The grand finals start tonight!

Finally, the KHL season reached its culmination with the Gagarin Cup final series between the Western and Eastern Conference triumphant – CSKA and Metallurg, respectively. Both teams showed excellent hockey in the Conference finals, but CSKA needed seven games to get rid of SKA, while Metallurg could enjoy a few days of extra rest having defeated Traktor 4-1 in the series. However, this will hardly play any role in game one, and Metallurg will play at its home rink to kick off its fourth final participation. For CSKA, instead, will be the fifth, but Magnitka won two titles, against CSKA’s lone triumph in 2019 (4-0 over Avangard). It will be only the second meeting of the two KHL powerhouses after Metallurg defeated CSKA 4-3 in 2016.

17:00: Metallurg vs CSKA

Series stand:
The series is tied 0-0.

Series history:
2016: Gagarin Cup finals. Metallurg defeated CSKA 4-3.

About the game
The Gagarin Cup finals will start in Magnitogorsk as the Urals franchise had the best points percentage in the regular season. Metallurg defeated Barys (4-1), Avangard (4-3), and Traktor (4-1) en route to its fourth participation in the grand finals. CSKA, instead, moved past Lokomotiv and Dynamo Moscow with a 4-0 score, then defeated SKA in seven games (4-3).
Magnitka is 0-3 in Gagarin Cup’s first games, while CSKA is 2-2.
CSKA’s goalie Ivan Fedotov is on an 81:08 shutout streak.
CSKA’s forward Konstantin Okulov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.

Injury list
Metallurg: Alexei Maklyukov.
CSKA: Nikita Rtishchev.

Milestone alert
Metallurg’s Yaroslav Khabarov lines up for his 100^th game in the KHL playoffs.
CSKA’s forward Konstantin Okulov may reach 150 KHL assists (currently at 149).