East: Sibir advances to second round. March 10 playoffs
A 2-1 victory in Yekaterinburg was enough for Sibir to complete a 4-1 series win over Avtomobilist and take its place in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The Novosibirsk club progresses in its first playoff campaign since 2016.
Sateri denies Avto once again
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 1 Sibir Novosibirsk 2 (0-1, 0-1, 1-0)
Sibir wins the series 4-1
Sibir’s return to playoff action is already a success, with Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team advancing to the second round after beating Avtomobilist in five games. Tuesday’s 2-1 victory in Yekaterinburg wrapped up this Eastern Conference quarter-final match-up and sends the Siberians through to face either Ak Bars or Barys, depending on the outcome of the on-going Avangard – Salavat Yulaev clash.
For Avtomobilist, meanwhile, it’s another post season disappointment. The Ural team has invested heavily in recent campaigns, seeking to establish itself as a big player in the East. To some extent, that has paid off: regular season results have been stronger than ever, and crowds are on the up as more and more fans want to come and watch the likes of Pavel Datsyuk and Nigel Dawes doing their thing. However, potential has not translated into playoff results. Last season’s second-round loss against Salavat Yulaev remains the best ever post season campaign for the club.
The key man throughout this series has been Sibir goalie Harri Sateri. The Finn set the tone with shut-outs in his first two games, and made another 36 stops in today’s decisive win. Each time Sibir won a game, the former Vityaz man had 30+ saves.
At the other end, Sibir’s goals came either side of the first intermission. The opener arrived late in the first stanza as the visitor converted the first power play of the game. Alexander Loginov shaped to shoot from the blue line but instead fired out a pass for Dmitry Sayustov at the back door. The forward’s shot found the net from a tight angle.
Then, early in the second frame, Evgeny Chesalin once again sent a message to his former employer. During the summer, the 33-year-old was deemed surplus to requirements after three seasons in Yekaterinburg, but he got his second goal of this series to give Sibir a 2-0 lead early in the second. This one was an individual effort, advancing down the left and scorching past Anatoly Golyshev before winning his duel with Jakub Kovar.
In between, Avtomobilist hit the post through Golyshev – the homegrown forward had a game to forget on this occasion – and subsequently the host sought to double down on its grip of the game. The Motormen always had the better in terms of shots and possession and now, with a two-goal lead, Sibir was content to forget about its attacking game and concentrate on keeping the home team at bay.
The third period began with a goal for the host – Pavel Datsyuk managed to win some space on the slot where his team-mates had failed, and his redirect took Maxim Berezin’s shot past Sateri. With 18 minutes to go, and one goal to claw back, there was a renewed sense of belief around the Uralets Arena. But Sibir steadily, calmly drained that emotion; as the clock ran down, Avto struggled to get good looks at Sateri and the mood faded from expectation to hope ... and finally desperation. Peter Holland had the final chance of the game, but Sateri had a clear view and watched the puck go wide of his net with no cause for alarm. Avtomobilist’s playoff campaign stalled, Sibir moves into the next round.
