Railwaymen close to booking cup final berth. April 6 playoffs
Lokomotiv is just one game away from returning to the Gagarin Cup final for the first time since 2009. Igor Nikitin’s team won 2-1 in Chelyabinsk, adding to the victories it enjoyed on home ice, and could wrap up this KHL playoff semi-final series on Monday.
Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2 (0-1, 0-1, 1-0)
Lokomotiv leads the series 3-0
Neither team made any changes to personnel for this game. That meant Sergei Mylnikov continued in goal for Traktor due to the absence of the injured Zach Fucale. The incident that led to Fucale’s injury – a collision with Maxim Shalunov in game one – has prompted much speculation, not to mention some angry words from the Chelyabinsk camp. However, Thursday’s game went all the way to overtime before Loko edged a 3-2 verdict and Mylnikov did enough to suggest that the enforced goaltending change was not necessarily terminal for his team.
Perhaps mindful of the difficulty in seeing off Traktor on home ice, Lokomotiv made a fast start on the road. The visitor grabbed the early momentum and opened the scoring inside three minutes. Rushan Rafikov’s powerful shot from the left channel got a redirect from Yegor Averin to beat Mylnikov.
Once in front, Loko continued to press. The Railwaymen spent plenty of time in Traktor’s zone and, by the midway point of the period, the shot count was 8-1 in the visitor’s favor. Artur Kayumov came closest to extending the lead with a shot off the post in the seventh minute; Traktor struggled to get a foothold in the game.
The home team eventually began to show. A penalty on Stepan Nikulin in the 15th minute relieved the pressure on Traktor and Daniil Isayev finally had some work to do. Penalties continued to dog Lokomotiv, with Nikita Cherepanov tripping Anton Burdasov late in the first period, then the team taking a too many men call shortly after Cherepanov left the box.
However, the home power play was unable to make much impression on a well-drilled Lokomotiv defense. Apart from a dangerous rush from Maxim Shabanov, there was little to trouble Isayev. By the mid-point of the second period the game was back to its initial pattern: Lokomotiv on top, Traktor struggling to get good looks at the net.
And the Railwaymen extended their lead: Averin fired a low shot against the post but Traktor did not heed the warning. A minute later, Andrei Sergeyev set up Georgy Ivanov for 2-0.
That left Traktor with a long road back in the third period – not just for the game, but potentially for the series as well. However, Lokomotiv is well known for disciplined defense, especially with a lead to protect. In the early shifts there were a couple of promising moments involving Burdasov and Grigory Dronov, but little sign of a breakthrough. The visitor was happy to clog up center ice and keep the opposition at arm’s length as the clock ran down.
It might have seen out the game with no further scoring, but late on Nikulin took another penalty. Traktor called Mylnikov to the bench and went for broke. The six-on-four attack delivered: Isayev stopped Vladimir Tkachyov’s shot, but could do nothing when the rebound went to Semyon Der-Arguchintsev.
With little over two minutes to play, Traktor had a lifeline and continued with six skaters. Burdasov bore down on goal, but could only find Isayev’s pad. Then Tkachyov got his angles all wrong and fired well wide of the net. That proved to the be the last chance of the game as Lokomotiv closed out the win to take a firm grip on the series.
