CSKA overpowers Lokomotiv, advances in game seven. March 29 playoffs
This was the fourth time CSKA had gone to game seven in its last four series. And the home team’s greater experience in these win-or-bust clashes paid off once again. Two goals in the first 10 minutes put Sergei Fedorov’s team in charge, and Lokomotiv struggled to find a way past Adam Reideborn for the rest of the evening.
CSKA Moscow 5 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 0 (2-0, 1-0, 2-0)
(CSKA wins the series 4-3)
The defending champion got in front in the fifth minute of this game. Andrei Svetlakov fired the puck to the slot from the blue, where Anton Slepyshev was on hand to get the vital touch that took it into the corner of the net.
Lokomotiv had an opportunity to respond quickly when Vladislav Provolnev took a delay of game penalty. However, the visitor struggled to create much with the extra man and then fell further behind when CSKA got back to full strength.
The second goal was scored by Vitaly Abramov, but it owed everything to Prokhor Poltapov. The 20-year-old forward won possession behind the net, shrugging off the attentions of Cherepanov and flicking out a sublime no-look pass. The puck dropped perfectly for Abramov on the doorstep, and he took full advantage.
Down by two inside 10 minutes, Igor Nikitin called a time out in the hope of rearranging the game according to his plans. However, even though the visitor had the better first-period stats – outshooting CSKA 12-5 and spending 6:27 on the attack – there was no way past Adam Reideborn in the opening frame.
That pattern continued in the middle session. Lokomotiv had the better of the play and there was little sign of CSKA as an attacking force. The visitor’s best chance came early in the session: on the power play, Maxim Shalunov fired a shot against the post. Had that been a centimeter inside the frame of the goal, the game might have been very different. Instead, though, the Muscovites defended strongly in a period with few scoring chances. Then Sergei Fedorov’s team scored on its first shot on goal in the period – albeit in the 34th minute. Vladislav Kamenev made it 3-0 when he slotted home the rebound from a Nikita Nesterov point shot.
At that point, the game was effectively settled. Goals had been in short supply throughout the series, and CSKA is not the kind of team that is ever likely to relinquish its grip on a commanding lead.
Just to make sure, the home team came out at the start of the third and put the game to bed. CSKA got busy from the opening face-off, and it was little surprise that Svetlakov soon added a fourth goal. On this occasion, Slepyshev turned provider as Svetlakov added a goal to his first-period helper.
There would be no consolation for Lokomotiv: Shalunov was again denied by the frame of the goal in the 56th minute when his attempted redirect steered Alexander Yelesin’s shot onto the crossbar. Almost immediately, CKSA broke down the ice for Mikhail Grigorenko to add a fifth goal and wrap up the contest in some style. It finished 5-0, with Reideborn making 30 saves to produce his second shut-out of the series.
Victory sees the defending champion safely through its fourth game seven in successive series. Next up, the Conference final sees a rematch of last year’s showdown against SKA. Twelve months ago, CSKA won that in seven on the way to lifting the cup. Will we see a repeat performance in 2023?
