Lokomotiv repeated Severstal – Newspaper Kommersant No. 52 (7497) dated 03/28/2023

In the second round of the Fonbet play-offs of the KHL championship, the series with the participation of the current Gagarin Cup holder CSKA, as in the previous round, stretched to the maximum distance. Following Severstal, Lokomotiv dragged him into the seventh match. In the sixth meeting, the Yaroslavl team beat the giant on their site – 2:1.

In the sixth match of a terribly tense series, Lokomotiv accelerated so that those who were worried about him, probably, should have thought that he would not scratch out the seventh match, but throw up with meat. Elite army, of course. Yaroslavl adhered to a simple principle at home, according to which energy decides a lot, and for three minutes they choked, choked, choked the opponent, hoping that, despite his experience and titles, he, tired of the eternal pursuit of other players, would make mistakes in his zone. The calculation was justified, because Konstantin Okulov actually lost the puck at the tailgate to Yegor Korshkov, who was prickly, like all Lokomotiv hockey players, and in a moment Yegor Averin, the namesake of Korshkov, was already sticking it into the goal. It was a goal more logical nowhere.

But soon the dreams of a confident victory akin to the one with a score of 6:2 that Lokomotiv won in the third match of the series, his fans had to throw in the trash. The charge for just such a titanic work, when every centimeter of the court is covered, when the game is going at a crazy pace, the hosts had exactly three minutes, which had passed until the very moment when the same army mistake happened. And without a charge, the share of the class became much larger, and already CSKA was approaching and approaching luck, also locking opponents in their zone for a long time and making them suffer there, trying to guess their next move.

In the end, Lokomotiv also faltered. Vladislav Provolnev performed a pass, thinly disguised as a throw. Such in hockey bring their authors a lot of points if the interactions are debugged. But Provolnev’s pass-throw got stuck in the thick of the players. And suddenly Maxim Mamin jumped out of it with a puck on the stick hook and, showing amazing composure, did not immediately quit, but calmly drove out into the open. And from there it was easy to get where you needed to go.

The second period was supposed to frighten the Yaroslavl audience even more than the first, since the advantage of CSKA now looked absolutely indisputable. Well, that is, everything – by the control of the puck, the number of inaccuracies – it was clear who was the current owner of the Gagarin Cup, and who was the obvious outsider of the pair.

But in the playoffs, playing advantage is not always the advantage that determines everything. It is leveled by diligence, the ability to correct mistakes, the willingness to lie down under other people’s throws. And, of course, the reliability of goalkeepers. And the goalkeeper of Lokomotiv Daniil Isaev had complete order with reliability that evening – he stood like a rock, not bending. And the army team seemed to lack something. For example, simple decisions in situations where a goal is right next to it, when a powerful shot is better than an exquisite pass. But CSKA players sometimes preferred the hard way to the obvious.

The retribution for unused chances overtook them already in the final period – in the form of an insight that visited the forward of Lokomotiv Alexander Polunin. The army team awkwardly changed the five, and Polunin, taking the puck near his blue line, saw that he could run forward. He ran at the speed of a sprinter and paid absolutely no attention to the two defenders who nevertheless appeared near him, leaking between them, and then outplaying army goalkeeper Adam Reideborn.

Then the guests, still disciplined, avoiding violations, ran into a removal for the first time. The stands were noisy, hoping that now they would finish off the terrible CSKA. But he held on, keeping the intrigue. And, of course, added to the rigidity, aggressiveness. CSKA had opportunities. Once – a great opportunity: the puck ricocheted off Sergei Andronov and already, it seemed, was bound to end up in the goal. Daniil Isaev, who was incomparable in this match, hooked her with the edge of the shield.

So CSKA, just like in the first round in the confrontation with Severstal Cherepovets, will have to break through to defeat the opponent, play the seventh match in the series. It will take place in Moscow on Wednesday.

Alexey Dospekhov