CSKA advances to Gagarin Cup final. April 12 playoffs
It’s CSKA vs Ak Bars for this year’s Gagarin Cup. A 3-0 win in Moscow saw the defending champion seal its victory in the Western Conference final. It’s a fifth successive appearance in the final for the Muscovites, and a sixth in seven editions.
CSKA Moscow 3 SKA St. Petersburg 0 (1-0, 1-0, 1-0)
(CSKA wins the series 4-2)
A shut-out from Adam Reideborn and a goal in each period was enough to see CSKA through to the Gagarin Cup final. For the first time this year, the defending champion avoided going to game seven in a playoff series, completing the Western Conference final in six games.
SKA, knowing that only victory would be enough to keep its season alive, started with Vladislav Podyapolsky in goal. The former Severstal man got the nod ahead of Dmitry Nikolayev after replacing him in the third period of Monday’s 3-7 home loss.
It was Podyapolsky’s first start of the playoffs – last month he came into a game at Torpedo after Nikolayev allowed two goals from five shots – and it could hardly have got off to a worse start. Just 13 seconds into the game, Nikita Nesterov shot from the blue line and Maxim Sorkin batted the puck down and into the net after taking up his position on the slot.
Subsequently, SKA came into the game. The visitor had a power play chance in the second minute but could not create any serious threat to Adam Reideborn’s net. And that was pretty much the story of the opening frame: SKA had the possession and outshot CSKA 9-4, but the best chance came at the other end when Sorkin went close again midway through the session.
Early in the second period, the visitor fashioned its best opening of the game. Stepan Falkovsky advanced into the danger zone and fired in a shot that Reideborn struggled to deal with. The puck bounced freely in front of the net, but no SKA player could get his stick to it before the home defense forced it away from danger.
That missed opportunity proved costly. Shortly afterwards, a penalty on Marat Khairullin handed the momentum back to CSKA. Mikhail Grigorenko hit the post during the power play and although SKA killed the penalty it proved difficult to dislodge the home offense even when back to full strength. That pressure ultimately brought a second goal. Vladislav Kamenev’s stretch pass released Sergei Plotnikov on the right wing. His turn and pass put Konstantin Okulov clean through on Podyapolsky and the Muscovites’ forward produced a beautiful finish, outwitting the visiting goalie before stroking the puck home.
Moments later, Fredrik Claesson was close to making it 3-0 when his shot bounced out of Podyapolsky’s glove and dropped behind the goalie, but didn’t cross the goal line. However, the home defenseman later invited SKA back into the game when he took a penalty at the start of the third period. However, by now the host was well prepared to defend its advantage and there was little danger for Reideborn.
CSKA’s power play showed how it should be done in the third period, with Darren Dietz adding a third goal from a one-timer off Kamenev’s feed. That effectively settled the outcome. Although SKA continued to press, there was little opportunity for the visiting forwards to impress. Tellingly, most of the attempts at Reideborn’s net came from defensemen as the home team did a great job of shutting down the area in front of goal. In the 56th minute, Podyapolsky came to the bench as SKA looked to capitalized on one more power play, but he was soon back on the ice when Valentin Zykov was called for tripping. On 56:50 Roman Rotenberg called a time-out but he could not find the play that would revive his team’s chances. CSKA held on to claim the win, Reideborn finished with 22 saves and the defending champion progresses to its sixth Gagarin Cup final.
