East: Sibir wins in OT, Motormen top Metallurg. March 2 playoffs
After the lower-ranked teams produced road wins in Wednesday’s opening playoff games, Thursday brought the first home success as Avtomobilist beat Metallurg 4-2. However in Omsk, Sibir continued the theme of underdogs with bite when Nikita Setdikov grabbed an overtime winner against Avangard.
Solid start for Motormen
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (1-1, 1-1, 2-0)
(Avtomobilist leads the series 1-0)
Historically, playoff hockey has not been good to Avtomobilist. The Motormen have only once won through the first round of post season action, back in 2019, and twice fell to Metallurg at this stage in 2016 and 2018. With the weight of history against the host, today’s game saw the Yekaterinburg club seize the early initiative in the series, withstanding a strong start from the visitor to get the first win on the back of a good third-period display.
This game got off to a fast start. Metallurg got a chance to open the scoring in the first minute when the defense parted to allow Kodie Curran to skate up the center and test Johan Mattsson from close range. Avtomobilist survived that scare but soon found itself on the penalty kill. The post saved the home team on that occasion when Nikolai Goldobin fired in a shot at the stricken goalie. Later, Avtomobilist had the crossbar to thank when Yegor Yakovlev’s effort narrowly missed the top corner.
Magnitka’s pressure paid off in the 18th minute when Artyom Minulin grabbed the puck just before it crossed the blue line. He advanced into the zone, got around the challenge of Oleg Li and opened the scoring with a shot from between the circles. However, Avtomobilist replied almost immediately when Georgy Belousov stripped Maklyukov of the puck and advanced to beat Vasily Koshechkin.
Metallurg began the second period brightly as well, but this time the Motormen were better able to get their offense going. And that helped the home team to get in front in the 27th minute. Curtis Valk picked out a great pass across the front of Koshechkin’s net and Nick Ebert connected in the right-hand circle to fire in a shot that beat the goalie through traffic.
Once again, the lead was short-lived. Metallurg tied it up midway through the frame when Brendan Leipsic chased a Philippe Maillet feed down the right-hand channel. His pass to the back door took a deflection off Jesse Blacker’s skate but dropped kindly for Goldobin to sweep home a one-timer. In the latter stages of the middle frame, though, the visitor took three penalties. That helped Avto get on top of the play, but the home team could not restore its lead before the intermission.
The third of those power plays continued into the third period, and that saw Avtomobilist get in front. Brooks Macek took up his familiar position in the left hand circle and fed Sergei Shirokov in the center of the zone. His shot may have been going wide of the post, but Valk was on hand to steer it past Koshechkin and make it 3-2.
Midway through the third period, the home team extended that advantage. After killing a penalty, Metallurg began to build up the pressure. Then Avto launched a counterattack; Anatoly Golyshev intercepted Leipsic’s pass and released Shirokov who skated through the Metallurg zone to beat Koshechkin.
Setdikov puts Sibir in front
Avangard Omsk 1 Sibir Novosibirsk2 OT (0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1)
(Sibir leads the series 1-0)
It should come as no surprise that this is shaping up to be a close series. The teams have only met once before in KHL playoff action, and that 2013 Conference Quarterfinal went to game seven before Avangard edged through. Moreover, four of the seven games produced a shut-out and two of them were decided by a solitary goal, one of those in overtime.
For much of this game, goals and chances were at a premium. In the first period, the teams traded a meager 11 shots on target; Avangard had a slight advantage, but there was little to choose between these two Siberian rivals. The pattern continued largely unchanged in the second frame, although the home team began to enjoy slightly more of the play.
After 57 goalless minutes, the game came to life in the closing moments. Avangard thought it had won it late on when Alexei Bereglazov intercepted an attempted clearance on the blue line. While his team mates generated traffic in front of Anton Krasotkin, the defenseman fired in a wrist shot that beat the visiting goalie to open the scoring on 57:09.
In response, Sibir called a time-out and prepared a final surge. Krasotkin went to the bench to make way for a sixth skater and the weight of numbers did its job. Taylor Beck’s shot from the right-hand circle hit the post and the subsequent scramble for possession saw the puck drop kindly for Alexander Sharov to put away the tying goal with 1:38 left on the clock.
In the extras, Sibir had an early opportunity on the power play when Reid Boucher was called for tripping. However, the visitor made little of that chance before Beck followed his compatriot to the sidelines for high sticks.
Once the penalties were served, Sibir grabbed the winning goal in the 70th minute. Beck picked up the attack on the blue line and advanced to the right-hand circle. He couldn’t get a shot off himself, but Nikita Setdikov picked up the play, switched to the center and fired home the winning goal.
