Shalunov saves Lokomotiv

Two goals for Loko in the last minute of regulation robbed Avangard of a place in this year’s Gagarin Cup final – at least for now. The Hawks blew a 2-0 lead in game six of the series and fell in overtime, ensuring the teams return to Yaroslavl for a game seven showdown.

Late drama sets up first game 7 of the season

Avangard Omsk 2 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 3 2OT (1-0, 0-0, 1-2, 0-0, 0-1)
Series tied at 3-3

One of the most dramatic rescue acts in KHL history saw defending champion Lokomotiv stay alive in this Gagarin Cup semi-final series.

The Railwaymen were down 0-2 in game six, and seconds away from elimination as the game ticked into the final minute of regulation.

But Bob Hartley’s men refused to give – and Maxim Shalunov delivered a stunning blow to Avangard.

The Lokomotiv forward scored twice in 22 seconds to send the game to overtime. Then, deep into the second period of the extras, he assisted on Rushan Rafikov’s winner to set up a game seven decider in Yaroslavl on Wednesday.

Rafikov assisted on Shalunov’s pair of late goals. First, the defenseman dropped deep to retrieve the puck after an attempt on the empty net went wide. He set up a counter that saw Alexander Radulov set up Shalunov in front of the net to make it 1-2.

Then Rafikov won back possession on the boards, getting the puck to Radulov. In turn, he moved it to a central position for Shalunov to wire a one-timer past Nikita Serebryakov and tie the game with 11 seconds remaining.

Avangard did well to recover its composure going into overtime, and the home team started the extras brightly. The Hawks came closest in a goalless first period of OT when Giovanni Fiore dinged the post in the 77th minute. And the home team arguably shaded the second additional session until the 97th minute, when Lokomotiv snatched the win.

This time Shalunov was the creator, picking a pass from the corner to find Rafikov in the deep slot. The defenseman had time to pick his spot and fired off a shot through traffic to win the game for Lokomotiv.

That outcome seemed improbable for much of regulation. The home team started the game well and deservedly led at the first intermission thanks to Vasily Ponomaryov’s goal midway through the opening frame. After falling behind, Loko managed to get more of the play, but could not find a tying goal.

The second period was goalless. Lokomotiv had significantly more offensive possession, but ran into some solid Avangard defense. The home team’s counterpunches also carried a threat: although the Railwaymen had more of the game, the shot count was even.

At the end of the second, the Hawks got on the power play. Early in the third, Max Lajoie converted the chance to double the home lead. Leading scorer Konstantin Okulov went back to the blue line and fired the puck to the slot. His effort was deflected onto the post and Lajoie reacted fastest to pick out an open corner.

After that, the game was almost a defense vs offense drill. Lokomotiv had almost all the possession and fired in 32 goal attempts against nine for Avangard. But it says much for the quality of the home defense that just eight of those troubled Serebryakov. The Hawks blocked 11 shots and frustrated Loko’s forwards, keeping them largely to the perimeter.

But persistence paid off in the closing stages. That late surge brought an unlikely route to salvation as the defending champ kept its season alive. For the first time this year, we have a series going to game seven – and it would be a brave man to bet on the outcome of this titanic battle.