Metallurg finishes the job. March 9 playoffs
Denis Zernov added to Sunday’s hat-trick with another goal for Metallurg as the Steelmen wrapped up their series against Barys. A 3-1 win on the night completed a 4-1 success in this Eastern Conference first-round match-up and send Magnitka to the Conference semi-final.
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 Barys Nur-Sultan 1 (1-0, 0-0, 2-1)
(Metallurg wins the series 4-1)
The game started with a flurry of chances in the first five minutes. The home team was first to show, when a slick passing combination set up Andrei Chibisov for a shot that Nikita Boyarkin beat away. Almost immediately, Barys retaliated when Nikita Mikhailis got clean through but was twice denied by Vasily Koshechkin. The next shift saw Metallurg go even closer, with Yaroslav Khabarov’s point shot clipping the outside of the post.
Chances continued to flow thick and fast, and the opening goal arrived late in the first period when Metallurg constructed an impressive back-to-front move in the face of heavy Barys pressing. Khabarov was a key figure, starting the play deep in his own territory and orchestrating a passage of passing that ended when he exchanged passes with Semyon Koshelev and presented the forward with a shot at an empty net.
If the first period was evenly contested, the second saw Barys take the upper hand. The Kazakhs had almost twice as much time on the attack and outshot Metallurg 12-9, with the home team blocking a further five efforts. However, Koshechkin was up to the task and dealt with everything the visiting offense could conjure.
Early in the third period, Barys managed to tie the game. Valery Orekhov’s point shot went into a crowd of players and deflected off Kirill Savitsky to beat Koshechkin. With the game wide open again, the teams traded scoring chances until a penalty on Cody Kunyk after 45 minutes gave Metallurg a chance to regain the initiative. The home team was unable to convert the power play, but restored its lead seconds after Kunyk returned to the game. Artyom Minulin’s long pass turned defense into offense, Arkhip Nekolenko steered the puck off the boards to release Anatly Nikontsev and the forward drifted across the front of the net, waiting for the right moment to launch a shot that went beyond the reach of Joe Morrow and snuck inside Boyarkin’s near post.
Almost immediately, Barys had a great chance to hit back after a defensive error, but Morrow’s shot from the blue line was saved. And Metallurg responded by extending its lead moments later when Yegor Yakovlev drilled the puck to the back door where Maxim Karpov was positioned to set up Denis Zernov. Zernov, who grabbed a hat-trick in the previous game, claimed a marker here that put the result out of the reach of Barys.
The visitor continued to battle until the end, but there was no way back. In the last minute, Olle Alsing’s point shot was steered goalwards by Mikhailis from a tight angle, but the puck hit the post and went to safety as Metallurg closed out the game and the series.
