The Avangard and Lokomotiv series is hot and the eventfulness surpassed other battles of the second round of the KHL playoffs by a margin. We saw absolutely everything: a great fight and defeat, sensational personnel changes in Omsk and the discovery of new heroes, cold-blooded punishment and drama.
After the first two matches, almost no one doubted the final success of Lokomotiv, but the series dragged on and reached a decisive one seventh match. If at the beginning of the confrontation the “railroad workers” mercilessly hit the opponent in key pain points, then later “Avangard” discovered further psychological problems in the opponent. The way the Yaroslavl team panicked in the third period of the sixth game was amazing and surprising.
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“We were a little confused after the first games in the sense that everything was somehow… But now everything is as it should have been in the series with Avangard.” It seems to me that the next match will show who has masculine qualities, who has grown over this year, what kind of team we are. I don't think we're not fighting. It’s just that this foam that arose after the first matches eroded our foundation,” Lokomotiv head coach poetically described the situation. Igor Nikitin after the sixth meeting.
The “railroad workers” listened to the boss's words. Already from the first period of the seventh game, Lokomotiv had a complete advantage and put pressure on Avangard, although the Omsk team skillfully resisted and had good chances to open the scoring. But this, as in most of the opposition matches, was done by the Yaroslavl team.
Artur Kayumov watched for an unexpected mistake by the captain of the “hawks” Damir Sharipzyanov and realized a one-on-one solution.
Subsequently, Lokomotiv did not slow down and could have formally decided everything in the second 20 minutes, but Pavel Khomchenko saved Avangard with a brilliant save and kept his team in the game. True, not for long.
Maxim Berezkin doubled Lokomotiv's lead in the very opening of the third period. The Yaroslavl team implemented a two-on-one solution in cold blood – exactly as they did throughout the season.
2:0 in the match and 4-3 in the series – Lokomotiv reached the third round of the KHL playoffs for the first time since 2017 and the fifth time in history. Only once did the Yaroslavl team manage to overcome this stage: in the debut season of the Continental Hockey League, the railwaymen lost to Ak Bars in the seven-game final series of the Gagarin Cup.
Continental Hockey League (KHL)March 30, 2024 • start at 13:30Finished
AvangardRussia0 : 2
LokomotivRussia
16: 49 • Arthur Kayumov40:16 • Maxim Berezkin (Rushan Rafikov)
In the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup 2024, Lokomotiv will meet with Traktor. The Chelyabinsk team created two sensations, defeating first Salavat Yulaev and then the best club of the regular season, Dynamo Moscow. In both series, Alexei Zavarukhin's team did not look like favorites. Their confrontation with the “railroad workers” will not be an exception. But Lokomotiv, compared to the previous opponents of the Chelyabinsk club, looks like a completely different opponent – one that has finally learned to use its scoring chances rather than squander them. This factor may become key in the upcoming series.
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