Yaroslavl the Wise: Lokomotiv wins Gagarin Cup for the first time in history

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's hockey players became the main winners of the 17th season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). On Wednesday, with a score of 2:1 in overtime on their ice, they won the fifth match of the playoff finals against Traktor Chelyabinsk and prevailed in the entire series with a total of 4:1. The Railwaymen won the main league trophy for the first time and became the best team of the season in Russia for the first time in 22 years.

Match entourage

On the morning of the match in Yaroslavl, there was no noticeable excitement around the game. There were almost no advertising banners anywhere. There were no other visual activities dedicated to the finale. This was very different from Chelyabinsk, where every corner of the city had a trace of the main hockey event of the season in the form of installations, graffiti, advertising banners and other things.

There were few people in the form of a Locomotive walking around Yaroslavl. Nevertheless, a lot of fans with red and green paraphernalia pulled up from Moscow in the morning - these are fans of the capital's football club Lokomotiv who came to support their brothers. Some of them laid flowers at the memorial in memory of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv team who died in a plane crash on September 7, 2011.

Meanwhile, the excitement around the Arena 2000 itself began to increase about two hours before the start of the match. Already during this period, the hockey atmosphere became noticeable. The stadium itself, with a capacity of 8,000 spectators, was filled to capacity. Two-time Stanley Cup winner and star defender Mikhail Sergachev and other VIPs attended the match.

The entire local audience was anticipating the expected triumph, Yaroslavl's first in the KHL playoffs. Lokomotiv has never won the Gagarin Cup. And his last big victory took place in 2003, when he won the playoffs of the Super League, which was replaced in 2008 by the KHL.

However, Traktor had also never won the main trophy, so it was clear that he would at least try to delay the end of the season. The head coaches of both teams, Igor Nikitin from Lokomotiv and Benoit Groux from Traktor, did not make drastic changes in the squad compared to previous matches.

The Triumph of Yaroslavl

The first period was spent in a sticky struggle, traditional for this final. Chelyabinsk tried to control the puck and escalate the situation in Yaroslavl's zone through a pass. Lokomotiv has traditionally been engaged in exerting pressure on every part of the court due to its superior physical readiness and not allowing Traktor to freely dispose of the puck.

Before the first break, the teams had almost no chances. I only remember going one-on-one with the goalkeeper performed by the forward of the "Railwaymen" Artur Kayumov, but the goalkeeper of the Ural team, Zach Fukale, deflected the shot. The opponents went to the locker room with the score 0-0.

It is worth noting that the referees in this match, as in almost all matches of the current playoffs, consistently held the line to a high threshold of struggle, without removing players unless absolutely necessary. But in the second period, in the 26th minute, they sent Chelyabinsk captain Vladimir Tkachev to the penalty box for two minutes. He had to sit there for only five seconds — that's how long it took for Lokomotiv to realize the majority and open an account. Martin Gernat scored the puck from Egor Surin's pass.

Just a minute and a half later, Traktor got a great opportunity to equalize when the referees gave a double minor penalty (four minutes) to Yaroslavtsev defender Andrey Sergeev for a dangerous game with a high stick. But the guests have created almost nothing in this majority. And Igor Nikitin's team continued to control the match, finishing the second period with a score of 1-0 in their favor.

The third period mainly took place with the territorial advantage of Traktor. There was a feeling that Lokomotiv deliberately began to play defensively to hold the score. And he's been doing it for a long time. But with 6:40 left in regular time, Stephen Kaempfer equalized. And the match went into overtime. There, Lokomotiv did not realize most and several good chances, but at the end of the 72nd minute, Maxim Shalunov's goal brought Yaroslavl victory in the match and the first Gagarin Cup in the club's history.