KHL - Playoffs Round 2 - Avangard Omsk (1) Salavat Yulaev Ufa (4)

EAST CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Game 1 - Tuesday, March 08

(1) Avangard Omsk 2 (4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 (1OT) Salavat Yulaev leads the series 1-0
Sergei Soin’s overtime winner gave Salavat Yulaev the early initiative against Avangard. Soin, a double Gagarin Cup champion with Dynamo Moscow, struck in the 73^rd minute to snap a 2-2 tie and leave the home team ruing its failure to hold on to its lead in regulation. It was a disappointing goal for the home team to give up: there was little danger as the Avangard defense held the puck deep in its own zone, but an inexplicable mix-up between Michal Kempny and Ilya Zubov gifted the puck to Soin and the forward reacted smartly to beat Dominik Furch and hand his team victory in a game where it never held the leads.
Earlier, Avangard made the perfect start with a goal inside two minutes from Nikolai Lemtyugov. Not for the first time in this post-season, Salavat goalie Niklas Svedberg was left scratching his head after the puck somehow smuggled its way through his defenses from an impossibly tight angle as Lemtyugov looked to find a colleague on the slot. But the visitor tied it up in the 16th minute when Maxim Mayorov found plenty of time in front of the net after Avangard’s defensemen were lured beyond the red line in search of the puck. When the disk emerged, Mayorov had a golden opportunity to fire past Furch and level the scores. The middle stanza was scoreless and chances were limited but in the 41st minute Avangard went ahead once again. Kempny fired in a shot from the point and Denis Parshin stretched out his stick to lift the puck into the roof of Svedberg’s net. Salavat Yulaev wasn’t done, though. Linus Omark, the team’s top scorer in the first round, found the equalizer with eight minutes to play. The Swede wriggled his way in between defenceman and goalie to reach a shot from Dmitry Vishnevsky and sweep it home on the backhand. Avangard had the better of the play in overtime, with Svedberg making nine saves to keep his team in contention, but that decisive blunder saw Salavat Yulaev take the early lead in the series. 

Game 2 - Thursday, March 10
(1) Avangard Omsk 5 (4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4 Series tied at 1-1

Two goals from Alexander Perezhogin led Avangard to victory in a wild game against Salavat Yulaev. Perezhogin, the key man in the Omsk team’s run to the grand final in 2012, found the net twice in a crazy second period that saw the teams share six goals in less than 10 minutes of frenetic action. He claimed the game-winner in the 39th minute, coolly slotting the puck into an empty net after Salavat Yulaev coughed up possession in center ice and Valentin Pyanov took the puck to the net before feeding his partner for a simple finish. It was a moment of composure somewhat out of keeping with the flurry of scoring all around it. Earlier there was little indication of the explosion to come. The first period saw the teams trade markers. Anton Burdasov put Avangard ahead with a shot from the blue line as Pyotr Khokhryakov screened Niklas Svedberg, but Teemu Hartikainen tied the scores on the power play in the 14th minute.

Perezhogin got his first of the game with a typical poacher’s finish in the 26th minute. Jonas Ahnelov fired in a shot from the point and Perezhogin’s anticipation saw him perfectly placed to sweep the rebound into the net. Then the storm began. Ivan Vishnevsky tied the scores at 2-2 but two goals in barely 90 seconds saw Ilya Zubov and Artur Lauta put Avangard in a seemingly commanding position at 4-2. Salavat Yulaev had other ideas, though, and Igor Grigorenko made it 4-3 just 50 seconds later. The pattern repeated: Perezhogin gave Avangard a two-goal cushion before Hartikainen reduced the arrears within a minute. After the frantic scoring of the middle frame, both defenses regrouped in the third. Salavat Yulaev forced 13 saves out of Dominik Furch, Alexander Loginov had six attempts of his own, but could find no way through. Avangard was content to absorb the pressure and hold its advantage until the hooter, taking the series to Ufa with the scores poised at 1-1. 

Game 3 - Saturday, March 12
(4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 3 (1) Avangard Omsk 1 Salavat Yulaev leads the series 2-1

After two close encounters between these teams in Omsk left the series tied, Salavat Yulaev forged ahead on home ice in a game that got back to basics and saw both defenses step up a level from their haphazard efforts in Thursday’s 5-4 win for Avangard. But satisfaction at the victory was tempered by the sight of defenseman Denis Bodrov being stretchered off the ice early in the third period. Bodrov, who has two points in this season’s playoffs, crumpled under a challenge from Avangard forward Maxim Kazakov and was clearly in pain as he was taken out of the game with what looked like a knee problem.

Ivan Vishnevsky opened the scoring thanks to unselfish play from Linus Omark. Salavat’s leading post-season scorer robbed Yury Alexandrov in center ice and was through on Dominik Furch’s net. Alexandrov got back to harry him out of a shooting position but an instinctive drop pass spun the puck back onto Ivan Vishnevsky’s stick and the defenseman’s one-timer left the Czech goalie with no chance. The second goal, midway through the middle stanza, was a tribute to solid checking. Salavat’s players kept delivering the hits, pinning Avangard in its own zone. Eventually the pressure told as the puck came back from the boards and Teemu Hartikainen swivelled to unleash a back hand from the deep slot that gave Furch no chance.

The third period was just 90 seconds old when Bodrov was injured and that blow seemed to unsettle the home team. Avangard sensed hesitancy and hauled itself back into contention with a 46th-minute goal from Nikolai Lemtyugov. He collected Alexandrov’s pass with his back to goal but was able to swing around between the hatching and sweep a shot past Niklas Svedberg. Once again it was a tense, close game between two teams that have been evenly matched throughout this series. But even though Avangard piled on the pressure, firing in 17 shots in the third period, there was no way back. Svedberg, so often criticized for the goals he gave up in recent games, stood firm and when a bench penalty neutralized the visitor’s final storm it was Sami Lepisto’s empty-netter that wrapped up the scoring. Salavat has the chance to extend its lead in this series on home ice when the teams meet again on Monday. 

Game 4 - Monday, March 14
(4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 (1) Avangard Omsk 1 Salavat Yulaev leads the series 3-1

Linus Omark continues to lead from the front for Salavat Yulaev in this year’s playoffs, and his late strike secured a come-from-behind victory and grab a 3-1 lead to take to Omsk on Wednesday. Omark joins SKA’s Vadim Shipachyov on 12 post-season points and shares the overall scoring lead after potting his fifth goal of the campaign to give Salavat Yulaev a commanding cushion against the Eastern Conference champion. This time he needed quick hands to control a puck that squirmed awkwardly towards him at the far post after Andreas Engqvist’s shot was pushed onto the piping by Dominik Furch’s outstretched pad. That gave Salavat the lead with just over three minutes to play and despite a late Avangard surge, the men in green held on for the victory.

Avangard, needing a win to tie the series, made a bright start and took the lead after eight minutes through Pyotr Khokhryakov. Anton Burdasov created the opportunity, advancing down the right and slipping the puck across the face of the net into the path of Khokhryakov for a straightforward finish into an open goal. That sparked the home team into life. Andreas Engqvist had the puck in the net but his effort was ruled out for kicking as Salavat steadily increased the pressure on Dominik Furch in the Avangard goal. Sami Lepisto tied the scores late in the second period after Dmitry Makarov’s swooped behind the net and popped the puck out into the slot for the Finnish defenseman to force it home from close range. The home team’s dominance was so great that Avangard managed just one shot on Niklas Svedberg in the middle session. 

Game 5 - Wednesday, March 16
(1) Avangard Omsk 3 (4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Salavat Yulaev leads the series 3-2

Avangard denied Salavat Yulaev victory in this series thanks to a confident display in Omsk. The home faced elimination after back-to-back losses in Ufa but kept its hopes alive after withstanding a fight back in the last 10 minutes to clinch a 3-2 win on the night. To add insult to injury for Salavat Yulaev, the opening goal came from a player who began the season in Ufa. Ivan Lekomtsev made it 1-0 in the eighth minute, pocketing Avangard’s first power play goal of this series with a one-timer from the left-hand face-off spot off a pass from Ilya Zubov.

Avangard’s second goal, in the 36th minute, brought some controversy. There was no argument about Zubov’s finish, sweeping the puck home from close range after Alexander Chernikov’s scintillating rush ended with a shot into Niklas Svedberg’s pads. But there were questions about whether Chernikov or his team-mate Nikolai Lemtyugov had deliberately encroached into the crease as the shot came in. The replays suggested that Lemtyugov had been inadvertently pushed into the paint and the goal was given. Lemtyugov’s next big contribution was beyond question, however. Salavat ran into penalty trouble and survived two minutes of 3-on-5 play, only to concede seconds after the return of the fourth skater. Lemtyugov got the goal, firing home a one-timer from the slot off Martin Erat’s pass.

Salavat Yulaev generated a flicker of hope in the last 10 minutes after Anton Burdasov was handed a 5+20 for a hit to the head of Anton Lazarev. Ivan Vishnevsky’s shot from the blue line reduced the deficit and when Sergei Gusev took a hooking call the home team faced a long spell with a two-man disadvantage. But the PK held firm and despite Igor Grigorenko making it a one-goal game on 55:57 when he deflected Maxim Goncharov’s slap shot into the net. The action now returns to Ufa on Friday, with Salavat Yulaev looking to wrap up the series at the second attempt, this time with home ice advantage. 

Game 6 - Friday, March 18
(4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 1 (1) Avangard Omsk 3 Series tied at 3-3

For the second series running Salavat Yulaev faces a game seven showdown after seeing a 3-1 advantage evaporate. A disastrous third period for the Ufa team saw Avangard score three goals from just six shots on Niklas Svedberg’s net. That set up a comfortable victory on the road and means it will be winner takes all on Sunday when the teams line up for the last time in Omsk.

The opening stanza was goalless and tense, with few chances at either end, but the middle session tipped the scales decisively in Avangard’s favor. Opportunities were still scarce, but the visitor was clinincal in front of goal. It took just 29 seconds for Alexander Popov to open the scoring. Martin Erat did the hard work behind the net and Popov got the puck out in front to score at the second attempt. Then came two goals from Czech defenseman Michal Kempny. First he fired in a pass from Erat at the top of the circle. His second, on the power play, was a powerful slap shot from the blue line; Svedberg could not see the moment the shot was unleashed and was beaten over his left shoulder in his final act of the game. In between times, Salavat Yulaev was left ruing its luck in front of Dominik Furch’s net. Twice the home team was denied by the piping with Alexander Nesterov and Maxim Goncharov both going agonizingly close to reducing the deficit.

The third period saw Avangard close out the game with few alarms, despite Salavat finally getting one goal back with six minutes left. Andreas Engqvist claimed it, deflecting Linus Omark’s shot from the blue line past Furch, but it was too late to trigger a fightback. The win keeps the Eastern Conference winner alive in this year’s playoffs and tips the momentum firmly in Avangard’s favor. But Salavat has been here before, recovering from an 8-0 drubbing to knock out Ak Bars in the previous round. That series was decided in Ufa, though; this time the final act sends the men in green out on the road to decide their fate.

Game 7 - Sunday, March 20
(1) Avangard Omsk 1 (4) Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2 Salavat Yulaev wins the series 4-3

Salavat Yulaev is getting a taste for game seven showdowns. The Ufa team went the full distance for the second series in a row, and prevailed once again.

Against Avangard, as against Ak Bars in the opening round of the playoffs, Salavat Yulaev twice fluffed its lines after opening up a 3-1 lead in the series. But, once again, Igor Zakharkin’s men came from behind to win the decisive game and advance, this time to an Eastern Conference final match-up against Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Second-period goals from Sergei Soin and Maxim Mayorov turned the game around for Salavat Yulaev. Soin struck first, tying the game in the 23rd minute with a shot from between the hatchings as Dominik Furch’s view was obscured by two defensemen.

Then Mayorov gave Salavat the lead, drifting across the top of the Avangard zone and picking his moment to unleash a wrister that beat Furch on the glove side. This time the goalie had a better view of the moment of impact, but failed to react quickly enough the incoming shot. Earlier Avangard took the lead midway through the first period, just as Salavat Yulaev’s PK thought its work was done. An odd-man rush opened up the visitor’s defense and Alexander Popov’s pass found Alexander Perezhogin in space on left to fire home the opening goal of the game. But once behind in the game there was no way back for the home team. Avangard had the better chances in the final session but Niklas Svedberg was up to the task, most notably in the 51st minute when he produced a smart reaction stop to deny Martin Erat. In the end, though, Salavat Yulaev produced disciplined hockey as the clock ran down, limiting Avangard to just eight shots in the final stanza and securing the all-important victory. But now the question is all about whether the physical and emotional demands of two full-length series will hamper the team’s preparation for its meeting with a Metallurg team that needed just five games to get past Sibir.