West: Moscow steps in front. March 2 playoffs
The second day’s play in the Western Conference playoffs brought victories for both Moscow teams. CSKA won 5-2 at home to Severstal, while Dynamo got a 3-1 verdict at Torpedo.
CSKA rallies to start defense with a win
CSKA Moscow 5 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (0-1, 2-0, 3-1)
(CSKA leads the series 1-0)
A pair of quick goals early in the second period turned this game around as CSKA made a winning start to its title defense. Last year’s Gagarin Cup winner finished its regular season campaign with a loss against Severstal, and trailed at the first intermission here. However, Sergei Fedorov’s team hit back to take the early initiative in the series.
Severstal has made itself an awkward opponent for most teams this season, despite finishing down in seventh in the Western Conference. In the first period in Moscow, it continued that habit. The visitor worked hard to stifle the home offense, limiting CSKA to nine shots on goal and barely three minutes of attacking possession. At the other end, chances were not exactly frequent either. However, when Nikolai Makarov took the first penalty of the game, Robin Press opened the scoring in the ninth minute to give Severstal a lead that it held until the intermission.
Everything changed after the break. CSKA scored twice in the space of a minute to get ahead in the game. Mikhail Grigorenko got the first, firing home from the blue line after an attack that started with Makarov’s point shot. A minute later, Vitaly Abramov made it 2-1 when he redirected Yaroslav Dyblenko’s shot past Dmitry Shugayev. By the midway point in the second frame, CSKA’s lead was reinforced by a significant advantage in terms of shots and possession.
At the start of the third period, the home team produced another quickfire double. Abramov potted his second of the game and just 36 seconds later Sergei Plotnikov took the lead to 4-1. Both goals came in similar fashion, with the forwards getting in front of the net to redirect point shots.
That effectively ended the contest. Severstal showed some spirit in continuing to try to make a game of it. Daniil Vovchenko darted through the home defense and ripped a wrister that dinged the crossbar. Then, in the 54th minute, Ilya Ivantsov raced onto Adam Liska’s pass and fired a shot past Alexander Sharychenkov from a tight angle. That gave the 20-year-old defenseman a goal on his first playoff appearance. However, it made little difference to the final reckoning. Plotnikov had the final say with an empty net tally and CSKA made a winning start to the series.
Bench challenge helps Dynamo secure early advantage
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 Dynamo Moscow 3 (1-1, 0-1, 0-1)
(Dynamo leads the series 1-0)
Many pundits rated this as the most unpredictable of the first-round playoff series in either conference. For much of the season, the two teams were part of a four-way battle for second place behind SKA. Moreover, both teams can point to clear strengths and weaknesses: in a nutshell, Dynamo is defensively solid but sometimes unimaginative going forward, while Torpedo attacks with great verve and flair, possibly at the cost of its defensive game.
As it happened, those characteristics were visible throughout the game. Torpedo did far more attacking, but struggled to stretch the visiting defense. At the other end, Dynamo had to rely on counterattacks but managed to get the goals it needed to secure victory.
The first period was hard-fought and marked by frequent penalties. In the first minute, each team saw a player go to the box and that set the tone for a game where nobody was willing to yield an inch. When Dynamo got its first power play, though, things did not go to plan. The Blue-and-Whites were unable to cope with Torpedo’s pressing and Nikolai Kovalenko opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal.
The visitor responded 10 seconds before the break. Jakob Lilja emerged from the corner and got the puck to Jordan Weal. Weal then advanced along the goal line, glided across the front of the net waiting for goalie Ivan Kulbakov to commit himself then found the perfect moment to lift the puck over the last remaining obstacle and into the roof of the net.
In the second period, Dynamo’s power play got things right. It wasn’t exactly a textbook move with a man advantage: Torpedo cleared the puck deep, Weal found Lilja and the Swede’s pass sprang Maxim Dzhioshvili into the zone. The Russian forward went on to beat Kulbakov and put the visitor in front.
Torpedo thought it had the tying goal within a couple of minutes. Sergei Goncharuk moved in from the right-hand boards and put his shot past Ilya Konovalov, but the Dynamo bench challenged the play citing offside. There followed a long pause while the officials reviewed the play, and ultimately they ruled that Kovalenko had crossed the blue line a fraction before Goncharuk took the puck into enemy territory. It was a matter of millimeters, but it was enough to preserve Dynamo’s lead.
In the third period, Dynamo focussed almost exclusively on defense. The visitor had just two shots on goal, but restricted Torpedo to six at the other end. Even a power play chance after Brennan Menell took a tripping call could not lift the home team to a tying goal. Instead, Ivan Muranov found the empty net to seal the deal for the visitor. It’s advantage Dynamo after the opening encounter.
