Okulov is CSKA’s nemesis again

Konstantin Okulov’s overtime winner saw Avangard take a 3-2 verdict at CSKA. The Hawks now lead the Gagarin Cup second round series 3-0 and can wrap it up in Moscow on Tuesday.

Hawks on brink of semi-finals

CSKA Moscow 2 Avangard Omsk 3 OT (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Avangard leads the series 3-0

A fourth goal in three games from Konstantin Okulov in this series proved decisive as Avangard took an overtime win at CSKA.

Okulov, a former CSKA player, scored twice in the opening 3-0 success, then had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 3-2 win on home ice. Today he matched those stats on the road to put Guy Boucher’s team within touching distance of the semi-finals.

The winning goal came in the 76th minute after Avangard had dominated the extra period. Mikhail Gulyayev, who scored in the second period, dumped the puck into the CSKA zone then chased the rebound off the end boards before getting the puck to the slot for Okulov to finish the game.

CSKA got the perfect start to Sunday’s action, opening the scoring with its first shot on target. Ivan Drozdov collected a pass on the blue and fired the puck to the slot, where Pavel Karnaukhov steered it through Nikita Serebryakov’s pads.

That was the first time the Muscovites had held a lead over Avangard in this series. But it turned out to be relatively short lived. The Hawks responded before the first intermission thanks to Giovanni Fiore. Artyom Balzhiyevsky twice unloaded point shots that Dmitry Gamzin struggled to hold. Fiore was first to react to the rebound and managed to get the puck under control and slide it home from close range.

Although there wasn’t much to choose between the teams in that first period, CSKA could take confidence from its assured start to the game before Avangard improved as the session went on. The second period saw Igor Nikitin’s team attempt the same: the home team began on the front foot and might have regained the lead when Denis Guryanov fired wide after a testing shot from Jeremy Roy rebounded into his path.

Shortly after that, though, Avangard got in front. Fiore was involved again, working hard in front of Gamzin’s net to keep the play alive. He steered the puck back for Mikhail Gulyayev to roast home a shot from the left-hand circle after 28 minutes. That was the 20-year-old defenseman’s first goal of this year’s playoffs.

CSKA responded strongly. Serebryakov was forced into a double save, then during a passage of four-on-four play the home team tied it up in the 32nd minute. Roy stepped up from the blue line to collect Prokhor Poltapov’s pass in the center of the zone and advance to score from close in. The tying goal was a fair reward for an enterprising second-period performance from the Muscovites. However, they were close to falling behind once again when Nail Yakupov surprised Gamzin with a venomous shot that went narrowly wide of the target.

The third period could not produce a winner, although CSKA had the better of the play and forced 13 saves out of Serebryakov. But in the extras, Avangard was on top throughout. The visitor failed to convert an early power play but limited the opposition to just two shots during overtime before Okulov ended the game on 75:34.