Despite the status of the derby, the pair of Ural teams did not cause the necessary excitement, and the first game between Avtomobilist and Magnitogorsk was dubbed by many journalists and neutral fans as the most boring in this playoffs. There were a minimum of events and acuity in it, maximum caution.
The second match in Magnitogorsk turned out to be completely different. Much, if not all, was decided by a couple of details when playing in uneven lineups. Among the remaining teams, Avtomobilist is the best in terms of percentage of power plays. The Ekaterinburg residents have improved this component today.
Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team ended their first numerical advantage with a goal. Stefan Da Costa, who plays quite rarely in the current KHL playoffs, unsheathed his gun and fired a real shot from the slot, breaking through Ilya Nabokov. For the Russified Frenchman, the scoring action was already the 50th in his career in Gagarin Cup matches.
In the middle of the second period, Denis Zernov sent the puck right into the corner on his second attempt, but…
… but his efforts were canceled out by his teammate. Maxim Mukhametov practically does not make it into the main lineup of Metallurg, but if this does happen, then Magnitogorsk fans usually criticize him. Today there are more reasons for this. For some reason, the 24-year-old Kazakh forward hit Sergei Shirokov in the face with his elbow. There was no sign of an attempt to carry out a power move in this episode, only rudeness and unsportsmanlike behavior. For the strike, Mukhametov was rightly punished with a five-minute penalty. And “Metallurg” was lucky that the judges did not notice a violation of the rules on the part of Yegor Korobkin, who hit Denis Barantsev in the jaw.
However, this majority was enough for Avtomobilist to take the lead again and increase its advantage. Anatoly Golyshev and the same Da Costa fired a double with a difference of just over a minute. It was Golyshev’s goal that was special: one of the best scorers of the Yekaterinburg team in this playoffs, after a series of ricochets, drove the puck into the empty net. Yes Costa should also be highlighted: the Frenchman took part in both scoring situations, scoring with an assist and a goal.
In the third 20 minutes, Metallurg, as expected, opened up and became sharper in positional attacks. “Avtomobilist” defended carefully, and one of the best goalkeepers of the playoffs, Evgeniy Alikin, reliably defended the “frame”. But for the time being — once again quickly rolling out, Magnitogorsk carried out an excellent attack and ended it with a goal. The real highlight of the episode was Makar Khabarov's pass. The 24-year-old defender could easily shoot on his own, but he drew all the attention of the Avtomobilist players to himself and saw Dmitry Silantyev opening in the right throw-in circle in time. No one stopped him from making an accurate throw. Beauty!
Subsequently, “Metallurg” played both in the power play and in the “6 on 5” format, but Andrei Razin’s charges were unable to realize their numerical advantage. But “Avtomobilist” took advantage of one of the key chances easily: Anatoly Golyshev successfully played a tackle in the middle zone and scored his fourth point of the match, assisting Danil Romantsev for a goal into an empty net.
4:2 — “Avtomobilist” keeps his mark, winning absolutely all matches in which he scores first. The series score is now equal — 1-1. The confrontation will continue in Yekaterinburg. Magnitogorsk lost at home for only the second time in this playoffs.