Yaroslavl “Lokomotiv” confidently beat Chelyabinsk “Traktor” , and Magnitogorsk “Metallurg” snatched victory in seven matches of the series against Ekaterinburg “Avtomobilist”. About the results of the semi-final of the Gagarin Cup 2024 — in the material Sport.
“Lokomotiv” was not afraid of the Chelyabinsk threats. After bright victories in the series against the Ufa “Salavat Yulaev” and the Moscow “Dynamo”, the Chelyabinsk “Traktor”, in pursuit of the Gagarin Cup, seriously stalled in a duel with the Yaroslavl “Lokomotiv”. Alexey Zavarukhin's team could not oppose anything to Igor Nikitin's team, which was united and brought to automaticity in its game actions. The railway workers were not embarrassed by the character of the Chelyabinsk residents, or even by their threats. The latter were directly addressed to Loko star Maxim Shalunov after one of the key episodes of the entire series.
In the first match of the confrontation, Traktor's main goalkeeper Zach Fucale was injured as a result of a collision with the Yaroslavl forward. The damage turned out to be serious, which is why the Canadian goalkeeper actually ended the season; Sergei Mylnikov had to help out the Chelyabinsk team. Later, at one of the press conferences, Traktor head coach Zavarukhin accused Shalunov of unsportsmanlike behavior, pointing out that he did not apologize to Fukala, and also stated that Maxim should be afraid when he arrives in Chelyabinsk. Neither Shalunov nor Lokomotiv paid attention to the threats. The railway workers won the series in four matches and for the second time in their history reached the final of the Gagarin Cup.
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For Yaroslavl coach Nikitin, this series also became historic: Igor Valerievich came into clear third place in victories (71) in playoff matches in the KHL, and also became the third specialist in the history of the league who managed to lead his team to the finals of the Gagarin Cup at least four times in my career. Previously, this was achieved by Zinetula Bilyaletdinov (3 wins and 2 losses) and Oleg Znark (3 wins and 1 loss). Nikitin, before Lokomotiv, led CSKA Moscow to the tournament final three times; together with the army team, he became a champion once and suffered defeat twice.
Razin broke the curse of the seventh match of the series. Metallurg and Avtomobilist played perhaps the best series of the entire playoffs. There were sensations, drama, and moments that were not the most typical for the playoff level. The result of the confrontation was summed up in the seventh match, where Magnitogorsk won.
On the eve of the decisive meeting in Magnitogorsk, the coaches of both teams had never won the seventh match of the series in their careers. Andrei Razin had previously had two unsuccessful attempts as a coach of Cherepovets Severstal, and Nikolai Zavarukhin, together with Avtomobilist, lost in the series to the same Metallurg last season. It was Razin who lifted the so-called curse of the seventh match: on Monday his Magnitogorsk won a landslide victory at home. Magnitogorsk will play in the final of the Gagarin Cup for the fifth time in history. “Avtomobilist” finished the season with bronze medals in the Russian Championship, showing its best result ever since playing in the KHL. Traktor also received the same medals. The dream finale between the Zavarukhin cousins did not happen.
Perhaps Avtomobilist would have performed better if it had not encountered personnel difficulties. The Ekaterinburg club played the last two games of the series against Metallurg with Vladimir Galkin in goal. The team's main goalkeeper Evgeniy Alikin did not even make it into the lineup. Nikolai Zavarukhin explained this as a planned rotation, but it was obvious that one of the best goalkeepers of the entire KHL playoffs had health problems.
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