Ak Bars wrote its name into the history books with its third Gagarin Cup triumph. Fittingly, in this 10^th anniversary season, the biggest prize went back to the first time to lift the cup, while the Kazan team’s success puts out in front of the competition. No other team has won it all more than twice; head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov claimed his third triumph to move level with Oleg Znarok (Dynamo and SKA) as the most successful KHL coach.

Ak Bars is just one step away from claiming its third Gagarin Cup following a 3-1 victory in Moscow. Two goals from Anton Lander and two points from Justin Azevedo led the way as the Kazan team claimed a 3-1 verdict on Friday night. Emil Garipov also impressed, making 40 saves as another fine display of counter-attacking hockey secured a vital win for Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s men.

CSKA handed itself a priceless lifeline in this year’s Gagarin Cup Final, snatching an overtime victory to move within one game of Ak Bars.

It’s an odd stat, but home ice victories for Ak Bars in the Gagarin Cup Final aren’t as common as you might expect for a team with two cup wins already in the record books. In three previous grand final appearances, Kazan had seen just three home wins for Ak Bars. Back-to-back wins, as seen at the start of this series, are unprecedented in the KHL era. With Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team historically even more impressive on the road, it might suggest that CSKA faces an even more challenging task than usual if it is to recover from 0-2 in the series.

Stanislav Galiyev struck twice to give Ak Bars victory in the opening game of the Gagarin Cup final – and reawaken a rivalry from his youth hockey days.