The second finalist of the Gagarin Cup is determined in the confrontation between Metallurg and Avtomobilist, which can safely be called fundamental. Since 2016, the teams have met three times in the playoffs, although only in the first round. And only the more titled Magnitogorsk residents gained the upper hand. But if in 2016 and 2018 the Ekaterinburg team managed to win two matches each, then a year ago they gave a real fight to Magnitka, and the series lasted for all seven matches.
And this time the psychological advantage could well be on Avtomobilist’s side. Yes, in the season they lost three times to Metallurg, but in the playoffs they already created two sensations, successively dealing with Ak Bars and SKA, thanks to which they became known as “killers of the favorites.” Therefore, the guests clearly did not experience jitters before the confrontation with Andrei Razin’s charges, who this year do not have such a stellar selection of performers as before. Moreover, Sergei Shirokov returned to duty, and the only thing missing to complete the team was star defender Nick Ebert.
However, the presence of the captain on the ice did not help the guests achieve success in the first period. It went without goals, and the hosts had the advantage, forcing Evgeniy Alikin into the game much more often (15-9). This was largely due to the removal of Maxim Osipov and Denis Barantsev, who went to the penalty box with a difference of 55 seconds. But Magnitogorsk failed to take advantage of a great chance, and perhaps the most dangerous was Robin Press’s long-range shot.
After the break, Avtomobilist looked more active for some time. Danil Romantsev attacked from the nickel, and Stefan Da Costa miraculously missed the target from a lethal position, although he was a little slow with his shot. But the guests’ impulse was thwarted by another sending-off - this time Nikita Tryamkin received two minutes for tripping. And although Metallurg did not take advantage of his absence on the ice, it was the defender who soon became the main culprit for the missed goal. It was from his skate that it bounced into the net of Alikin’s goal, and this was preceded by a defeat in a power struggle with Valery Orekhov, who literally dragged him into the goalkeeper’s area. The goal was attributed to Alexander Petunin, who performed the pass, and the hosts took the lead - 1:0.
After the second period, Avtomobilist was inferior not only in the number of goals scored, but also in other key indicators, including shots (18-28) and time in attack (06:58 - 11:48), ahead of the opponent only in number blocked shots (16-8). And Nikolai Zavarukhin’s wards had no choice but to go forward with large forces and take risks, simultaneously simplifying the game. They partially tried to do this at the end of the second segment, when they began to gradually abandon multi-move moves and try to load Ilya Nabokov more often.
However, the lack of discipline continued to affect the visitors' performance. It seemed that they were about to be able to take the initiative into their own hands, but already in the first minute of the final period Shirokov was sent to rest for holding his opponent with his stick. And even though one of the worst teams in the playoffs in terms of power play reaffirmed its status, the next segment was dictated by the hosts. Luke Johnson had a good chance, and Artyom Minulin threw without any resistance, but either Alikin was a wall, or the accuracy was a little lacking.
Zavarukhin failed to calm down his players. In the seventh minute, Shirokov again lost his composure and pushed Vladislav Eremenko onto the board. And again he drove into the penalty box, having previously almost started a fight with Pavel Akolzin. However, Magnitogorsk again had a terrible power play, and after being evenly matched, almost conceded. Anatoly Golyshev blocked Nabokov’s view, but he still reacted to Tryamkin’s click.
As a result, Nabokov, who made 31 saves, was caught by surprise only shortly before the final siren. A massive attack by the six Ekaterinburg players ended with an accurate hit by Romantsev, who was on duty in the backfield, preventing Ilya from both completing his fourth shutout in the current playoffs and extending his dry streak. It ended at 128 minutes 6 seconds. True, by this moment “Avtomobilist” was already “burning” 0:2. Akolzin scored the decisive goal in the 59th minute. The Kazakh forward hit the empty Avtomobilist goal and scored not only the first goal in the playoffs, but also the 100th point in the KHL. Metallurg won on home ice and took the first step towards the Gagarin Cup final.