EAST CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
(2) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2
(3) Sibir Novosibirsk 1
Metallurg wins the series 4-1
After the stormy conclusion to game four of this series, Metallurg delivered a knock-out blow in game five on the back of a strong first-period showing.
Sibir played Nikita Bespalov in goal for the first time in post-season, replacing Alexander Salak as the Czech started a five-game ban for his angry reaction to Sergei Mozyakin’s overtime winner in Novosibirsk on Monday.
But Magnitka needed less than five minutes find a way around this new obstacle as Chris Lee opened the scoring with a power play goal. He stepped off the blue line to pick up Viktor Antipin’s backhand pass and fire a shot through the traffic that screened Bespalov.
Mozyakin soon made it two with a classic counter-attacking goal. Jan Kovar collected the puck behind his own goal line and delivered a superb, defense-splitting pass to set Metallurg’s captain galloping towards Bespalov’s net. Mozyakin made no mistake with the finish and the home team already had one foot firmly planted in the Eastern Conference final.
However, it wasn’t entirely plain sailing for the 2014 champion. Sibir found a way to blunt the home offense, limiting Magnitka to just four shots on goal in the middle session. That persistence got its reward in the third when Maxim Shalunov was first to the rebound from a Vitaly Menshikov shot to halve the deficit with 11 minutes to play.
The closing stages saw chances at both ends. Vasily Koshechkin was kept busy as Sibir desperately fought to stay in the competition, while Magnitogorsk’s Alexander Semin failed to find the empty net from a tight angle in the last minute. But there was no further scoring and Magnitka advances.
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КХЛ 2008—2021
KHL 2008—2021
All rights to materials posted on the website www.khl.ru (hereinafter referred to as the Website) and which are the objects of exclusive rights, including the registered trademarks and symbolics of the “КХЛ”/“KHL”, “МХЛ” / “JHL”, “ЖХЛ” / “WHL” (hereinafter referred to as the Trademarks), as well as on photo and video images, articles, etc., which are owned by CHL LLC, are protected in compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. The placement and / or use of Trademarks and other intellectual property of CHL LLC without the direct consent of CHL LLC are considered and prosecuted as intellectual property rights violations of CHL LLC in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation. It is forbidden to automatically extract information from the Website by any services without the official permission of CHL LLC. Quoting from the Website and satellite projects of the official messages of the Kontinental Hockey League is allowed only with a direct link to the site www.khl.ru.