WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Game 1 - Monday, March 07
(1) CSKA Moscow 1 (7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 Torpedo leads the series 1-0
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod pulled off the surprise of the first round to beat Jokerit in six games – and continued to bely its outsider status by inflicting a first post-season defeat of 2016 on CSKA. Goals from Linus Videll and Yury Sergiyenko were enough to halt the Army Men’s march after that sweep of Slovan. This time, after pulling off three recoveries in the third period of its previous three games, the Moscow team could not find a way to dislodge Torpedo’s limpet-like grip on the game once it got in front. So solid was the visiting defense that the home team mustered just 14 shots on Ilya Proskuryakov’s net in the second and third periods, and 4 of them came in the last 90 seconds as the former CSKA goalie held firm in the face of a desperate final flurry. Torpedo took the lead early on thanks to Videll’s power play goal. Nikolai Zherdev shot into Ilya Sorokin’s pads and the rebound came out a long way for Videll to collect the puck, skate in on goal and beat the young netminder. CSKA soon levelled on a power play of its own, with Alexander Radulov finding the net in the ninth minute. The Army Men’s wizard conjured a shooting lane out of almost nothing, spotting the tiniest of gaps left by Stanislav Yegorshev to open up the near post. Geoff Platt’s battling behind the net created the opening, but Radulov’s vision and execution turned it into a goal. At that point, most expected CSKA to go on and impose itself on the game, but Torpedo had other ideas. Peteris Skudra’s team soaked up the pressure in the first then put the game in a vice in the second with a strong pressing game that stifled the Army Men. It got even better for the visitor in the 35th minute: that same determined forechecking kept CSKA pushed back in its own zone and when the puck broke for Sergiyenko he needed no second invitation to size up the situation and shoot past Sorokin from mid range. From that point on it was all about Torpedo’s ability to restrict CSKA and keep the Army Men’s powerful offense at arm’s length. The tactics, stifling, frustrating, did their job. The home team struggled to avoid minor penalties at the start of the third period, disrupting its flow and robbing it of any momentum. Then, as the clock ran down, Proskuryakov found himself back in the thick of the action but was able to secure the win for his team.
Game 2 - Wednesday, March 09
(1) CSKA Moscow 5 (7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 Series tied at 1-1
CSKA tied its series thanks to an assured victory over Torpedo in Game 2. Determined to claw back the initiative after Monday’s defeat, and unfazed by some hard-fought hockey at both ends of the rink, the Army Men eased to the win on the back of two goals and an assist from Geoff Platt.
The opening goal, on the first power play, came when young Ivan Telegin smacked home a one-timer from the edge of the circle. CSKA thought it had a second goal in the 16th minute when Roman Lyubimov batted down the puck following a shot from the point, but that one was chalked off due to a high stick. The reprieve was short-lived, though: Platt grabbed his first a minute later, scoring at the second attempt after lurking with intent on the red line.
Torpedo pulled one back early in the second period, helped by an extended power play. CSKA successfully held out for more than a minute of 5-on-3 but Stanislav Yegorshev found the net from the blue line while Torpedo held a one-man advantage.
CSKA hit back with two quick goals just after midway. First Platt’s pass found Igor Ozhiganov at the point and his one-timer whipped past Ilya Proskuryakov. Then Platt got his second of the night, forcing the puck home from the slot off Lyubimov’s pass and chasing Proskuryakov to the bench. Replacement goalie Mikhail Biryukov gave up one more marker in the final stanza when Vladimir Zharkov deflected Nikita Zaitsev’s shot into the net. The final stages were overshadowed by a 5+20 penalty for Grigory Panin after his check to the head of Alexei Potapov left the Torpedo man groggy. Despite the long penalty, the only serious impediment to CSKA’s win came with three minutes left when one of the glass panels behind the net shattered and play was held up for repairs.
Game 3 - Friday, March 11
(7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (1) CSKA Moscow 3
CSKA leads the series 2-1
CSKA inched ahead in its series against Torpedo after edging a 3-1 verdict in Game 3 in Nizhny Novgorod. Denis Denisov, the Army Men’s captain, was the key man on the night. The defenseman’s powerful shooting from the blue line led to both CSKA goals. In the first period he let fly on the power play and Stephane da Costa, recalled to the team after missing the previous game, was adjudged to have got the final touch as the puck went past Ilya Proskuryakov.
Then he scored the second goal himself early in the third period. Torpedo struggled to clear its lines and the puck came to Denisov out on the blue line. He skated into space and unleashed another slap shot that flew clean past the goalie to double the lead.
The game quickly returned to life though as Torpedo hit back within 90 seconds. Alexander Bodrov was the scorer, smashing home Vladimir Galuzin’s intelligent pass to breathe new life into the home team’s hopes. However, throughout the game CSKA had locked down its defenses solidly. In the first two periods it allowed just nine shots on Ilya Sorokin’s net and Bodrov’s goal was only the 13th attempt to test the young goalie in almost 50 minutes of play. Even a major penalty on CSKA’s Sergei Andronov, who got 5+20 for a check to the head in the 55th minute, could not save the home team. Peteris Skudra gambled on pulling his goalie early, with more than three minutes to play, but Torpedo’s hopes were extinguished by Evgeny Korotkov’s empty-netter.
Game 4 - Sunday, March 13
(7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (1) CSKA Moscow 5 CSKA leads the series 3-1
Three second-period goals led CSKA to a win in Nizhny Novgorod, but the Army Men had to withstand a big Torpedo fightback before they could bring a 3-1 lead back to Moscow. The game seemed to be winding down to a comfortable CSKA victory until Sergei Kostitsyn’s second goal of the night made it 2-4 with eight to play. Then a calamitous defensive error, Mikhail Naumenkov getting caught in possession as he brought the puck out from behind the net, presented Alexander Frolov with a golden chance to make it a one-goal game and set up a nervous finish for CSKA.
A late penalty on CSKA’s Simon Hjalmarsson ratcheted up the tension another notch. The stadium announcer whipped the home crowd, derisive during the middle stanza, into a frenzy of support and the men in blue prepared to lay siege to the away net. Yet it wasn’t to be: Hjalmarsson returned to the ice, Torpedo goalie Ilya Proskuryakov was withdrawn for the second time in the game and Vladimir Zharkov capitalized on the confusion to shoot an empty-net goal that wrapped up the win at last. Earlier Torpedo’s threat was limited to a brief flicker at the start of the second stanza, with Kostitsyn scoring on the power play to cancel out Antti Pihlstrom’s first-period opener for the visitor. But from that point on it was all CSKA, with Torpedo managing just two more shots on Ilya Sorokin’s net as the visitor put the game out of reach.
Igor Ozhiganov made it 2-1 in the 25thminute. Alexander Radulov pulled the strings on the power play as CSKA maneuvered the puck across to Ozhiganov in the left-hand circle. With Proskuryakov struggling to get back into position, the defenseman fired a one timer into the open side of the net. CSKA increased its lead 65 seconds later, chasing Proskuryakov in the process. Zharkov released Kirill Petrov down the boards and, with Torpedo’s defense AWOL, the forward went straight up to the net and beat the goalie amid a chorus of jeers from the disgruntled home crowd. Once benched for Mikhail Biryukov, Proskuryakov may well have reflected on the total absence of any protection for him on that play.
Even the loss of Igor Makarov on the half-hour, expelled from the game for picking a fight with Alexei Pepelyayev, did not greatly hinder CSKA. Roman Lyubimov added a fourth goal with the teams playing 4-on-4 hockey. Lyubimov collected the loose puck behind the net after Nikita Zaitsev fired wide, and recovered to score on the wraparound. It seemed so comfortable for CSKA, but the Moscow team still had to weather Torpedo’s late revival before claiming the win.
Game 5 - Tuesday, March 15
(1) CSKA Moscow 3 (7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2 CSKA wins the series 4-1
CSKA booked its place in the Western Conference final for the second year running after grinding out another hard-fought win over Torpedo. Despite the gulf between the teams in the regular season and the emphatic margin of the Army Men’s series win here, games between the two have mostly been hard-fought affairs and this was no exception. Simon Hjalmarsson led the way with two goals. First he tied the scores in the first period when Torpedo was slow to clear and Mikhail Yunkov got behind the net to feed the Swede for a close-range finish that cancelled out Vyacheslav Kulemin’s opener.
Roman Lyubimov got the go-ahead goal in the 43rd minute after Kirill Petrov fired the puck hard along the red line and Lyubimov got his stick in the way at the near post before goalie Mikhail Biryukov could take control of the situation.
Hjalmarsson added a second strike on the penalty kill to make it 3-1. CSKA won a face-off in its own zone, Yunkov broke out with the puck and as the visitor struggled to get back Hjalmarsson had time to pick his spot and beat Biryukov.
But Torpedo refused to roll over. Kaspars Daugavins got one goal back with six to play, firing in a shot from the face-off spot that saw Ilya Sorokin juggling the puck but failing to keep it out. Then another power play for the visitor saw Sorokin at full stretch to deny Alexander Alyayev. A penalty call on Carter Ashton in the 57th minute brought Torpedo’s revival spluttering to a halt: CSKA was able to use its man advantage to kill the game in the final minutes and secure its place in the next round.
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