CSKA Win Gagarin Cup For Second Consecutive Season
The Moscow team beat Ak Bars Kazan to reach their third Gagarin Cup win since joining the KHL in 2008
After a seven-game series, CSKA Moscow beat Ak Bars Kazan to lift the Gagarin Cup. It was a hard-fought series, with plenty of opportunity for either team to come away with the Cup. But by the end of the final game, there was only one clear winner. CSKA, whilst not capitalising on every goal opportunity throughout the game, played a near-perfect defensive game, shutting down Ak Bars at times when they would’ve scored against other teams. After 60 minutes of play, the score was 3-2 to CSKA- they had won it.
It definitely was not a clean game though. Multiple stoppages in play ended in some quite heated shoving matches, which, if the referees had not intervened, would have just escalated into full-blown fights. There was also a fair few dirty hits from Ak Bars players, most notably the elbow on CSKA defender Darren Dietz, who would go on to score the game-winning goal. A shot from the blue line, it almost looked as if the play was happening in slow-motion. Whilst Ak Bars would try to equalise for the rest of the final period, they would not get the goal needed to push the game into overtime. The team played hard for the first and third periods of the game, but it looked like they had almost run out of steam for a decent chunk of the second. There were multiple times where, after entering their offensive zone, Ak Bars could not get a decent shot on goal. CSKA’s defence was just too good at times. That is not to say, though, that Ak Bars played bad. Goalie Timur Bilyalov played an excellent game, denying CSKA of some great goals. Without him it would’ve been a much easier win for the Moscow team. Captain Alexander Radulov also gave them a hard time, earning himself an assist on a great goal from Dmitry Voronkov, which at the time put Ak Bars in the lead.
There were several times, more often than not in the minutes after and Ak Bars goal, where it looked like CSKA were not going to be able to equalise and, eventually, take the lead. But the team always found some way to pull through and score, even when it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. Whilst Dietz’s goal in the third period would win CSKA the game, it would be unfair to not talk about Kamenev’s equaliser in the second. After some stumbling behind the net and a shot from Plotnikov, Kamenev scored on the rebound, with the puck finding its way to the back of the net after Bilyalov was screened by his own teammate, leaving the goalie’s vision blocked and half of the net wide open. There was no way of stopping that goal from happening. It came mere minutes after Voronkov’s goal, getting rid of Ak Bars’ short-lived lead. With thirty minutes of play left after equalising, there was more than enough time for CSKA to win the game. Whilst we know now how that turned out, at the time it was exciting to see them getting even with the opposition and back into a chance at winning. Too many time do we see teams fall behind earlier in the game and not manage to come back, and for a second there was a chance that CSKA would have the same fate. But, as they have done before, they managed to gain the lead and hold on to it- even in the final seconds of the game when it looked like Ak Bars could equalise and force OT.
Credit must also be given to head coach Sergei Fedorov. A three-time Stanley Cup champion as a player with the Detroit Red Wings, he knows what it takes to win. Having won the Gagarin Cup last year with CSKA, he also knew exactly what is needed to win in the KHL. Whilst Fedorov does sometimes use some more questionable tactics (like pulling the goalie in OT), he has established himself as a more-than-capable coach who can help his team to win it all. It starts to beg the question: with an opening on the Grand Rapids Griffins, will Sergei be asked to fill that position? He’s already proven himself capable in Russia- could he move to North America? Whether he stays with CSKA or not, any team is lucky to have him behind the bench. Not everyone wins the Gagarin Cup in each of their first two seasons coaching after all.
Congratulations to everyone at CSKA Moscow, and let’s all hope for more cup wins in the future.