CSKA wins back-to-back Gagarin Cups. April 29 playoffs
For the first time since 2013, we have a repeat champion. CSKA did it the hard way in this year’s final, blowing a 3-1 lead before recovering to win game seven on the road in Kazan. Two goals in 76 seconds turned this battle upside down as Sergei Fedorov’s men defended the title they won a year ago.
Ak Bars Kazan 2 CSKA Moscow 3 (1-0, 1-3, 0-0)
(CSKA wins the Gagarin Cup final 4-3)
CSKA completed its title defense with victory in Kazan. A battling, come-from-behind triumph in game seven saw Sergei Fedorov’s team make it back-to-back Gagarin Cups. However, the Muscovites faced the longest playoff campaign in KHL history, playing 27 games to claim the crown.
For Fedorov, his enviable record of never losing a playoff series continues. For CSKA, this third title moves it level with Ak Bars as the most successful team in KHL history. Like Ak Bars, and Dynamo in 2012 and 2013, CSKA also becomes only the third team to mount a successful defense of its status.
However, the Muscovites had to work hard to clear this final hurdle. Twice, Ak Bars led. Twice more, the home team hit the piping. But two goals in 76 seconds in the middle session turned the game decisively into CSKA’s favor.
It seemed that the major incident of the first period would be a fight between Alexander Radulov and CSKA’s youngster Prokhor Poltapov. The pair clashed behind the home net, and both took roughing minors. At the time of that incident in the 12th minute, the teams had managed just four shots on goal between them.
Gradually, the offense heated up. CSKA was close to going ahead when Andrei Svetlakov’s shot from the top of the left-hand circle was deflected behind Timur Bilyalov, but the home goalie recovered to stop the puck on the goal line.
However, while the visitor created more chances, the opening goal went to the home team just before the hooter. Kirill Petrov powered out of the corner and got to the slot before putting a wrist shot beyond Adam Reideborn to send the home crowd into raptures.
However, after allowing a goal seconds before the break, CSKA responded by tying the scores within a minute of the restart. The visitor won an attacking face off and when the puck got to Anton Slepyshev he launched a stinging wrist shot that went low past Bilyalov. Ak Bars responded with a shot against the crossbar from Kirill Adamchuk moments before the home team regained the lead. This time Radulov was the provider, firing the puck to the slot where Dmitry Voronkov steered it home.
Again, CSKA responded quickly. After winning a puck battle behind the Ak Bars net, Sergei Plotnikov got the play out to the slot, where Vladislav Kamenev pounced. Then, just 76 seconds later, Darren Dietz put the defending champion ahead for the first time in the game. With Svetlakov generating traffic in front of Bilyalov, the defenseman’s point shot found its way to the back of the net. In between those two CSKA goals, Ak Bars hit the piping for a second time when Luchevnikov whipped in a testing effort from the right-hand circle.
Thus CSKA took a slender lead into the final frame, although it’s worth noting that the visitor outshot Ak Bars 28-13 through two periods. Forced to save its season, the home team tried to remedy that in the third. There was some success: for the first time, Ak Bars had more possession and more shots. But ultimately, goals are the currency of this game. And goals did not follow. Nikita Lyamkin set up Stanislav Galiyev, but he couldn’t beat Reideborn when well-placed. Dmitry Kagarlitsky fizzed a tantalizing feed across the front of the net, but neither Vadim Shipachyov nor Kirill Petrov could get the necessary touch at the back door. With five to play, Ak Bars got a power play. Once again, though, possession could not bring the goal that Kazan so desperately craved.
In the final moments, Bilyalov left his crease. Lyamkin made a vital goal line intervention to keep his team in the game, then Dietz took a penalty to give 31 seconds of six-on-four play for CSKA to defend its grip on the trophy. His team-mates saw the job out, ensuring that Dietz’s second-period goal was the game-winning and cup-winning effort for 2023.
