Knight’s double fails to rescue Avangard. April 1 playoffs
Corban Knight was almost the hero of the opening game of the Eastern Conference final. His two goals in the third period forced the game into overtime. However, Ak Bars recovered to win it in the extras on a Kirill Panyukov effort.
Ak Bars Kazan 3 Avangard Omsk 2 OT (1-0, 1-0, 0-2, 1-0)
(Ak Bars leads the series 1-0)
There was late drama as the Eastern Conference final got underway in Kazan. Avangard grabbed a tying goal just three seconds before the hooter, completing a fightback from 0-2 and forcing overtime in this clash of the titans.
The Hawks had already withdrawn goalie Vasily Demchenko in favor of a sixth skater when Kirill Semyonov took a delay of game penalty. Playing six-on-four, the visitor rained in shots at Timur Bilyalov’s net but the clock was running down and it seemed that the home team had weathered the storm. The Ivan Telegin got the puck wide on the right and played a great pass to the slot where Corban Knight was on hand to score a game-saving marker.
However, that was not enough for the visitor to take the opening game of this series. After two minutes of the extras, Ak Bars potted the winner through Kirill Panyukov. The Kazakh forward had already missed a couple of big chances late in the game. However, when Semyonov gave him the puck in the right-hand channel, Panyukov buried his big chance. An irresistible wrister flashed past Demchenko from the right-hand circle to hand the host a reprieve and put the top seed up 1-0 in the series.
The home team had endured the more difficult journey to this stage of the playoffs but showed no sign of sluggishness in the early stages. Ak Bars forced the opening power play of the game in the third minute, with Nail Yakupov catching Semyonov in the face with his stick. Almost immediately, that brought the first goal: Slava Voynov’s point shot set Alexander Radulov battling away on the slot and setting up Dmitry Kagarlitsky for a shot into the open side of the net.
That was one of the few chances of a hard-fought first period. Ak Bars had another power play opportunity when Telegin went to the box but could not add to its lead; Avangard struggled to get through a well-drilled home defense and the visitor’s closest look came when Vladimir Zharkov’s counterattack narrowly failed to connect with Fyodor Malykhin.
The second period was similar for long periods. Avangard managed to create slightly more going forwards, and might have tied the score midway through the game when Sergei Tolchinsky released Artemy Gritsyuk through the middle. The Omsk youngster fired in a dangerous shot, but Bilyalov made the save. A couple of minutes later, Ak Bars doubled its lead and Kagarlitsky was on target once again. Voynov was involved again, this time blocking a shot in his own end. The puck dropped for Vadim Shipachyov who instantly launched a counterattack. Kagarlitsky skated onto his teammate’s pass and won his duel with Demchenko.
Given the home team’s defensive control up to this point, it was tempting to assume this was “job done”. Certainly, it took Avangard time to respond. However, midway through the third period Vasily Tokranov took the first penalty of the game for Ak Bars. Avangard’s power play has been dangerous all season and now, when it was needed most, the special teams came up trumps again. It was a goal that had something in common with the home opener: a point shot from Alexei Bereglazov, hard work in front of the net from Alex Broadhurst and a finish from Knight.
There were a couple of chances for Ak Bars to finish the game in the closing stages, but Panyukov twice failed to convert decent looks at Demchenko’s net. At the other end, Tolchinsky outwitted Kirill Adamchuk but fired wide of the target from a dangerous position. But all of that was forgotten in the last-gasp drama to come.
