Severstal fights on, CSKA ties it up

With a 4-2 win over Spartak, Severstal escaped a sweep in its first-round KHL playoff series and sent the action back to Moscow on Thursday. As a result, seven out of eight series are guaranteed to go to at least five games, with only Lokomotiv still capable of a sweep when it plays Torpedo tomorrow. In Tuesday’s other action, CSKA defeated Dinamo Minsk at home, completing a recovery from 0-2 to tie the series ahead of the return to Belarus for game five. 

Prosvetov stars as CSKA levels the series

CSKA Moscow 2 Dinamo Minsk 1 (0-0, 0-0, 2-1)

(Series tied at 2-2)

The clash of the capitals is locked at 2-2 after four games. CSKA recorded a second home victory to draw level in this first round clash. As a result, Ilya Vorobyov’s team will definitely return to Moscow for at least one more game this season, regardless of the outcome in Belarus on Thursday.

For two periods of this game, Dinamo was dominant. However, the visitor could not take its chances. Ivan Prosvetov was inspired for CSKA, making 30 saves through 40 minutes. Among the best were an agile blocker save to deny Yegor Borikov from point blank range, and an outstretched pad to keep Vitaly Pinchuk from scoring.

The post also played its part for the home team, rescuing Prosvetov after he was beaten by Vadim Moroz on the power play. At the second intermission, Dinamo led the shot count 30-13, but could not find the goal its efforts deserved.

After that, of course, one of hockey’s inevitable rules applied: if you don’t score, they’ll score on you. And CSKA did. Twice. Seventy-five seconds after the restart, Kirill Dolzhenkov put the home team in front after Takhir Mingachyov took on a stretch pass from Colby Williams and dished off the puck for his team-mate to fire over Vasily Demchenko’s glove.

Then, in the 47th minute, Ivan Drozdov doubled the lead. The one-time Minsk prospect undid his hometown team after Fredrik Claesson found Maxim Sorkin on the left and his feed picked out the Belarusian forward in front of the net.

Dinamo, perhaps aware that in each previous game the team scoring first had ultimately lost, responded with a dangerous counterattack. Alexander Volkov fired the puck to the far post, but Roman Gorbunov put his effort wide of the post and Prosvetov was not troubled. At the other end, Prokhor Poltapov fashioned a similar opportunity for CSKA, only for Drozdov to produce a similar finish.

There was still time for some late drama. With a couple of minutes left, Demchenko went to Dinamo’s bench and the visitor’s six skaters pulled a goal back. Moroz let fly from the circle, Prosvetov got a pad behind the initial shot but was powerless to stop Pinchuk from potting the rebound. With 1:47 left on the clock, Dmitry Kvartalnov called a time-out, looking to find the play that could save the game. However, time ran out on the visitor before it could convert its last-minute pressure into the goal it needed.

No sweep for Spartak

Severstal Cherepovets 4 Spartak Moscow 2 (0-1, 3-0, 1-1)

(Spartak leads the series 3-1)

Severstal remains alive in this year’s playoffs after grabbing victory in game four. Despite falling behind to an early goal from Spartak, Andrei Kozyrev’s team hit back in the second period to take control of the game. The Muscovites remain in pole position and can wrap it up on home ice on Thursday, but the Steelmen escaped a sweep.

With a passage to the second round in view, Spartak made a fast start. The visitor opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Daniil Orlov joined Adam Ruzicka on a swift counterattack. The Slovak winger played a great feed from the right-hand side, and Orlov was ready on the slot to touch it past Alexander Samoilov.

Almost immediately, the Red-and-Whites had a chance to double the lead. Nikolai Chebykin went to the box, and Pavel Poryadin was close to beating Samoilov on the power play. Severstal survived that scare, but struggled to create chances to tie the game before the intermission.

After the break, the home team got back into the game. David Dumbadze flashed an early effort just wide, then both teams dinged the piping. At one end, Spartak’s Yegor Zaitsev went close then, at the other, Chebykin was denied by the post.

That flurry of chances galvanized the host, and two goals in two minutes saw Severstal turn the game around. Ilya Ivantsov tied it up, taking advantage of a treacherous bounce off the boards that left Artyom Zagidulin stranded. The visiting goalie had gone unbeaten through 83 minutes prior to that, but he was picking the puck out of his net again 134 seconds later when Ivan Podshivalov played a great feed out of the left-hand corner for Dumbadze to score from the circle.

Both goalies made big saves while the game was at 2-1. Zagidulin spared Ivan Morozov’s blushes after a misplaced pass invited Podshivalov to shoot from a dangerous position. Then Samoilov kept Severstal in front when he was faced with Poryadin and Nikolai Goldobin. A feed for Goldobin at the back door looked like a certain goal, but Samoilov said “no” to that one.

And the next big moment saw Severstal extend its lead. Ivantsov and Timur Mukhanov chased Orlov behind his own net before setting up Alexander Skorenov in front of the net to beat Zagidulin and make it 3-1 at the second intermission.

Spartak twice retrieved a two-goal deficit in the opening game of the series, but hopes of saving this one all-but evaporated at the start of the third period. The home press worked again, with Mikhail Kotlyarevsky stripping Morozov of the puck behind the net and setting up Podshivalov to make it 4-1. Things were unravelling fast for Spartak and the next Severstal attack saw Zagidulin penalized for throwing his stick. Ivantsov almost fooled the goalie with his shot, but an outstretched pad managed to make the save.

And the importance of that save was underlined a couple of minutes later when Mikhail Maltsev pulled one back for the Muscovites. The home team overextended itself going forward and fell victim to a counter as Ruzicka set up Maltsev for a vital goal.

At that point, Spartak was back in the game. After killing a Zaitsev penalty, the Red-and-Whites stepped up their attacking efforts in search of a way to save the game and clinch the series. But Severstal was not about to let its advantage slip and closed out a win that keeps the series alive for at least a couple more days.