(3) Dynamo Moscow 2
(3) Traktor Chelyabinsk1
Dynamo leads the series 1-0
Defending champion Dynamo Moscow took the early initiative in the year’s Gagarin Cup Final – but despite cruising to a 2-0 lead after dominating the first 40 minutes, the Blue-and-Whites were left hanging on to the lead as Traktor battled back in the final stanza.
In front of a packed and raucous Luzhniki Arena, Dynamo made the ideal start to its title defense, opening the scoring in the 6th minute with a shorthanded goal. Traktor, so impressive on the powerplay thus far in post-season, gave up possession behind Dynamo’s and Denis Kokarev led the counter-attack. He effortlessly got away from Andrei Kostitsyn, and after his shot was blocked by Michael Garnett, the puck fell loose for Alexei Tsvetkov to tap in next to the post.
The home side continued to carve out the better chances, with a darting assault from Dmitry Vishnevsky presenting Denis Mosalyov with a chance which slid narrowly wide. Traktor was limited to just three shots on goal in the first period, while Garnett’s final contribution before the interval was a fine double save to deny Dominik Granak and Konstantin Gorovikov in quick succession.
At the start of the second session Traktor stepped up its game and began to pose more of a threat in Dynamo’s zone. Andrei Popov fired narrowly wide after finding space in front of Alexander Yeryomenko’s goal, then a second powerplay saw the visitors push the Blue-and-Whites back to their own goal. But solid defense meant there were few clear opportunities, with a blue-liner from Deron Quint proving the only alarming moment for the goalie. Dynamo doubled its lead shortly afterwards, with Sergei Konkov wrestling back possession on Traktor’s boards before Yury Babenko’s shot rebounded kindly for Sergei Soin to lift his shot over Garnett’s pads.
Traktor knew it needed an early goal in the third period if it was to avoid defeat – and with Soin sitting out a penalty, Evgeny Kuznetsov delivered exactly what was required. He raced onto a Stanislav Chistov pass and ripped the puck past Yeryomenko from the right-hand face-off spot to set up a tense final session. For the first time in the game the Chelyabinsk side put Dynamo’s goal under extended pressure; Nichushkin found himself one-on-one, only for Yeryomenko to block, then Dominik Granak was caught out by Kostitsyn before the goalie slammed the door shut once again. At the other end, Kokarev was the width of the post away from calming home nerves as his solo run saw him beat Garnett but find the frame of the goal, but it was a rare foray forward for the home side, which had to rely on all its defensive resolve to see out the vital opening victory.