantly fight back. Moreover, at a difficult moment, Zach Fucale let them down. Next to his nickel, he tripped the opposing striker and gave the Muscovites the majority. They realized it in less than a minute. Cedric Paquette sent the projectile to the target, taking advantage of Nikita Gusev's discount.

However, the very fact of the goal did not give Dynamo anything, because it had opened the scoring in two matches before, but invariably lost. This time, too, “Traktor” instantly came to its senses, increased its speed, played more actively and soon turned the tide of an unsuccessful match. And again, huge questions arose for the blue and white defenders and goalkeeper. True, the Chelyabinsk team’s return goal turned out to be rather curious. After hitting the crossbar, the projectile bounced off Maxim Motorygin’s skate and flew into the net.

But it’s hard to say how Kirill Gotovets allowed Danila Yurtaikin to send a projectile to the target from a nickel, with his back to the goal. And in the future, the “tractor drivers” literally shot Motorygin. To top it all off, the guests grabbed unnecessary removals. First, Eric O'Dell tripped him in his own zone, and Anton Burdasov, in unequal lineups, increased the advantage with a powerful flick from the left circle.

Kudashov immediately replaced Motorygin with Ilya Konovalov. The reservist did not stay dry for long. And again the blue and white were let down by one of the leading strikers, Gusev, who caught his opponent with his stick. And they lost Jack Rodewald at the gate and allowed him to calmly score. So Dynamo’s position became almost hopeless.

To the credit of the guests, even finding themselves in such an unenviable situation, they did not give up and after the break they stormed the other team's goal. Moreover, almost immediately Viktor Antipin went to the bench for holding his opponent with his stick. The Muscovites again instantly converted the majority. Only this time Jordan Weal scored a strong wrist shot.

True, Vladislav Mikhailov immediately pushed his opponent on Fukala and provoked a brawl. But the Chelyabinsk team, with unequal compositions, did not create anything. And in general, during the entire period they made only two shots, although in the end they organized a couple of counterattacks.

But Fucale worked hard at the last step. The Canadian made 11 saves and repeatedly helped out his teammates. Just look at the episode when Yegor Rimashevsky shot him point-blank, but the goalkeeper managed to close his pads. He also coped with Artyom Ilyenko's long-range shot. The main thing is that the goalkeeper almost always caught the puck tightly in the trap, not allowing the blue and white to work on the spot.

In the final period, Dynamo continued the assault. It rolled in more and more waves of attacks, but they crashed against the impenetrable Canadian. “Traktor” still pressed too hard against the goal, although he more often responded with counterattacks and disturbed Konovalov several times.

Once Chelyabinsk residents even remained in the majority, but did not create anything. The guests, on the contrary, moved forward. As if their reward was Wil’s most important goal in even strength. The legionnaire scored a double, and Gusev gave his third assist in a row.

Having reduced the gap to a minimum, the Muscovites increased the pressure. It is difficult to say how the game would have ended if not for the fateful, devastating counterattack in the 55th minute. In this episode, Ilya Karpukhin should be noted, who made a selection in the central zone and threw Shabanov into the breakthrough on the left side. Maxim beautifully beat Konovalov and sent the puck into the empty net.

But even in such a situation, the blue and white did not give up. A little more than three minutes before the final siren, Kudashov took off the goalkeeper and called a time-out. Then the local fans had to be seriously nervous. Only Fucale was not worried, he reflected several more shots. But 30 seconds before the end, Eric O'Dell still threw a shot into the net. However, it was not possible to disturb Fucale further. With the referee's siren sounding, he triumphantly trapped the puck. So “Traktor”, following “Salavat Yulaev”, knocked out another favorite from the fight and reached the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup for the fifth time in history.

Goals by Ivanov, Chekhovich and Kayumov and saves by Isaev

Avangard, unlike Dynamo, managed to stop its own free fall in the series with Lokomotiv. Moreover, the Omsk team managed to gain the upper hand on the road immediately after the resignation of head coach Mikhail Kravets. He was replaced as acting by Sergei Zvyagin. The most important victory helped the team regain self-confidence. In addition, Ryan Spooner, who had recovered from injury, was again in the lineup.

In the starting segment, the Yaroslavl team confirmed their title as favorites. Although it was the guests who started the game more actively, threatening Daniil Isaev’s goal a couple of times. However, the hosts responded with a goal from Georgiy Ivanov in the fifth minute. The forward was calmly allowed to roll into the attack zone along the right edge and deliver a wrist shot. In this situation, Pavel Khomchenko frankly did not help his partners out.

Moreover, Igor Nikitin’s team soon doubled their lead. This time Denis Alekseev fired a powerful shot from the slot into the right corner. Zvyagin took the request for offside and turned out to be completely right. The judges recorded that the Loko hockey player was indeed in an offside position.

Subsequently, the Yaroslavl team continued to have the advantage and forced Khomchenko to work at the last line. Once they even remained in the majority due to a trip performed by Mikhail Belyaev, but did not create anything. But the “hawks” almost regained balance with the siren. Vladimir Tkachev found Reed Boucher at the far post, and he, in a lethal situation, failed to outwit Isaev.

After the break, the advantage of the red-greens became even more noticeable. In their signature manner, they imposed their hockey on their opponents, not allowing them to calmly take the puck and raise their heads. As a result, the leading link of Boucher - Spooner - Vladimir Tkachev was not too noticeable. Indicative statistics: in the second period, the guests scored only six shots.

But the railway workers were repeatedly able to increase their lead in the score, but Khomchenko performed above all praise, making a total of 2 saves. Just look at the episode when Artur Kayumov threw point-blank from the slot. And in the end, the goalkeeper parried Maxim Shalunov’s shot in the near corner with a pancake.

Everything finally became clear at the beginning of the final period, when the hosts, taking advantage of the opponents’ mistake, organized a swift counterattack. Sergei Andronov threw Nikita Kiryanov into the breakthrough, and he found Ivan Chekhovich on the left.

In turn, Isaev continued to make mind-blowing rescues. But the well-deserved “cracker” was taken from him by 18-year-old Mikhail Gulyaev, who joined the attack and “pierced” his opponent. However, Kiryanov immediately scored another assist, finding Kayumov on the spot. In the end, Belyaev removed Khomchenko, but this did not help.

Lokomotiv won a third victory over Avangard and in the next meeting is able to reach the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup.