Isayev’s blunder hands Metallurg game three. April 22 playoffs
It’s a lonely life being a goalie, and Lokomotiv’s Daniil Isayev will be feeling that more than most tonight. He was beaten in overtime when an innocuous shot from Alexander Petunin bounced off the boards and into the net off the goaltender’s skate. That gave Metallurg its third win of the 2024 Gagarin Cup final, with Ilya Nabokov making 32 saves to secure a 2-1 scoreline. The Steelmen could wrap up the season when the teams meet again on Wednesday.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 OT (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 0-1)
Metallurg leads the series 3-0
The visitor was unchanged from the team that won the first two games of the series on home ice. That meant no return for injured defenseman Yegor Yakovlev. Similarly, Lokomotiv continued without forward Maxim Shalunov, who picked up a knock in the first game of the series and missed the second altogether. In addition, Igor Nikitin once again shuffled Ivan Chekhovich back into his line-up, with Nikita Kiryanov making way.
With Gagarin Cup final hockey back in Yaroslavl for the first time in 15 years, the home team was determined to start clawing back its deficit in this series. Lokomotiv got off to a fast start, dominating the early exchanges. Visiting goalie Ilya Nabokov continued to impress, producing saves to deny Stepan Nikulin from close range and block redirects from Georgy Ivanov and Alexander Polunin.
The host thought it had the opening goal in the 14th minute when Denis Alexeyev raced onto Alexander Yelesin’s stretch pass and set up Nikulin in the center. He beat Nabokov, but Metallurg challenged the play, and the video review spotted that Alexeyev was offside when he took possession in the build-up. After being denied a last-second tying goal on Saturday, Lokomotiv was again left frustrated by a review.
Reprieved, Metallurg began to offer more of an attacking threat. Luke Johnson’s shot was beaten away by Daniil Isayev and the home goalie was relieved to see Korobkin put the rebound wide of the target.
At the start of the second period, the teams traded scoring chances. Magnitka was the first to show, slicing through the home defense on the counter, but Nikita Grebyonkin’s redirect took the puck wide of Isayev’s net. At the other end, Loko hit back when Pavel Kraskovsky fired the puck to the slot, where Yaroslav Likhachyov almost forced it past Nabokov. A couple of minutes later, Likhachyov’s robust presence on the slot created a great chance for Chekhovich, but his chance flashed past the top corner.
In the first two games of the series, neither team managed a goal before the third period. Today, that record came to an end – and it was Metallurg that got the advantage thanks to a 35th-minute marker from Dmitry Silantyev. It started with Roman Kantserov out on the boards, then Denis Zernov battled for possession on the slot but could not stuff the puck home. The rebound dropped for Silantiev, and his close-range shot found the net to give the Steelmen a 1-0 lead at the second intermission.
It almost got better for Andrei Razin’s team when Silantiev sent Kantserov into the danger zone. The young Metallurg forward forced his way between two defensemen and his pace took him to the net, but Isayev made a huge save to keep his team in the game.
The first 40 minutes saw Metallurg defending deep. The visitor blocked 20 shots in the first two periods as Lokomotiv had more of the puck and showed more attacking intent. With a lead to defend, and with a record of allowing just one goal in eight completed periods of the final, it was no surprise that Magnitka again trusted its game management to see this one out in the third.
For a time, the plan worked well. Home frustration even helped Metallurg get the first power play of the evening when Alexeyev sat for tripping. However, Lokomotiv survived that and got a PP chance of its own when Igor Geraskin went to the box. The Railwaymen pinged in shots from all angles, and four seconds after Magnitka returned to equal strength the tying goal arrived. Maxim Beryozkin’s pass from behind the net enabled Artur Kayumov to set up Ivanov on the slot. This time, the Lokomotiv forward went five-hole on Nabokov to find the net – and there was no review to cut short the home celebrations.
Suddenly, Metallurg’s defensive composure was ruffled. A couple of minutes after the goal, Beryozkin and Kayumov combined again, but the latter saw his shot whistle narrowly over the bar as the host looked to wrap this one up in regulation. In the 56th minute, Danil Tesanov was close to conjuring the breakthrough when he got away from two opponents and fired in a shot from a central position, only to see his effort go over as well.
Instead of a winner, the game went to overtime for the first time in this year’s final. Indeed, it’s the first time we’ve seen OT in a Gagarin Cup final since April 26, 2022, when CSKA’s 3-2 win at Metallurg kept that series alive.
Tonight’s extras did not last long. Although Magnitka was under pressure in the closing moments of regulation, the visitor settled the issue within four minutes of overtime. It was a moment that will give Isayev nightmares as a tame shot bounced off the boards and deflected into the net off the home goalie’s skate to gift Metallurg a 3-0 lead in the series. For the second time in this final, Alexander Petunin claimed the winning goal, again off an assist from Robin Press. Now, his team is just one win away from securing its third Gagarin Cup triumph.
