Reideborn blanks Ak Bars, CSKA ties the final series. April 19 playoffs
It’s all square in the Gagarin Cup final after a disciplined CSKA performance produced a 3-0 victory in Kazan. Goalie Adam Reideborn stopped 29 shots to record the first shut-out of the final, and his fifth of the current playoffs.
Ak Bars Kazan 0 CSKA Moscow 3 (0-1, 0-1, 0-1)
(Series tied at 1-1)
Eager to get back into the series before the action moves to Moscow on Friday, CSKA went out to grab the initiative from the opening puck drop. The defending champion would go on to spend substantially more time on the attack in the first period, and got its reward with the opening goal.
It came in the 13th minute. Nikita Nesterov dumped the puck in from the point and Sergei Plotnikov retrieved it with a delicate back hand pass towards Konstantin Okulov behind the net. He, in turn, set up Vladislav Kamenev on the slot and Timur Bilyalov could do nothing about the finish.
After falling behind, Ak Bars tried to impose itself on the game. However, the home team struggled to create many good looks at Adam Reideborn. Ilya Safonov’s effort crashed into the goalie’s helmet, causing him more discomfort than anything else he faced in the opening frame. At the other end, Okulov burst clear, shrugging off the attentions of the home defense, but failed to beat Bilyalov when a second goal beckoned.
Ak Bars finished the opening stanza on the power play, and almost parlayed that into a tying goal. Right as the hooter sounded, Vadim Shipachyov had the puck in Reideborn’s net. However, the officials quickly ruled that it was just after the end of the session and CSKA held its lead at the intermission.
In the second period, Ak Bars again struggled to break down a disciplined CSKA defense. When the home team managed to get shots on goal, Reideborn thwarted the club he represented for his first two seasons in the KHL. All too often, though, the home offense was unable to open a path to the net as Sergei Fedorov’s team put a lock on the play.
At the other end, chances were fewer. However, in the 35th minute, CSKA doubled its lead when Yaroslav Dyblenko smashed home a slap shot from the top of the right-hand circle.
When Plotnikov took another tripping call at the start of the third period, it felt like a key moment in the game. A goal for Ak Bars at this point would put the outcome back under serious question. In response, the home PP set up camp in the CSKA zone. However, the clear cut chance never quite emerged: Mikhail Grigorenko managed to cut out a dangerous feed towards Stanislav Galiyev, Dmitry Yudin’s powerful shot flashed wide of the target, and Safonov narrowly failed to redirect a Nikita Lyamkin blast past Reideborn.
Soon, the home team had to kill a penalty, but then almost immediately found itself with a 5-on-3 advantage. This time, only a goal would suffice. CSKA defended in depth, Alexander Radulov tried to find a way through, but Reideborn pulled off a big save and recovered enough to see the forward put the rebound wide of the net. Once again, the penalty kill did its job and Ak Bars was unable to force the key breakthrough.
Home hopes suffered a decisive blow in the 50th minute when Kirill Adamchuk tangled with Plotnikov on the boards. The visiting forward took an elbow in the face, and after reviewing the incident the officials meted out a major penalty. With barely 10 minutes to play, Ak Bars faced playing half of them with a man down. That didn’t stop the home team getting a 3-on-1 breakaway, but the final pass to the slot went astray and Artyom Lukoyanov was unable to pursue the scoring chance. Subsequently, CSKA decided not to force the pace on its power play, leaving Ak Bars just over five minutes to claw back two goals at equal strength. There was only going to be one winner in that battle, and Grigorenko added a third goal into an empty net as the visitor drew level in the series.
