Loko frustrates CSKA, keeps series alive. March 25 playoffs
Lokomotiv travelled to Moscow and kept its season alive with victory in game five of the teams’ Western Conference semi-final series. Goalie Daniil Isayev made 21 saves, while Maxim Beryzokin potted the only goal midway through the third period.
CSKA Moscow 0 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (0-0, 0-0, 0-1)
(CSKA leads the series 3-2)
With Lokomotiv playing to save its season, it was hardly surprising that the visitor tried to set the tempo in the opening exchanges. However, in what would become something of a pattern for the first period, puck possession and territorial advantage rarely translated into clear scoring chances. Not even an early power play enabled Loko to seriously test Adam Reideborn in the home net.
As the frame went on, CSKA began to generate more at the other end. Once again, though, there was little danger of a goal. A four-on-two breakaway saw Pavel Karnaukhov shoot just wide of Daniil Isayev’s net, and Sergei Plotnikov was also narrowly off target as the intermission approached, but neither team could break the deadlock.
The second period was similar. Shots on goal were few, clear cut chances fewer. The closest either side came was in the 39th minute when Darren Dietz thundered a shot into the crossbar. It was the first and only time in the game that Isayev looked to be beaten and, on this occasion, the piping came to his rescue.
Isayev’s day was not limited to a series of saves. Early in the third period, the visiting goalie got into a fight with CSKA’s Anton Slepyshev. The home forward crashed into Isayev, sending him sprawling across his crease, but the Lokomotiv man picked himself up and immediately began jostling at Slepyshev. Several other players jumped in to back up their team-mates, and in the end both Isayev and Slepyshev were assessed two minutes for roughing.
That four-on-four hockey produced little. Indeed, it was among the quieter passages of play in the game. However, the next power play brought the long awaited breakthrough. CSKA’s Yaroslav Dyblenko went to the box, and Lokomotiv took advantage to open the scoring through Maxim Beryozkin. Maxim Shalunov brought the puck from one zone to the other, drawing the attention of two home defensemen. As they converged on the attacker, the puck broke free for Artur Kayumov to shoot. His effort was saved, but he got to the rebound first and dished it off for Beryozkin to fire home his second goal of this series.
CSKA was forced to seek the answer to Isayev in the final 10 minutes, but struggled to establish itself in Lokomotiv territory. A long-range effort from Vladislav Provolnev zipped through traffic and caused the visiting goalie some discomfort, but generally the Railwaymen did a good job of protecting the danger zone. The Muscovites’ cause was undermined in the 58th minute when Dietz took two minutes for tripping. That made it impossible to withdraw Reideborn in favor of a sixth skater and helped the visitor close out a narrow verdict that sends this series back to Yaroslavl for game six on Monday.
