CSKA to play Spartak in Moscow final

Saturday’s action was all about setting up the deciding games at the Mayor of Moscow Cup. CSKA defeated Torpedo, and will take on Spartak for gold after a dramatic finish to the Group B schedule. Torpedo finished second in Group A, and will play Dynamo Moscow for third place. The 5/6 playoff sees Vityaz face Avtomobilist.

Mayor of Moscow Cup

CSKA Moscow 3 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (2-0, 0-1, 1-0)

The Muscovites made three changes from the team that edged Vityaz in its opening game. Dmitry Gamzin replaced Ivan Prosvetov in goal, Vladislav Provolnev took Artyom Barabosha’s spot on defense and Kirill Dolzhenkov was added as the 13th forward.

Torpedo head coach Igor Larionov saw his team enjoy a more comfortable victory over Vityaz, but also made changes. Vladislav Firstov and Denis Yan replaced Evgeny Svechnikov and Kirill Voronin on the forward line, Keith Thompson took Daniil Bokun’s place on defense and Ivan Kulbakov was the starting goalie.

CSKA was quick to take control of the play and had more of the early possession. There was a scare for the home team when a rare Torpedo raid saw a shot hit the post but that was soon forgotten when Prokhor Poltapov’s quick breakaway set up Ruslan Iskhakov for the opening goal. Late in the opening frame, Fredrik Claesson doubled the lead.

Torpedo began the second period on the power play, and converted that chance to halve the deficit. Nikita Artamonov was the scorer, reacting fastest to a loose puck on the slot.

At the start of the third, there was a scuffle between Bobby Lynch and Vladislav Kamenev which saw both players take double minors for roughing. While they sat it out, Dolzhenkov made the most of his chance to restore a two-goal advantage for CSKA. Torpedo had its opportunities on the power play as the game went on but could not find a way back.

Spartak Moscow 4 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3 SO (0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 0-0, 1-0)

A dramatic last-minute rally saw Spartak salvage a 1-3 deficit to force overtime and advance to the cup final.

The Red-and-Whites followed up a shoot-out win over city rival Dynamo with a dramatic fightback to take this game to overtime. Down 1-3 going into the last minute, Michal Cajkovsky’s power play goal gave hope with 48 seconds left. Then Pavel Poryadin grabbed a dramatic equalizer on 59:37 to send the game to overtime.

A single point was enough for Spartak to take first place in Group B ahead of Dynamo, but Andrei Loktionov made sure by securing a shoot-out win to leave the Muscovites undefeated so far.

For much of the evening, though, it seemed that Avtomobilist would deprive Spartak of its shot at silverware. The Motormen played without imports today, giving opportunities to some of the Ural team’s emerging players. They went on to have an impact on the play.

Maxim Denezhkin, 23, who spent much of last season playing in the VHL, grabbed an assist as Vladimir Kuznetsov opened the scoring on a delayed penalty. Then, after Mikhail Maltsev tied the game in the second period, Denezhkin’s power play goal restored Avtomobilist’s lead.

Midway through the third period, Vladimir Voitovich, 22, made it 3-1 and seemed to have ended Spartak’s chances of topping Group B and advancing to the gold medal game in this tournament.

But the Red-and-Whites had a more experienced roster than Avto, and that made a difference in the closing stages. Nerveless execution of the clutch plays saved the game in regulation to set up a trip to the tournament final.