The second match of the final series of the Gagarin Cup gave a lot of food for thought. CSKA, known for its ability to quickly and accurately do the work on the bugs, just as quickly drew conclusions from the starting meeting with “Ak Bars”. If in the first game the “soldiers”, even taking into account the game advantage and more frequent control of the puck, did not offer unsolvable tasks to the tenacious defense of Kazan, then in the second game, the team of Sergei Fedorov willingly tested the opponent's endurance. Situationally, but not systemically, refusing an avalanche of shots on goal by Timur Bilyalov, CSKA played their positions to the right — just like the Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen squeezes the maximum benefit out of, as it seems to most, draw situations, so the «red-blue» got an important victory before return to Moscow.
The absence of Andrei Svetlakov and Maxim Mamin did not affect the success of CSKA in any way. Interchangeability and instant adjustments by Sergei Fedorov showed that the army system built over the years is working. With the same squad, Sergei Fedorov led his team to the third match. His counterpart Zinetula Bilyaletdinov also did not make changes to the composition, although he was defeated by them.
The format of the game has not changed much either. The difference compared to the previous two meetings was only in the behavior of Kazan: “Ak Bars” began to act more aggressively in attack, owned the initiative and significantly more controlled the puck – especially in someone else's zone. CSKA, on the other hand, not only did not deviate from its style of throwing only in the moments brought to the right, but also increased this style. Sergei Fedorov admitted after the second match of the series that he did not give such instructions, but nevertheless: the “soldiers” made only six shots on target in the first period, and one less in the second. Five shots in the second 20 minutes was enough. And even less. But in terms of xG (expected goals), Muscovites were noticeably superior to Ak Bars.
“CSKA” showed a crazy implementation, hitting the gates of Timur Bilyalov four times. True, only three goals were counted — the exact throw of Vladislav Kamenev was canceled, because it was struck after the whistle. The referee's whistle sounded, as it turned out, due to the fact that Kamenev did not control the puck.
«»I did not get to the judges. Kamenev explained this moment to me: the attendants told him that at that moment he did not control the puck «, — said Sergei Fedorov at the post-match press conference.
But the washers of Mikhail Grigorenko, Maxim Sorkin and Anton Slepyshev were officially recorded in the protocol. It is especially worth highlighting Sorkin's goal, or rather, Prokhor Poltapov's magnificent pass in front of him. It was Prokhor who did everything to bring his team forward again.
Prior to this, the score remained equal. Just 28 seconds after the goal of the Gagarin Cup-2023 top scorer Mikhail Grigorenko, Dmitry Voronkov, one of the most active players in Ak Bars, scored in the majority. His flick to touch in the fall will go into the highlights of the current playoffs.
3:1 in favor of CSKA in two periods — it seemed that «Ak Bars» is already in the thoughts of the fourth match of the series. But Alexander Radulov had a different opinion. The captain of Kazan throughout the meeting, in his usual style, charged his teammates both on the court and on the bench. From the outside, it was clear that this «Ak Bars» did not even need coaches on the bench, as long as Radulov himself successfully coped with these duties. — warrior. Picking up the puck in the middle zone, Alexander performed a slalom pass, did not pay attention to the defensive redoubts of CSKA and “flashed” Adam Reideborn with a powerful shot.
But Ak Bars did not have enough strength for more. Even the decision of Bilyaletdinov to withdraw almost three minutes before the end of the regular time of the meeting did not save the Kazan team. 3:2 — CSKA takes the third game and takes the lead in the series. The next match, which will take place on the territory of the «soldiers», may be decisive.