“Salavat Yulaev” equalizes the score in the “Green Derby”

Kazan turned out to be a typical game

“Yulaevtsy” beat “Ak Bars” in Kazan and now the teams have one victory in the “Green Derby”. Due to what do the Ufa residents manage to start matches well and what is missing to keep the score without any problems?

“Salavat Yulaev” arrived in the capital of Tatarstan in a good mood. “Yulaevtsy” although they spent a lot of energy and nerves in Moscow and especially in Cherepovets, they could be satisfied with themselves and the winning streak that they started on home ice. Unlike the guests, who played the third match a day later, Kazan rested more after the victory over “Magnitogorsk”, but it was too early to talk about the good mood in the camp of “Ak Bars”. With this victory, the team from Tatarstan only interrupted a long series of defeats that had been going on since the beginning of October. Over the past three weeks since the meeting in Ufa, the Kazan players have fallen back in the table by three positions and were five points behind the Ufa team before today’s match. However, no tournament layouts do not matter on the eve of the “Green Derby”. No matter how the teams played before and what tasks they set for themselves, shitting under the door of a neighbor is a task from the category of mandatory. For the sake of this, failures and discord in the team are forgotten, losers gain inspiration, and weak generals become Napoleons.

The teams started on a collision course, someone’s advantage was not visible. The first removal was recorded by the hosts, but the guests played too badly too badly. Ivan Drozdov had a good moment for scoring in the counterattack, but the shot failed. Kazan responded with a sharp attack by Kirill Semyonov, who could not beat Ilya Yezhov. At the twelfth minute, fresh “Yulaev” forces from the fourth link organized a quick attack, Stepan Sannikov went overboard and threw it at the goal. Amir Miftakhov hit in front of him, but could not cover the puck, because Stanislav Bocharov was rolling in front of him. But Sannikov was the first to rebound after his own shot and shot the goalkeeper point-blank – 0:1. Kazanians quickly tried to answer – Alexander Radulov jumped one on one with Yezhov, and the goalkeeper came out of this duel as a winner! The former star of “Salavat” crashed into the goalkeeper and got two minutes, which the guests again failed to realize. The first abandoned puck is of great importance in the tactics of “Salavat Yulaev”. Missed goal Ufa allows the opponent to close and deprive the “Yulaevites” of the opportunity to realize their most dangerous weapon – quick attacks right off the bat. But an abandoned puck forces the opponent to open up. This is what happened in the Green Derby. The hosts in the last minute of the starting period went forward with great strength and missed the counterattack. Nikolai Kulemin dragged the projectile into the zone and left it for Sasha Khmelevsky to throw. The American forward for the second game in a row with his powerful shots confuses the goalkeepers. Miftakhov was no exception, although he tried to react, hooked the puck with a trap, but failed to interrupt her path to the goal – 0:2. In the last seconds, Grigory Panin fell unsuccessfully in the fight against Radulov and did not appear on the ice again.

At the start of the second period, the Ufa team looked more interesting, confidently controlled the puck, moved well and did not allow the opponent too much. However, the Kazan team were resolute and in the seventh minute they managed their attack right off the bat. Vyacheslav Voinov powerfully charged from the blue line, and Ilya Safonov managed to change the trajectory of the flying puck in front of the goalkeeper – 1:2. The hosts found a second wind and fell on the gates of Yezhov. In one of the episodes, the goalkeeper with difficulty, but rescued the team. “Salavat” for the third time received a numerical advantage, and this time clearly disposed of an extra player. Ryan Murphy brought Shakir Mukhamadullin to the throw, and the defender from the face-off circle “flashed” the Ak Bars goalkeeper. The first pair of Ufa defenses is increasingly becoming the main instrument of the Ufa majority. For Shakir Mukhamadullin, this match was the fifth in a row with points scored, and Murphy’s streak extended to eight! Having restored the two-goal lead, the “Yulaevites” somehow sank and allowed the opponent to carry themselves around their zone for a long time, defending the gate. Artyom Lukoyanov, whose removal was implemented by Mukhamadullin, tried to return the favor and set himself up for the young Ufa defender. For the most part, the Kazanians continued the siege of the Ufa gates, played some interesting pranks, but Yezhov continued to be on the alert.

For the third period, the hosts of the ice came out with another goalkeeper at the gate – Timur Bilyalov appeared instead of Amir Miftakhov. It is curious that in all three matches of the “Yulaevsky” departure, the rivals were forced to change the goalkeeper. Stepan Sannikov fouled in a foreign zone and Kazan took advantage of this majority. The best scorer of the last championship, Vadim Shipachyov, after moving to Ak Bars, is gaining points poorly. Before this match, his goalless streak was eight games and five games without points. Where else to wake up the stars, if not in the “Green Derby”? The forward successfully settled down on the Ufa patch and clearly figured out Yezhov, taking possession of the puck – 2:3. On the wave of success, the “cats” flew to escape, seriously loaded the defense and Yezhov, but the Ufa defended quite competently, and then completely managed to push the game into the middle zone. Nevertheless, the entire second half of the final twenty-minute period was spent in regular attacks by the owners of the ice. It’s not the first time this season that the Yulaevites create a good scoring groundwork for themselves at the start of the meeting, and then lose the initiative and allow their opponents to turn the tide of events. Fortunately for the fans, the Ufa team does not allow the opponents to escape, although the big lead in the score is reduced to a minimum. The Ufa squad lacks physical strength to defend the entire match already in a foreign zone, not allowing opponents to launch attacks, and the “Yulaevites” still do not know how to competently take away opponents in the corners in their zone. As soon as the advantage in movement disappears, the opponent becomes the master of the situation. In Kazan, a typical game turned out, the Ufa team allowed the opponent to win back two goals, but this time the margin of safety was enough to keep the final victory.

– An important match for us, a principal opponent, – admitted after the match the head coach of “Salavat Yulaev” Viktor Kozlov. – It was a real playoff game. For many guys in our team, this is the first such heated match. It was tense, Ak Bars did not give up, they put pressure. The match was very difficult. Special thanks to our fans, who were heard for all sixty minutes.

The helmsman of “Salavat” agreed that his team played less actively in the third period, according to the score. Mr. Kozlov believes that it is impossible to open up with Ak Bars, in Ufa Kazan took advantage of this.

– We made conclusions after that match. It was instructive for us, – added “yulaevsky” mentor. – The guys understood that we should play all together, strictly on the defensive, actively from the first minutes.