Series of “Metallurg” and “Avtomobilist” in the semi-finals The Gagarin Cup quite quickly degenerated from the most boring of all in the KHL playoffs into a confrontation with its own history and rich in events. If the course of the game is quite problematic to remember in detail, then, for example, the second match was one of the best in the entire semi-final of the tournament.
But the third meeting as part of the Ural derby… This match, in principle, became the highlight of the season.
< br>“Magnitka” drew conclusions from the unsuccessful previous meeting and began the battle in Yekaterinburg quickly, powerfully and aggressively, leaning on Evgeniy Alikin’s goal. 10 minutes after the starting throw-in, Andrei Razin’s team achieved their goal: Robin Press demonstrated his signature throw, leaving the Avtomobilist goalkeeper out of work.
All the more interesting is the fact that after missing the goal, Avtomobilist immediately rushed forward. Having sharply increased the pace, it took the Yekaterinburg team about a minute to restore the status quo. Stepan Khripunov quickly got his bearings in the episode when Ilya Nabokov lost sight of the puck and stuck it into the net.
The second period was similar in its scenario to the first: Magnitogorsk had the puck and shot more often at goal, and the players Avtomobilist accumulated block shots one after another. It seems that no other KHL playoff team accumulates as many blocked shots as Nikolai Zavarukhin’s gang. Largely thanks to this courage and dedication, the residents of Yekaterinburg retained an excellent chance of success in their stands.
They did not lose this even after the masterpiece goal performed by Dmitry Silantiev in the debut of the third 20 minutes. The 23-year-old Metallurg forward has long declared himself to be one of the main discoveries of the entire KHL season, and today he created an amazing beauty. Silantyev moved forward from the left flank, outwitted the Avtomobilist defender with a feint and sent the puck right under the crossbar with a neat wrist shot. Shine!
Avtomobilist would not have been such a bright team throughout the Gagarin Cup if they had given up in such a situation. The players of the Yekaterinburg club naturally did not spare themselves and continued the match even after painful injuries. Like, for example, Anatoly Golyshev, one of the leaders of “Auto” in this playoffs, received a hard hit in the back from Valery Orekhov, writhed in pain on the bench, but still returned to the ice. And for good reason!
Although Anatoly was not included in the scoresheet, he took part in Avtomobilist’s amazing goal at the very end of regulation time. The hosts played in the 6 vs 5 format. Brooks Macek famously put the puck into the opponent's zone, outwitting Vladislav Eremenko and Roman Kantserov, after which Golyshev had a great chance to score. It was not possible to convert the chance, but Avtomobilist retained the puck. Stefan Da Costa, Nikita Tryamkin and Danil Romantsev literally dragged it into the Metallurg goal, sending the game into overtime and giving this match a crazy ending.
As it turned out later, the denouement became even more incredible than expected. It was expected that “Avtomobilist”, against the backdrop of a psychological recovery after such a bright comeback, would trample forward, but “Metallurg” cut down the opponent’s plan in the bud. From the very first shift, the guests from Magnitogorsk organized a super dangerous attack. miraculously did not end in a goal. Kantserov did not even immediately understand how the puck, after his pass and throw, did not end up in the net.
However, after a few moments, Magnitogorsk still completed what they started. Pavel Akolzin made a tricky pass after entering the zone, after which Maxim Karpov skillfully rolled into the goal. The Metallurg forward did not replay Alikin, but instead passed the ball behind him to Luke Johnson. All he had to do was throw one-on-one, which he did without any problems.
3:2 (OT) — “Metallurg”, in a crazy match, still snatched the victory from “Avtomobilist” and again took the lead in the series. The confrontation will continue in Yekaterinburg. And now I’m sincerely interested in how it will end in the end. The teams finally remembered that the derby in the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup is not just words.
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