Game five in Omsk as Avangard and CSKA battle to shape the series verdict

Avangard returns to Omsk with a chance to close out the series, while CSKA looks to build on its Game Four breakthrough and extend the battle further.

16:30: Avangard (2^nd E) vs CSKA (5^th W)

Series stand
3-1 (3:0, 3:2, 3:2 ОТ, 1:3).

About the game
The Gagarin Cup second round meeting between Avangard and CSKA is heading back to Omsk for Game Five after the Muscovites got their first win on Tuesday and reopened the series. After dropping the first three games of this series, CSKA finally found the answer to Avangard in Game Four. CSKA struck first, with Pavel Karnaukhov deflecting a shot from Jeremy Roy, before Avangard tied things up with Marsel Ibragimov. Maxim Sorkin and Prokhor Poltapov’s unanswered hits gave CSKA the first win in the series, and some much-needed hope. Dmitry Gamzin had an impressive 40 saves for the Muscovites.
CSKA’s defenseman Jeremy Roy is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that stretch.

Injury list
Avangard: Ivan Igumnov.
CSKA: Danila Moiseyev, Vladislav Provolnev.

Milestone alert
Avangard’s defensemen Artyom Blazhiyevsky and Semyon Chistyakov may reach 100 career assists (currently both at 99).
CSKA’s forward Sergei Kalinin lines up for his 100^th game in the Gagarin Cup playoffs.