Ak Bars loses to SKA in the second match of Gagarin Cup final series

Ak Bars Kazan suffered a defeat in the second match of the Gagarin Cup final series against SKA St. Petersburg. The first meeting of the series ended in Ak Bars defeat with a score of 2: 4, and yesterday the team of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov lost 0:1. Total score in the series to four victories is 2: 0 in favor of the Vyacheslav Bykov team. Koskinen held the third match in the play-off with zero score, and one of the protagonists was the goal post.

Compared to the previous match, Kazan team had one change – Sheldon Brukbenk was in protection instead of Vladimir Denisov. St. Petersburg club had also one change - the defender of SKA Maxim Chudinov did not come to the playground. He was replaced by defender Yuri Alexandrov.

The owners of ice, who lost the first match of the series, eagerly started the second match. However, Ak Bars missed the puck at the last minute of start-up period. The next 20 minutes Ak Bars acted more actively while attacking. But defenders of Bykov’s team played in extremely reliable way. Whith a start of the third period, there was an unpleasant incident. Ak Bars was in attack, when falling Lukoyanov touched the defense of SKA Belov with the skate, Belov immediately left the ice. Then,the captain of Kazan in the attack carried the goal out and knock down Koskinen, as a result the captain received two penalty minutes.

Two minutes before the final siren the goal rod saved St. Petersburg club from Lukoyanov’s throwing. A little bit more than a minute before the end of normal time, coaching staff decided to withdraw Kazan goalkeeper. However, Ak Bars failed. The defeat of Kazan in the series became menacing - 2:0 in favor of the SKA St. Petersburg.

The series moves to St. Petersburg, where the teams will play the next day. If HC SKA wins two home games, the series may be completed in St. Petersburg and not return to Kazan.

Ak Bars Kazan - SKA St. Petersburg - 0: 1 (0:1, 0:0, 0:0).

Series in the series: 0:2 (2:4).