Battle of the machines: will Tractor save the final series against Lokomotiv

The KHL season is coming to an end. The winner of the playoffs will be announced this week. Yaroslavl "Locomotive" leads 3-1 in the final series against Chelyabinsk "Tractor". In the next 24 hours, the railwaymen can make a triumph if they win in the fifth game. However, it is possible that the series will stretch to six or even seven matches, which may take place on May 23 and 25. However, most experts believe that it will be difficult for Traktor to win back.

Battle of the Year

Lokomotiv lost the first match at home with a score of 1:2. At that time, the Railwaymen were unable to fully utilize their basic qualities — excellent physical fitness and high organization of the game, which presupposes extremely dense power hockey with a minimum of space for the opponent.

Traktor, once again, as in previous series, managed to use the high class of all its links, the ability to find non-standard solutions ahead and score goals at the most unexpected moment. The first match was even, but at the beginning of the third period, Maxim Shabanov and Alexander Kadeikin, two of the main heroes of this playoff for Chelyabinsk, scored two goals with an interval of 13 seconds. Shabanov stood out especially, who has been impressing the audience for the second season with his powerful throwing and creativity in attack.

Even during the regular season, Sport-Express claimed that Maxim's departure to the NHL this summer was a done deal. Thanks to him, Traktor pulled out unsuccessful matches in previous series against Admiral, Dinamo Minsk and Moscow, which greatly contributed to the team's entry into the finals.

But in the following matches, Lokomotiv was able to almost shut down Shabanov. Yaroslavl won 4-1 at home in the second match, and then, after the series moved to Chelyabinsk, they managed to win twice — 5:2 and 3:1. In a number of episodes, Loko scored goals after Shabanov's mistakes, but most of the other Traktor hockey players did not act in the best way.

One of the key moments of the series was the tough game of Lokomotiv in the second match. Two more important Traktor forwards, Charles Robinson and Andrey Svetlakov, were injured as a result of power techniques. They had to miss the third match. In it, Chelyabinsk residents tried to act as tough as Lokomotiv. In one episode, they even smashed the face of Yaroslavl defender Alexander Yelesin, after which the judges' decision not to give penalty minutes caused controversy.

But all Lokomotiv had to do was get Traktor into a style of play that made it look the best in the KHL. Therefore, Igor Nikitin's team calmly took the third match. In the fourth, when Robinson and Svetlakov returned, Chelyabinsk acted more cautiously, but Yaroslavl's physical form led them 2-0.

Traktor head coach Benoit Groux replaced the goalkeeper with a sixth fielder six and a half minutes before the end of regular time, which almost no one does, except for SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg. This move helped the Ural club to score one goal and revive the intrigue.

And 45 seconds before the end, Lokomotiv striker Byron Fraz made a gift to his opponent, who received a five-minute penalty for hitting a Tractor player with a stick. The hosts got the opportunity to play a 6-on-4 majority. If they had equalized, Yaroslavl would have been outnumbered for four minutes in overtime, which threatened them with disaster. But 20 seconds before the end of the third period, Denis Alekseev managed to make an interception in his own zone and hit an empty goal.

Another intrigue of the series was the game of Lokomotiv goalkeeper Daniil Isaev. Before the first match, Benoit Groux went on a provocation, calling the opponent's goalkeeper a weak link in the team. But this did not unsettle Isaev — he almost makes no mistakes in the final. And of course, it is impossible not to mention the productive game of the main star of Yaroslavl Alexander Radulov.

—Lokomotiv rebuilt very well after losing the first match," two—time Olympic champion Alexander Kozhevnikov shared his opinion with Izvestia. — Nikitin and his coaching staff drew conclusions, stopped focusing too much on defense, as he did at first, and forced the players to play more aggressively up front, in someone else's zone. Traktor resisted quite well, acting on equal terms for long stretches, but Chelyabinsk residents are only spending their first season in this squad, and the current Locomotive has been under construction for four years. Therefore, he acts more clearly and confidently in small things, makes fewer mistakes. Hence, in some borderline situations, the puck is behind him. And it's more accurate. This led to a 3-1 score in the series. The matches were quite equal, but in aggregate, Lokomotiv is stronger.

Minimum chances

According to Vladimir Krikunov, the former head coach of the Russian national team, it will be difficult for Traktor to pull the series from 1-3.

— Chelyabinsk has already laid out all the trumps, and it is not at all clear what else it can add, — says Krikunov. — Benoit Groux is absolutely right when he says that the current Locomotive has been under construction for four years. Of course, such a period is not a guarantee of success, but Nikitin very methodically and consistently instilled his system in Yaroslavl. His team does not panic, acts in their own manner, behaves with discipline in defense and attack, Isaev does not allow obvious mistakes, and Radulov gave the necessary spirit and emotions, leading the guys. Such system teams as Lokomotiv do not let go of the 3:1 advantage in the series.

However, this spring, Lokomotiv has already lost a 3-1 advantage in the series. In the quarterfinals, he allowed the Omsk Avangard to even the score. In the decisive seventh match, it came to the second overtime, where Loko still succeeded (3:2).

— Parallels with that series are inappropriate now, — said Krikunov. — Then, after all, the Locomotive has not yet physically accelerated so much. Plus, Avangard was largely pulled out for the seventh match by goalkeeper Nikita Serebryakov. Traktor's goalkeeper, Zach Fucale, plays well, but he doesn't save as much in impossible situations as Nikita. Therefore, I do not see how Chelyabinsk can reverse the series. That confrontation with Omsk hardened Yaroslavl. And he won't make those mistakes again. Perhaps Traktor will win one match and postpone the defeat until the sixth game. But in general, I don't see that he could win the final.

Lokomotiv and Traktor have never won the Gagarin Cup in their history. Yaroslavl played in the finals in 2009 and 2024, but lost to Ak Bars Kazan and Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Chelyabinsk reached the decisive series in 2013 and lost to Dynamo Moscow. Until 2008, when the KHL was created, the Yaroslavl club won the Super League three times — in 1997, 2002 and 2003.