Traktor Chelyabinsk 4 Dinamo Minsk 2 (0-0, 0-0, 4-2)
(Traktor leads the series 1-0)
Traktor left it late to secure a winning start to its KHL second-round playoff series. The Eastern top seed found itself trailing Dinamo Minsk going into the last minute, but found three goals to turn the game around.
For Minsk, making its first ever appearance in the second round of the Gagarin Cup, it was a frustrating end to a great game, but tallies from Maxim Shabanov, Vitaly Kravtsov and Artyom Blazhievsky sent most of the sell-out crowd home happy.
The home team had to call up reserve goalie Vladislav Sukhachev from the VHL due to Sergei Mylnikov’s injury, meaning there was no alternative to Zach Fucale as starter. Vladimir Zharkov also missed the series opening. In contrast, Dmitry Kvartlanov named an unchanged team from the one that knocked out CSKA in Moscow. And his team continued to play the same game that has brought it unprecedented success this season, making it tough for Traktor to get the puck anywhere near Vasily Demchenko’s net. While the Belarusians were comfortable with Traktor having possession, the most dangerous moments of the early stages were as likely to come from a counterattack.
Gradually, Traktor began to generate its own chances, and the home team was close to breaking the deadlock late in the first when Andrei Svetlakov hit the post.
Things continued in similar fashion in the second period. Dinamo almost capitalized when Fucale gave up a big rebound, while Kravtsov missed Traktor’s best chance when he failed to control a loose puck in front of Demchenko’s net.
The deadlock remained until early in the third. Then a power play – Traktor’s first of the game – brought the opening goal as Alexander Kadeikin battled for possession on the doorstep before stuffing the puck under Demchenko’s pads.
But midway through the session, a sudden double blast jolted Traktor. Ilya Usov tied the game and, inspired, Dinamo poured forward to take the lead when Vadim Moroz produced a fine pass for Roman Gorbunov to fire home a one-timer.
As the clock ticked past 59:00, it looked like Gorbunov would have the winning goal. But three goals in 22 seconds changed everything. Traktor played six-on-five and Shabanov got the tying goal. But the home team clearly didn’t fancy overtime: the next shift saw Vasily Glotov bring the play down the left and set up Kravtsov for the winner.
Now it was Dinamo’s turn to play with an empty net, but losing possession immediately the visitor gifted Blazhievsky a fourth and final goal.
Dynamo Moscow 3 Ak Bars Kazan 5 (0-2, 1-0, 2-3)
(Ak Bars leads the series 1-0)
When Dynamo completed a fightback from 1-3 to tie the game in the third period, it was tempting to assume that the Muscovites had weathered the Ak Bars storm. But the visitor had other ideas, rallying with two late goals to claim an opening win on the road in this Gagarin Cup second-round series.
Ilya Safonov snapped the 3-3 tie on 58:10 before Dmitrij Jaskin wrapped up the victory with 10 seconds to play.
That was Jaskin’s second goal of the game as he looked to undermine his former club’s playoff hopes. The Czech international opened the scoring when he converted his team’s first power play of the night in the sixth minute. Jaskin had too much room on the slot and steered Mitchell Miller’s blast past Maxim Motorygin.
And another Dynamo old boy doubled the lead in the 15th minute. Eric O’Dell moved from Moscow to Kazan during the season and, after a rough year, seems to be heating up nicely in the playoffs. His tally here takes him to three in post-season after scoring just four throughout the regular campaign.
The home team had chances, with Dmitry Rashevsky and Cedric Paquette going close, but Ak Bars held its lead to the intermission.
The visitor had chances for a third at the start of the middle frame as the Dynamo defense too easily allowed odd-man rushes to test Motorygin. But the Blue-and-Whites tightened up their game and, late in the session, got their reward. Paquette, a frequent threat all night, converted a power play to make it a one-goal game.
An active start to the third earned the Muscovites another power play and Dynamo spent two minutes camped in front of Timur Bilyalov’s net without success. Instead, the next goal came on an Ak Bars power play when Miller’s point shot came through traffic to beat Motorygin.
With 10 to play, Ak Bars looked comfortable, but Pavel Kudryavtsov conjured a goal out of nothing to reignite the contest. Then, after a spell of four-on-four play, Max Comtois tied the game in the 56th minute, technically on a Dynamo power play.
That might have handed the home team a psychological edge but Ak Bars refused to yield. Having built one winning position, Anvar Gatiyatulin’s team did it again: on 58:10 Ilya Safonov restored the lead before Jaskin found the empty net to wrap up the win.