Metallurg dropped out of the fight for the Gagarin Cup and ended the season

Today, March 23, the fourth meeting between Metallurg and Avangard took place in Magnitogorsk.

The beginning turned out to be rather discouraging for Metallurg. Omsk opened the scoring at 48 seconds. In the first half, Avangard did not allow the hosts to gain a foothold in the zone. However, in the 10th minute, the guests were sent off, and 51 seconds later, the second Avangard player broke the rules, leaving the field three against five. Magnitogorsk did not miss the opportunity to level the score. Grigory Dronov became the author of the goal. Abandoned puck gave strength to Magnitogorsk. They began to attack more, control the puck.

The second game segment was again not in favor of Metallurg. The only goal was on account of Reed Boucher, who put Avangard ahead – 2:1.

At the 47th minute, Reed Boucher scored a double and made it difficult for the hosts to return to the game. In the last minutes, the coaching staff replaced the goalkeeper with a sixth field player. As a result, the fourth puck flew into the empty net.

“It’s not an easy game, a quick goal at the beginning is not the best start. Then I think we changed the outcome of the match a little and played well. But again, this goal is not very necessary. And so, of course, 0:4 does not reflect the struggle that was, those matches that were,” said Yegor Yakovlev.

“We started with a good attitude, we were ready to fight and missed the first in the first minute. Maybe a little bit of it broke down. Then they kind of came back, equalized, then these stupid goals, I think, – said Nikolai Goldobin. “I want to thank the fans for rooting for us to the end, and I also want to apologize for the way the second round was played.”

The result is 4:1. The series for Metallurg ended with a score of 4:0. Avangard advances to the finals of the East Conference, while Metallurg finishes the season without passing the second round.