Chekhovich inspires Lokomotiv rout. March 21 playoffs
Ivan Chekhovich potted his first KHL play-off hat-trick – moving to five career post-season goals – as Lokomotiv powered to an emphatic win over CSKA. The first game in Yaroslavl saw the Railwaymen reignite the contest after back-to-back losses in Moscow.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 6 CSKA Moscow 2 (2-1, 3-1, 1-0)
(CSKA leads the series 2-1)
An impressive performance on home ice saw Lokomotiv revive its hopes of victory in this series. After struggling to score on CSKA in the opening two games, the Railwaymen’s offense hit its stride today, firing home six goals and chasing Adam Reideborn from the visitor’s net. Now Igor Nikitin’s team can tie the series with a repeat performance in game four here on Thursday.
For former CSKA head coach Nikitin, the start of this battle in Moscow must have been frustrating. In game one his team had plenty of chances but could not solve Reideborn and fell to a 0-2 loss. Then came a 2-3 reverse where Lokomotiv’s 2-0 lead evaporated in the space of 52 seconds. Suddenly, the first game on home ice was a must-win: allowing the defending champion to go 3-0 in the series would surely be fatal.
In the first period, though, it was CSKA who did much of the attacking. The visitor had 34 goal attempts, 12 of them on target, as it dictated the play for long periods. However, the home team finished the session with a 2-1 lead, thanks to Ivan Chekhovich. The forward had failed to score in his three previous playoff games this season but wasted little time putting that right. Chekhovich opened the scoring after 88 seconds, and restored the home lead midway through the opening frame, a couple of minutes after Maxim Mamin tied it up.
However, home goalie Daniil Isayev had to be at his best to preserve that lead. In the closing stages of the first period he made big saves to deny Anton Slepyshev, Sergei Plotnikov and Maxim Sorkin as the visitor looked strong going forward.
Buoyed by its lead, Lokomotiv improved in the second period. Now the home team was enjoying more attacking possession and outshooting its rival. The teams traded goals early in the session – Rushan Rafikov for Loko, Konstantin Okulov for CSKA – before the Railwaymen steamed decisively clear late in the frame. Seconds after the visitor completed a penalty kill, Chekhovich completed his hat-trick when he reacted fastest to the rebound off a skate and put the puck past Reideborn. Within a minute, Alexander Yelesin’s point shot kept low and found a way past the Swedish goalie to make it 5-2.
Reideborn did not return for the third period, with Alexander Sharychenkov taking over between the piping. CSKA’s problems did not end there, though. Sergei Fedorov’s team had to kill another penalty at the start of the final session and struggled to generate offense thereafter. Although Lokomotiv could afford to simply run down the clock and defend its lead, the home team continued to lead in both shots and territorial advantage. A penalty on Nikita Nesterov in the 57th minute effectively ended any hope of CSKA fightback, and Pavel Kraskovsky added a sixth goal to wrap up a convincing and morale-boosting win.
