First game goes to Metallurg

Torpedo recovered from 0-2 in the first period of its playoff second round opener in Magnitogorsk. But the outsider could not force an upset against the regular season champ, falling 4-3.

Firstov’s double not enough for Torpedo

Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (2-2, 2-1, 0-0)
Metallurg leads the series 1-0

The third game in round two of the playoffs produced a third home victory. But while this one went with the seeding, it was very different from Wednesday’s encounters.

After the second round began with two low-scoring shut-out wins, the first game in the Vladimir Tkachyov derby was a higher-scoring affair. Metallurg’s Tkachyov got a goal, Torpedo’s had an assist; the regular season champion prevailed by the odd goal in seven.

Torpedo, ranked sixth in the West, is the lowest surviving team in this year’s playoff. It got here by knocking out third seed Severstal. At first, it looked as if Alexei Isakov’s men would struggle to cope with a Magnitka team that looks to have a serious shot at winning it all.

The home team got up 2-0 after six minutes. Daniil Vovchenko opened the scoring in the fourth minute, converting a Derek Barach feed. Soon after, Vovchenko hit the post on a breakaway before Tkachyov doubled the lead on 6:16. This was a well-taken goal, with the home forward advancing down the left, easily getting around Maxim Letunov and making for the slot before firing through Denis Kostin’s pads.

Metallurg might have further extended its lead with a five-on-three power play, but could not take advantage. Instead, Torpedo found itself with a two-man advantage and made more of it. Vladislav Firstov pulled a goal back and a further minute of five-on-four play ensured the momentum remained with the visitor. In the 16th minute, it was 2-2. Alexander Smolin padded away a point shot, only for Vasily Atanasov to convert the rebound. Torpedo’s Tkachyov got a secondary assist as Metallurg allowed two goals in a playoff game for the first time this season.

Midway through the second period, the Steelmen produced another quickfire pair of goals to rebuild their lead. Ruslan Isakhov was the architect on both occasions. First, his face-off win set up Daniil Palivko for a shot that took a deflection on its way past Kostin. Then he surged through the middle and dished off a feed to the right for Nikita Mikhailis to shoot home.

Firstov got his second of the game, getting to the back door and converting a superb pass from Bogdan Konyushkov to make it 3-4. And he almost continued the theme of quickfire pairs of goals on his next shift with a bold solo run that had him close to completing his hat-trick. However, Metallurg survived and took its lead to the intermission.

There was no further scoring in the game and the third period produced a similar pattern of play to the previous two. Metallurg had more puck possession, but could not turn it into more goals. Torpedo tried to force turnovers and build counterattacks and almost managed to save the game in the final moments as a flurry of shots rained in on Smolin’s net. But Metallurg withstood that onslaught to claim the opening win of the series.