Traktor one game away from the final

For the first time in this year’s Gagarin Cup semi-finals, we went to overtime. Dynamo and Traktor tied 2-2 in Moscow before Maxim Shabanov gave the visitor the verdict.

Shabanov puts Chelyabinsk up 3-0

Dynamo Moscow 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 2OT (1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)

(Traktor leads the series 3-0)

Traktor is one game away from sweeping into the 2025 Gagarin Cup final after Maxim Shabanov’s goal in double overtime secured victory at Dynamo. The visitor never led in 83 minutes of play until Shabanov snapped a 2-2 tie and put Benoit Groulx’s men up 3-0 in the series.

The visitor began the second session of extras with a strong forechecking game. Shabanov chased Artyom Sergeyev behind the Dynamo net and won possession. Then he emerged onto the slot to beat Vladislav Podyapolsky and win a game in which Traktor had twice trailed.

Down by two in the series, Dynamo wanted a fast start on home ice. Alexei Kudashov’s team is the only one to recover from dropping the first two games in a playoff series in the past two years, but also carries the psychological weight of last season’s sweep at Traktor’s hands.

Today, the Blue-and-Whites grabbed the early lead they craved. An active start saw Igor Ozhiganov open the scoring in the fourth minute. Great work from Dylan Sikura alongside the net drew Sergei Telegin and Vladimir Tkachyov out of position. A backhand pass went perfectly to the now vacant slot and Ozhiganov joined the attack at the right time to finish.

Yet the home team was unable to build on its success. The first period remained evenly balanced and in the second, Traktor was dominant. The visitor outshot Dynamo 17-4 and tied the game midway through the session. Grigory Dronov’s point shot looked fairly routine, but with Daniil Pylenkov and Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer jockeying for position in front of Podyapolsky’s net the goalie’s view was obscured. He was unable to react to a deflection off Pylenkov and Dronov claimed the tying goal.

Although Traktor continued to have the better of the play in the second period, the game remained tied until midway through the third. By now, Dynamo was again matching its guest and the Muscovites regained the lead in the 50th minute. A line change opened a gap in Traktor’s defenses and Anton Sizov fed Artyom Mikheyev for a rocket of a shot from between the hash marks that gave Zach Fucale no chance.

However, that lead lasted less than two minutes. Vitaly Kravtsov conjured a goal out of very little, finding the tightest of lanes from the top of the circle to convert Logan Day’s cross-ice feed.

And Traktor had the better chances in the closing stages, with Maxim Shabanov getting a one-on-one that Podyapolsky saved before firing wide of the target after Alexander Kadeikin led another odd-man rush.

It was notable that neither team took a penalty during regulation. The first infringement was assessed after 72 minutes when Dynamo’s Kirill Adamchuk sat for tripping. Kravtsov almost won it on the power play, but his shot came back off the post. Late in the first frame of OT Dronov also sat a minor. This time, it was Traktor’s turn to rely on the goal frame as Nikita Gusev rang the iron at the other end.

Neither team could settle it in the first period of overtime, but it took less than four minutes for Shabanov to score in the second. The teams meet again on Sunday with Traktor close to making its first final since 2013.