Vovchenko’s power play prowess leads Severstal. March 4 playoffs
Severstal got the better of another lively game against Dynamo to open up a 2-0 lead in the series before returning to Cherepovets. The Steelmen have not reached the second round since 2013, but are now perfectly poised to match their best ever performance in the KHL.
Dynamo Moscow 3 Severstal Cherepovets 4 (2-3, 0-1, 1-0)
(Severstal leads the series 2-0)
After losing the opening game of the series, Dynamo needed a strong start here. However, the opposite happened, with Severstal blasting into a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes. The visitor’s second incursion into Moscow territory resulted in the opening goal. Ilya Khokhlov’s clearance triggered a two-on-one rush and Joonas Nattinen brought the puck down the left-hand boards and fired it towards Ilya Morozov in the center. It never got there; a deflection off goaltender Ivan Bocharov’s pads steered it into the net to give Severstal the lead.
Then the first power play of the evening saw Daniil Vovchenko lash home a one-timer off Kirill Pilipenko’s feed to put the Steelmen up 2-0 on 5:15. And there was more to come, with another counter attack seeing David Dumbadze set up Dmitry Moiseyev to make it 3-0.
Belatedly, Dynamo’s forwards got into the game. Dmitry Rashevsky got the home team on the scoreboard midway through the first period when he surged into the Severstal zone and released a vicious wrister while evading the attentions of the defense. Then Anton Wedin made it a one-goal game with an instinctive shot from Yegor Zaitsev’s drop pass, ripping the puck past Dmitry Shugayev and chasing the Severstal goalie to the bench.
However, if the home fans thought that the game was now pivoting back in their favor, there was another twist coming. A flurry of penalties late in the first period left Dynamo two men short and that power play saw Severstal restore a two-goal advantage early in the second. Once again, Vovchenko’s one-timer did the damage while the Blue-and-Whites had to navigate the rest of the power play without further loss. That was Vovchenko’s second PP goal of the night, and his third of the series to date.
The rest of the second period saw Dynamo dominate, outshooting Severstal 12-4. That was boosted by a couple of power plays late in the session, but there was no way past Vladislav Podyapolsky in the visitor’s net.
Dynamo’s pressure finally paid off at the start of the third period, and it was Cherepovets native Vadim Shipachyov who got the goal. Wedin went close, Oscar Lindberg went closer, then the puck dropped to Shipachyov out on the boards and his effort from an acute angle rattled through Podyapolsky’s equipment to make it a one-goal game once again.
However, that was as close as Dynamo would get to saving the game. Severstal held on to secure the win and, after losing 1-4 to the same opponent at this stage last season, has a golden opportunity to avenge that defeat.
