Ak Bars is a slightly different opponent. With such we did not play in the first rounds. A very organized team in the defensive zone. It is clear that it is possible to move the puck around the perimeter in the defense of Ak Bars. We didn't meet crazy pressure in our own zone. We need to add puck and sharpness at our disposal,» Sergei Fedorov said after losing to Kazan in the first match of the Gagarin Cup final series.
These words of the head coach of CSKA Moscow were said very opportunely. So far, the “CSKA” looked very convincing and fought with their past opponents with a significant supply of game resources. Kazan also limited these resources of the “red-blue”. For CSKA today, “Ak Bars” is perhaps the most uncomfortable opponent. In the first match, the Muscovites more often possessed the puck in attack, in most components they outplayed the opponent, but they did not find the key to his goal: the team of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov conceded only once, and scored four times.
In addition to the already difficult situation, CSKA suffered losses. Andrey Svetlakov missed the first meeting due to illness, who brought the “army men” a lot of use in the slot zone, and then, after a powerful collision with his own teammates Frederic Klasson, one of the key players of the Moscow team, Maxim Mamin, was out of order.
Because of this, Fedorov had to make changes in the links again. The talented Prokhor Poltapov rose to the nominally second link, and Vladimir Bryukvin was called to the fourth. The composition of “Ak Bars” remained identical.
The drawing of the game remained identical: “Ak Bars” in the first minutes after the starting throw-in tried to put pressure on CSKA in a strange zone, but the “soldiers” quickly cleaned the puck to their hands and forced the Kazan team to defend exclusively. At the same time, Fedorov's wards did not waste energy on constant shots on goal and focused on control and combinations. This is how Vladislav Kamenev's goal was born: the defenders of Ak Bars spent a lot of energy chasing CSKA players, and they did not manage to close the 26-year-old Muscovites forward on a penny.
Kazans didn't even have time to win back before leaving for the locker room. Vadim Shipachev, after Vyacheslav Voinov's shot, nevertheless drove the puck into the goal, but only a second after the siren signaling the end of the first period.
In an attempt to recoup “Ak Bars” was forced to add to the activity, but it was only in the hands of the Muscovites. CSKA in the usual style acted from a position of strength and began to take the opponent, as they say, to starve. Alexander Radulov alone ran about 5.5 kilometers! But the efforts of the wards of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov were in vain. The Kazan team didn't even have enough strength to realize the majority in the 5v3 format, but the CSKA used their chances, while eliminating the impact of personnel losses.
Back in the second period, Yaroslav Dyblenko uncovered his cannon and almost tore Timur Bilyalov's net, creating a very comfortable advantage for CSKA.
And at the end of the meeting, when “Ak Bars” rushed to play all-in with an empty net, Mikhail Grigorenko put an end to it. For the 25th number of CSKA, this goal was already the 11th in the current playoff draw. In total, Mikhail has 24 points in 22 matches. He is by far the top scorer of the Gagarin Cup 2023.