The series between Lokomotiv and Traktor promises to be perhaps the brightest of the entire Gagarin Cup semi-finals, because representatives of two completely different camps came together in the struggle to reach the decisive stage of the season. The Yaroslavl players are known for their strict style in terms of following coaching instructions, during which Igor Nikitin's players, looking into his eyes with the withering gaze of their mentor, will think ten times before they move away from the game plan and begin to improvise. Thanks to this, the “railwaymen” play, perhaps not the brightest, but correct hockey with pressure, forechecking and powerful movement. “Traktor” wins due to the insane unity in the team coupled with high individual skill, where each player has his own weight and makes a huge contribution to the success of the team.
That’s why the main intrigue of the confrontation became the question: whose camp has more arguments for entering Gagarin Cup final? The first step towards this was left to Lokomotiv.
“Lokomotiv” succeeds in what “Salavat Yulaev” and “Dynamo” were not able to do. If we remember the “Traktor” series in the first and second rounds, then “Salavat” and “Dynamo” were seriously lacking in converting their chances, of which there were plenty. “Lokomotiv” stands out against their background with a cool attitude towards approaches to the opponent’s goal, and if the Yaroslavl team doesn’t have any problems with psychology, then it’s a lost cause. The «railwaymen» demonstrated merciless execution of their chances in the first match of the semi-final series.
Although “Traktor” started the match more actively and more boldly, which resulted in a quick goal by Charles Robinson after a shot from an acute angle, “Lokomotiv” quickly, as they say, got on its rails and pushed forward. First, Alexander Polunin, after an excellent pass from Pavel Kraskovsky, converted a 1 to 0 when playing in the minority, and then Martin Gernat, with a powerful shot, brought Lokomotiv the second goal of the match — already in the power play and two seconds before the end of the period. “To the locker room,” Igor Nikitin’s gang simply loves to score.
Loko maintained successful pressure in the remaining two periods, nipping at the root of Traktor’s attempts to make a comeback. The highlight was Alexander Elesin's goal. It seems that even he himself did not immediately understand how the puck, after his brilliant shot from an acute angle, managed to leak between the goalkeeper and the near post.
Traktor lost its goalkeeper. Will this lead to collapse? One of the key episodes of the entire match was the injury to Zach Fucale. The Canadian goalkeeper played a huge role in the success of the Chelyabinsk club and its reaching the semi-finals of the Gagarin Cup. Moreover, this applies both to his phenomenal game with brilliant saves, and to the behavior of the goalkeeper in the team locker room. Videos featuring Fucale and the beating of the poor dummy Herman adorned the entire KHL playoffs.
Fucale kept “Traktor” in today’s game even with the score 2:1 in favor of “Lokomotiv”, but could not finish the match. In the second half of the second period, the Railwaymen's star Maxim Shalunov rushed to the penny and, having slipped, accidentally flew into Fucale. The goalkeeper at that moment had already sat down on his leg, and it was she who took on the collision with the Loko forward. The Canadian needed medical help, and Zach himself seemed to be intent on continuing the game. But alas. Accompanied by his teammates, the Traktor goalkeeper went to the locker room, and was replaced by Sergei Mylnikov, who played his last match so far at the end of February as part of the regular season.
With the load that had fallen against him, the 24-year-old Russian couldn’t cope and missed three goals. Two of them came after the first five shots on his goal at the end of the second period. But blaming Mylnikov is too much. The pressure from Lokomotiv was too powerful, and they skillfully took advantage of the loss of the Chelyabinsk team. If Fucale’s injury turns out to be serious, this will most likely affect Traktor’s future prospects. At the moment, even Alexey Zavarukhin does not have details about the Canadian’s health.