Advantage Sibir after overtime triumph. Eastern semi-finals, Day 4

(3) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2  (2) Sibir 3 (1OT) Sibir leads the series 3-1 Sibir grabbed an overtime win in Magnitogorsk to take a 3-1 lead in this series and move to within a single game of reaching its first ever Conference final – while the defending champion Metallurg is on the brink of relinquishing its crown. It took just 22 seconds of the extras to snap a 2-2 tie: Rinat Mamashev got the all-important marker with the first and only shot of the added period. The defenseman, making only his second post-season appearance for Sibir, collected the puck on the blue line, stepped forward and let fly while Metallurg goalie Vasily Koshechkin was screened by a Sibir player on the slot and had no chance of stopping Mamashev’s effort. Sibir came into the game without two key players – goalie Alexander Salak and forward Alexei Kopeikin were both suspended – and that seemed to tip the balance in Metallurg’s favor before the puck was dropped. However, if a supposed ...