EAST CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Game 1 - Tuesday, March 08
(2) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 (3) Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Metallurg leads the series 1-0
A pair of power play goals in the first period set Metallurg on the way to an opening-game victory in this Eastern Conference semi-final clash. Sibir suffered from penalty troubles early on, giving up two goals in the first six minutes. Alexander Semin was the first to strike, squeezing a shot along the goalline and in off the pads of Alexander Salak in the fourth minute. Then Mozyakin doubled that lead with what proved to be the game winner, converting the second power play of the game. Cashing in on numerical superiority, Magnitka moved the puck neatly around the zone until Chris Lee’s pass found Mozyakin at the top of the left-hand circle and his one-timer flashed past Salak. Sibir hit back midway through the second period when Andrej Meszaros skated in from the point, slalomed his way past three challenges and fired in a wrist shot from between the hatchings. That was enough to beat Vasily Koshechkin, back between the piping for Metallurg after missing the opening round through injury. With just one goal in it, Sibir pushed hard for an equalizer in the final stanza. Passions threatened to boil over: visiting captain Alexei Kopeikin was ejected after contesting a refereeing call rather too vigorously for the officials’ liking. As the pressure mounted, Semin took a penalty to save his team as Viktor Bobrov prepared to deliver a killer pass. Then Koshechkin was called upon to deny the on-rushing Stepan Sannikov following Sergei Shumakov’s defense-splitting pass. But in the dying seconds Magnitka secured the win thanks to an empty net goal from Semin, securing a lead to open up the series.
(2) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 (3) Sibir Novosibirsk 3 Series tied at 1-1
Sibir produced a powerful display to wipe out Magnitka’s opening-day win and square this series before the action shifts to Novosibirsk on Saturday. A well-taken goal by Sergei Shumakov, his fourth of post-season, gave the visitor a first period lead before two power play goals in the second put the game beyond Metallurg’s reach. The opening session produced few chances, with the teams sharing just nine shots on goal. But a moment of magic from Stepan Sannikov and a laser-like finish from Shumakov was enough to open the scoring in the 17th minute. Sannikov led the attack and seemed to be heading behind the net until a deft backhand pass dropped the puck onto Shumakov’s stick. There was still work to be done, with Vasily Koshechkin and Chris Lee crowding the goal line, but the forward’s one-timer was devastatingly accurate as it flew between them and under the bar.
The second period saw the game open up rather more, but it was Sibir’s Slovakian defenseman Andrej Meszaros who proved to be the difference maker on the power play. Prowling the blue line with menace, he created the second goal of the evening for David Ullstrom when the Swedish forward touched home a slapshot in the 22nd minute. Then another slap shot was deflected in by Tomas Vincour as he threw up a screen in front of Koshehckin. The goalie was duly hooked for Ilya Samsonov. Magnitka got one goal back early in the third period when Danis Zaripov fired home from a tight angle off a sick feed from Jan Kovar in front of the net. But there was no big recovery in sight as Sibir closed out the game and tied the series.
Game 3 - Saturday, March 12
(3) Sibir Novosibirsk 1 (2) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5 Metallurg leads the series 2-1
Two goals in a minute deep into the second period proved to be decisive as Metallurg picked up a big win at Sibir to regain the lead in this series. Jan Kovar and Sergei Mozyakin were the key men for Magnitka, reminding once again of their potency against any opponent. In the 34th minute Mozyakin’s patience and anticipation enabled him to pick out the killer pass for Kovar to fire home his second of the game at the back post. Then, 64 seconds later, a defensive error presented Bogdan Potekhin with the chance to race down the left-hand channel before scoring on Alexander Salak to make the score 4-1 and leave Sibir with little prospect of salvaging the game. In fairness, Magnitka held the advantage from the very start. The opening stanza saw the visitor top the shot count 15-5, but only Viktor Antipin’s 14th-minute effort, deflected off the skate of Maxim Ignatovich, registered on the scoreboard.
That lead was doubled in the first minute of the second period. Once again Kovar and Mozyakin combined, with the former battling his way out from behind the net, exchanging passes with his captain and rushing Salak’s net to make it 2-0. Sibir got one back almost immediately through Ignatovich on the power play, but that was as good as it good. The quick double late in the middle session ended any doubts about the outcome and Mozyakin was on hand to net just his second goal of these playoffs early in the third. After two fairly close games, the margin of Magnitka’s win here throws down a challenge to Sibir: can Andrei Skabelka’s team find a response on Monday when the teams go again in Novosibirsk?
Game 4 - Monday, March 14
(3) Sibir Novosibirsk 3 (2) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4 Metallurg leads the series 3-1
There was drama on either side of the 60-minute mark as Sibir forced game four of this series into overtime with a last-minute goal, only for Sergei Mozyakin to give Metallurg the victory 52 seconds into the extras. Mozyakin claimed his 900th point in senior hockey with the game-winner here, holding the puck as Danis Zaripov’s decoy deceived the home defense, then drifting into a central position to fire the vital goal past an outraged Alexander Salak. The Czech goalie rushed straight to the officials, claiming there should be a penalty called on Magnitka in the build-up to the goal, but Mozyakin’s marker stood and Metallurg takes a 3-1 lead back to home ice for Wednesday’s game five.
Magnitka already thought it had the victory sewn up in the closing stages of regulation time but with just 26 seconds left on the clock when Calle Ridderwall decided to seize the initiative for Sibir, running over Evgeny Timkin and flashing a shot across Vasily Koshechkin and into the top corner to tie the game at 3-3. It was the second time Sibir had rallied to deny Metallurg. First the home team clawed back a 2-0 deficit after Zaripov, off a Mozyakin assist, and Tomas Filippi seemed to have set the visitor on the way to a 3-1 series lead.
Oleg Gubin got one back deep in the second period before Sergei Gimayev tied the scores in the 45th minute – and celebrated extravagantly after scoring his first KHL goal of 2015-16. Gubin won a face-off in Magnitka’s zone and swept the puck back to the blue line where Gimayev unleashed a slapper that caught Vasily Koshechkin off balance and tied the game at 2-2. Even then it seemed that Metallurg had quelled Sibir’s recovery when Wojtek Wolski made it 3-2 with eight minute left to play. His strike was a goal worthy of winning the game. Filippi added to his earlier goal when he surged into Sibir’s zone and slung out a pass from behind his back to find Wolski at the top of the circle. A well-placed wrister across the face of Salak and in at the far post did the rest. In the event, though, Ridderwall denied Wolski the game winner, but Mozyakin still gave Metallurg the win.
Game 5 - Wednesday, March 16
(2) Metallurg Magnitogorsk 2 (3) Sibir Novosibirsk 1 Metallurg wins the series 4-1
After the stormy conclusion to game four of this series, Metallurg delivered a knock-out blow in game five on the back of a strong first-period showing. Sibir played Nikita Bespalov in goal for the first time in post-season, replacing Alexander Salak as the Czech started a five-game ban for his angry reaction to Sergei Mozyakin’s overtime winner in Novosibirsk on Monday. But Magnitka needed less than five minutes find a way around this new obstacle as Chris Lee opened the scoring with a power play goal. He stepped off the blue line to pick up Viktor Antipin’s backhand pass and fire a shot through the traffic that screened Bespalov.
Mozyakin soon made it two with a classic counter-attacking goal. Jan Kovar collected the puck behind his own goal line and delivered a superb, defense-splitting pass to set Metallurg’s captain galloping towards Bespalov’s net. Mozyakin made no mistake with the finish and the home team already had one foot firmly planted in the Eastern Conference final. However, it wasn’t entirely plain sailing for the 2014 champion. Sibir found a way to blunt the home offense, limiting Magnitka to just four shots on goal in the middle session. That persistence got its reward in the third when Maxim Shalunov was first to the rebound from a Vitaly Menshikov shot to halve the deficit with 11 minutes to play. The closing stages saw chances at both ends. Vasily Koshechkin was kept busy as Sibir desperately fought to stay in the competition, while Magnitogorsk’s Alexander Semin failed to find the empty net from a tight angle in the last minute. But there was no further scoring and Magnitka advances.
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