Rotenberg: We played for each other, for the captain and we snatched victory. Larionov: We weren’t lucky

It is not clear what happened to the St. Petersburg leader Yashkin – for the third period the Russian-Czech did not go on the ice. Dmitry was not on the bench either.

But nothing – the army team managed without a captain. They have proven that they can not only attach luxuriously, harmoniously, in a variety of ways, but also reliably dry the result. After a storm of goals in the second third – 3:3, the hosts with a minimal lead – 5:4 decided to focus on defense in the last twenty minutes and succeeded. Moreover, four seconds before the final siren, goalkeeper Nikolaev almost hit Torpedo’s empty gate with a throw across the field. – Kulbakov was replaced by the sixth field. The puck slipped an inch off the bar.

I would call Nikolaev the main hero of the meeting at SKA. Some questions arose for Dmitry after the previous series with Dynamo Minsk. However, now in St. Petersburg, Nikolaev brilliantly played both fights against the workers of the car plant!

In pursuit, Igor Larionov complained of bad luck: they say that the Volga residents were not lucky enough in this big shooting. Totally disagree with the Professor! The smile of fortune must be earned! The Torpedo coach doesn’t see that Goncharuk and Yan’s aiming has clearly gone astray. This time Firstov got lost, in general Letunov is not visible at the junction with SKA. Kruchinin, the team’s top scorer in the regular season, can’t regain the sensation of goal after an injury?!

Fortunately, the basic principle of the two-time Olympic champion and three-time Stanley Cup winner works: Equality of performance should come from all four links. Belarusian Belevich fired a double kick today, Mikheev scored the second goal in the playoffs, and Kovalenko scored the third. That’s who keeps the level from game to game! However, I repeat, his teammates for some reason suddenly forgot how to score. As well as the second trio of Firstov – Letunov – Yan skated dry. Whatever one may say, if the leaders are silent, it is not worth counting on success for a long time.

I will say more, it was luck that allowed Torpedo to hold on to the result for the entire 60 minutes. All of their goals have in one way or another been the result of favorable rebounds. Even when Kovalenko scored 4:5 in a solitary pass, during which the puck successfully bounced back to him, the post also played in favor of the attacker, not the goalkeeper.

Igor Nikolaevich, not to relax his wards, not to soar in the clouds, but to draw the right conclusions, it is worth recognizing that SKA deservedly won. And what is probably the most offensive for fans of Volzhan: they beat Torpedo in his style. Roman Rotenberg showed the guests a mirror, but of much higher quality.

Certainly – all five goals of the Petersburgers cannot be called accidental! You are amazed how thoroughly each soldier knows what to do in each episode, with any development of the attack. Their first and second goals are just Soviet classics. Well-coordinated maneuvers of all five players from their zone to Kulbakov’s gate, perfect deployment, masterful completion! As assistants to the authors of the records Glotov and Vorobyov, it was possible to record all the other four army men who were on the site.

Three more goals came from pressure in the Kulbakov area. And again, every Petersburger knew where to roll, where to open, where to give. Therefore, no one was surprised that the defender Kamalov was suddenly only in the hundredth (4: 2), and the hero of Pyeongchkhan Gusev, before shooting the torpedo from his favorite position from the face circle to the left, had the time darkness to catch the puck, aim and score – 5:3.

The series moves to Nizhny Novgorod. So far, SKA looks much more convincing than the young professor. Even if Yashkin cannot return to the ice, it is still unclear how and how Torpedo will respond. And luck has nothing to do with it!