Corporate defeat: how Dynamo reached the semifinals for the first time in 12 years
Dynamo Moscow, following Traktor, became the second semi-finalist of the Gagarin Cup (now the capital and Chelyabinsk clubs will meet each other), having made it to this stage for the first time since 2013. The blue and white defeated Ak Bars on the road in the sixth match of the Gagarin Cup series (6:1, 4-2). Maxime Comtois scored three times for the visitors, Jordan Weale, Dylan Sikura and Artem Ilyenko each scored one goal. The only goal of the hosts was scored by Mitch Miller. In two more episodes of the second round of the Gagarin Cup, the teams went to the seventh match. Moreover, Salavat Yulaev and Avangard were inferior to Spartak and Lokomotiv, respectively, with a score of 1-3 in the series.
The failure in Kazan
Before the decisive match of the season for Kazan, some naively expected that, finding himself one step away from relegation, Anvar Gatiyatulin would scroll his squad through a mixer and surprise everyone with new combinations, including Dynamo head coach Alexei Kudashov. The Ak Bars coach probably surprised his opponent in the end. However, not so much by the composition, in which there were no really interesting changes, as by the absolute helplessness of his team at the crucial moment of the playoffs.
Like all previous matches in the series, Ak Bars started the sixth match quite actively. However, instead of a quick abandoned goal, he got a painful 0:2 by the middle of the first period. Just like two days earlier, it didn't take long for Muscovites to open an account. Timur Bilyalov's second shot on goal scored for the blue and white team.
In the seventh minute, Jordan Weale literally terrorized Mitchell Miller in the wrong zone and, in a fight with the American, somehow too easily managed to get out on the home team's five, calmly sending the puck into the net from an uncomfortable hand. You can imagine Zinetula Bilyaletdinov's face at the moment when the guy who became one of the heroes of Kazan at the start of the series allowed the Canadian from Dynamo to do it. At a crucial moment throughout the season, the dark side of the incredibly talented offensive defender's game was revealed most vividly.
Much worse than Miller's productive failure was the way Kazan reacted to him. Already in the next shift, Semyon Koshelev, with his careless ejection from his zone, gave the guests the majority and allowed them to quickly increase their advantage. Formally, the 91st Dynamo successfully fired from the blue line in equal formations, but he did it at the moment when the Ak Bars striker was flying from the penalty box to help his partners and still could not fully help the defending four.
The Muscovites, having calmly survived a small parade of good home positions in the middle of the meeting, gained another majority in the 31st minute and realized it in just nine seconds. Moreover, the third goal of the guests also turned out to be a legionnaire's goal. During the first five matches of the confrontation, Maxime Comtois became one of the main villains for Kazan fans. How could he not "please" them in the sixth game, taking advantage of another cool goalkeeper shield from Maxim Jioshvili and pointedly plugging his ears after an abandoned one?
And Kazan was unable to offer the guests anything other than playing with the puck around the perimeter. Dynamo, which had cemented its nickel and almost the entire space in the center, was completely satisfied with this arrangement. Having given the opponent the puck from the first minutes of the second period, the guests looked as solid as possible in defense and did not even think to turn off the killer instinct. As soon as Danil Zhuravlev lost the puck on the halfboard, Artyom Ilyenko flew into a counterattack, set up a powerful body and rolled Bilyalov's right shield, finally knocking the hosts out (4:0).
The only thing that really surprised Gatiyatulin was his decision to replace the goalkeeper with a sixth fielder right at the start of the third twenty minutes, when Ak Bars successfully gained the majority. A few years ago, it was difficult to imagine such a move by one of the most conservative coaches in the league. However, once on the edge of the abyss, it was no longer possible to stand and silently wait for a free fall.
Now Dynamo is waiting for a rematch with Traktor in the semifinals, the team that almost knocked the ground out from under Alexei Kudashov last spring. The sensational and incredibly fast 0-4 backbone of the blue and white team has definitely not forgotten. This means that the thirst for vendetta will be greater than ever.
Avangard is being saved for the second year in a row
In an attempt to escape relegation, Avangard delivered a truly powerful performance in the sixth match, albeit primarily defensive. Yaroslavl failed to hit the opponent's goal for the first time in several months — the last time Lokomotiv lost to Dynamo Moscow at the end of November 2024 (0:3).
Nikita Serebryakov, the goalkeeper of Avangard, showed an excellent game — he parried 32 shots from Yaroslavl. For Nikita, this is the first shutout in the playoffs and the third for Avangard after transferring from SKA. Previously, he had left the goal intact in regular season games with CSKA (4-0) and Ak Bars (2-0).
Omsk held the score for most of the match, playing strictly from defense. In the middle of the first period, after a tense struggle at the board and Vladimir Tkachev's pass, defender Evgeny Kulik got the puck on the spot — and turned out to be accurate from the middle distance. The second period passed without goals, while Avangard missed a great opportunity to increase the advantage by not realizing a shootout at the very end of the twenty minutes. Ryan Spooner couldn't beat Daniil Isaev.
The third period was also dull for a long time, but five minutes before the siren, Avangard scored the second goal. Nail Yakupov did his best, correcting Konstantin Okulov's long-range shot. Omsk scored the last goal 45 seconds before the end of the game. Reed Boucher took advantage of the mistake of the Lokomotiv defender, who lost the puck, and rushed to the empty goal of the guests — no one could stop the American.
Avangard performed a feat — Guy Boucher's team won back from 1:3 in the series and took the opposition to the seventh match. It is noteworthy that last year Avangard also played against Lokomotiv in the quarterfinals, and then it also reached the seventh match.
Moreover, the result of the series is repeated almost exactly — in the Gagarin Cup – 2024, Avangard also had to escape from 1-3. Omsk equalized the score, but lost in the seventh meeting (0:2). The series in this playoff differs in details - it began with the victory of Avangard (last year Loko won first) and will end in Yaroslavl, not Omsk. We will find out whether the outcome will change compared to last year on April 23rd.
The Elmwood factor
By the sixth match, in which Spartak could close the series, the Muscovites came up with good introductions. First, Salavat Yulaev has never won on the road in the current playoffs. That was the case in the first round with Sibir, and it's happening now. Secondly, the goalkeepers of Ufa did not give out a series of confident matches.
It is quite logical that after winning the fifth game, head coach Viktor Kozlov trusted Semyon Vyazov again. And he had to work hard — the 22-year-old goalkeeper experienced such a level of responsibility for the second time in his career (the first was on Saturday, April 19), when a defeat could end the season for the team.
The match at Megasport turned out to be hot, with an abundance of sharpness, joints and moments when the fans of the hosts and the fans of the guests could jump nervously from their seats. That's why everyone loves the playoffs for such dramatic games. It doesn't make much sense to analyze everything that happened on the ice during the 60 minutes of regular time. Because the action-packed match was dragged into overtime (1-1). Spartak held out when Andrei Mironov retired, but Salavat Yulaev, on the wave of the majority, felt the courage in the attack and organized a saving puck in equal formations. Alexey Vasilevsky, who enjoys scoring goals on big holidays, moved the series to Ufa for the seventh match.
Salavat Yulaev was left for the sixth game without the main star, Joshua Livo. Nathan Todd is still on the injured list. Despite the problems with the squad, Ufa pulled out the most important victory. Finding themselves on the brink of a precipice, Ufa scored two overtimes in a row. This highlights the character of a team that is starved for passes in the late rounds of the playoffs.
So far, the key decision made by Kozlov in the series with Spartak is to bet on Vyazovoy after the fourth match. The young goalkeeper, who was considered the understudy of the experienced Alexander Samonov for most of the season, does not let the coach down. Semyon won two matches in a row. It's not just the overtime factor that adds importance to wins. In each game, Vyazovoy received a large amount of work. The goalkeeper deflected 40 shots in the sixth match, 28 in the fifth. For a playoff debutant, Semyon looks very confident and has left his team in the game more than once.
Now everything will be decided in the seventh match. Salavat Yulaev has already accomplished a small feat, but its value will be devalued if Spartak takes the victory on Wednesday and drives the crowded Ufa Arena into melancholy. I can't help but be pleased that the series, in which the teams cling to open hockey, has received a full format. Salavat and Spartak have already graced the second round of the playoffs, but their main battle will take place on Wednesday, April 23.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
