Anticipation of the final: what to expect in the third round of the Gagarin Cup
On Wednesday, April 23, following the results of the seventh matches of the two series, the last participants of the KHL playoff semifinals were determined - Lokomotiv and Salavat Yulaev, who left Avangard and Spartak out, respectively. Now Ufa and Yaroslavl will play against each other. In another series, Traktor and Dynamo will compete for the finals. The chances of the teams in the semifinal series can be found in the Izvestia article.
Traktor – Dynamo Moscow
For the second year in a row, the playoffs bring together Traktor and Dynamo. Last spring, the teams met in the second round, and the series ended with an unexpected victory for Chelyabinsk in four matches. This is an immediate reference to the motivation of Muscovites before a new meeting.
The dry defeat to Traktor tormented the players and coaches for a long time. But Dynamo did not deviate from its course, retained Alexei Kudashov and continued to move forward, strengthening the squad. Before the semi-finals, comparisons with the last series are inevitable. The blue and white team is approaching a new battle with Traktor with the KHL's strongest goaltending team (Podyapolsky — Motorygin) and energizer Maxim Comtois — Kudashov lacked these trump cards a year ago to give battle to an opponent who felt wild confidence.
Traktor and Benoit Groux started playing more organized and solidly, retaining the cool skill of turning on when the situation requires it. The word "comeback" is strongly associated in the playoffs with Chelyabinsk hockey. Black and white created problems for themselves, and then heroically escaped in the series with Admiral and Dinamo Minsk. Such exploits may not work against Muscovites. Their closest opponent is better prepared for the late rounds of the playoffs and has learned from the bitter experience of the past years.
Dynamo's squad is very balanced. However, he has no problems with the depth of the roaster and the Gru. Defender Grigory Dronov should be able to recover in time for the start of the series, and goalkeeper Sergey Mylnikov has already been spotted on the ice during an open training session. An important factor is the performance of Zach Fucale. The Canadian goalkeeper is still far from last year's form. That is why, in an equal and long series, it is more likely to believe in the passage of the blue and white - they consistently went to the finals for more than one year.
— It was believed that Alexey Kudashov is not a very flexible specialist who does not deviate from his usual rules under any circumstances, although some ways of solving issues obviously lead to a dead end. But the coach has changed a lot, and for the better," says Alexey Shevchenko, hockey columnist for Sport Express. — The main thing that caught my eye personally was that he was no longer categorical. Kudashov became flexible, but he admitted mistakes and tried to correct them. A vivid example is the beginning of the season. I'm sure that a couple of years ago he would have become nervous and started reprisals because the team was playing poorly. But this time he admitted that he had messed up the preseason a little, immediately changed his training and corrected the situation, without blaming the hockey players. When necessary, he tightened the nuts, when necessary, he released the reins, clearly controlling what was happening in the locker room. But most importantly, he realized that sometimes the problem is with him, not with the players. It makes it easier to change things. It is important that Kudashov loves the team and the club. He always had and still has offers from other organizations. It's richer and quieter there, but the coach always said: "I want to achieve something with Dynamo. An indifferent person would not insist that signs with coaches and players who won the Cup be hung near the locker rooms. A temporary worker wouldn't care.
Izvestia forecast: 3-4.
Lokomotiv – Salavat Yulaev
Salavat Yulaev made a heroic comeback against Spartak: he won back from 1-3 and took the seventh match. Ufa made it to the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Of the remaining Gagarin Cup contenders, Viktor Kozlov's team played the most matches. The series with Siberia and Spartak turned out to be full-format. All this affects the health of hockey players and is seriously exhausting physically. Joshua Livo, Nathan Todd and Yaroslav Tsulygin missed the seventh match against the Muscovites.
Lokomotiv will approach the semifinals exhausted by a seven-match thriller with Avangard. Unlike Salavat, Yaroslavl residents delayed the series themselves, although they could have closed it earlier. At a key moment, the experience of last year's finalists affected — Lokomotiv was better in the seventh match and naturally went further. And it seems that it will be even easier for Igor Nikitin to implement his ideas against Salavat Yulaev. Everyone has long understood the hockey of the Railwaymen, but this does not make the team vulnerable. Their highly organized system continues to work and bring results. And with the invitation of Alexander Radulov, the team got a leader who electrifies the atmosphere and pulls the guys by the hair in difficult moments.
Kozlov should definitely take note of Andrei Razin's notes from last year's finale and Guy Boucher's blanks from the last series. These coaches know perfectly well how to cause problems for the Yaroslavl armored train. But Salavat Yulaev may not have enough resources to repeat the same thing in the semifinals. Their character and experience helped them return to the Spartak series. Against Lokomotiv, subtle coaching moves are also needed to fight back against Nikitin's mechanism, which has been fine-tuned to the smallest detail. The Yaroslavl team will definitely not be inferior in character and experience, and perhaps even surpass their opponent. Therefore, they seem to be the favorites of the series.
Izvestia's forecast: 4-2.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
