Minsk's house of cards crumbles in Kazan: Ak Bars pushes Kvartalnov to the brink of Gagarin Cup elimination

Winning lineup changed

Two consecutive wins in Minsk made Ak Bars the favorite of the quarterfinal series against Dinamo Minsk. The “Bars” second away game was particularly impressive. Anvar Gatiyatulin's team tied the score in the final seconds of regulation time and then won in overtime, displaying championship character.

Based on this, it seemed the Kazan coaching staff would leave the winning lineup unchanged. However, Ak Bars made a significant move, giving their starting goaltender Timur Bilyalov a rest. Maxim Arefyev appeared in goal for Kazan from the opening minutes. The young “Bars” backup had already played in the current playoffs, starting in the fourth game of the first-round series against Chelyabinsk Traktor.

Minsk continued to trust their goaltender, again starting Zach Fucale. Last season, he carried Traktor to the Gagarin Cup final, but currently, he is not playing reliably. Meanwhile, Dinamo's roster includes the equally experienced Vasily Demchenko. However, Dmitry Kvartalnov does not seem to value the Russian goaltender highly.

Explosive second period and Kvartalnov's agony

In the first minutes of the game, both teams were cautious. Only one or two notable moments stood out in this period — one on each side. The home team proved luckier, allowing the “Bars” to take the lead. Ak Bars' top line created chaos in Minsk's offensive zone, and Alexander Barabanov was first to the rebound — 1:0.

Gatiyatulin's team played even more explosively in the second period. Halfway through the game, Kazan capitalized on a power play. Mitchell Miller skated behind the net, passed to the slot, where Dmitry Yashkin redirected the puck off an opponent's skate into the net — 2:0. Nikita Lyamkin scored next, with Arefyev starting the attacking play (the goalie later called his pass a “poke check” in a post-game comment). The defenseman shot, then managed to crash the crease and beat Fucale — 3:0.

By the end of the period, Dinamo had completely unraveled, but Kvartalnov finished his own team off. The coach pulled the goalie for an extra attacker on a power play, but the move backfired as the visitors conceded. Kirill Semyonov capitalized on the situation, deftly scoring from distance into the empty net — 4:0. From the outside, this move by Minsk looked like pure agony.

Fucale did not return for the third period. Kvartalnov finally listened to the public and sent out Demchenko. It feels like Minsk was too late with the goaltending change. The third period turned into an empty formality. Dinamo players leisurely tried to score a consolation goal, while Ak Bars helped Arefyev keep a shutout. In the end, the hosts won both the local battle for the goalie's “clean sheet” and the final result on the scoreboard.

At the post-game press conference, Kvartalnov criticized his own players, calling them spineless and their play shameful. It seems Dinamo's white flag has been raised; all that remains is to concede a fourth defeat and go on vacation.

Dinamo's house of cards

Dinamo Minsk increasingly resembles a house of cards in the series against Ak Bars. It was built throughout the regular season, and everyone admired the beauty of this tall structure before the playoffs. But at the first sign of trouble, it turned out that Minsk's house of cards was fragile and crumbled in the wind — or, more precisely, when faced with this version of Ak Bars.

In his second season, Gatiyatulin has managed to create what he has strived for since the beginning of his tenure in Kazan. His current Ak Bars is a cold-blooded killer that lulls its opponent to sleep and strikes at the opportune moment. Defensive strictness borders on offensive blandness, while bright goal-scoring flashes make the team seem invincible. But that is clearly not the case. Discipline remains an issue, as does consistency, which often let Ak Bars down during the regular season.

So far, the “Bars” have easily neutralized Minsk's top line (the most productive trio of the regular season, by the way). Sam Anas, Alex Limoges, and Vitaly Pinchuk simply disappeared on the ice. The same goes for Stanislav Galiev and Vadim Shipachyov, who only stood out in the first game of the series and then faded. The same applies to the vaunted foreign defensemen. And as you go through Dinamo's roster, you realize that Kvartalnov is probably right. A leader capable of carrying the team is not yet evident for Minsk.

But most importantly, it is worth noting how diligently Gatiyatulin works to correct his own mistakes. Everyone remembers only the series against Dynamo Moscow, which knocked Kazan out last season after they had taken a 2-0 lead. But there are many such “corrections.” For example, in the previous playoffs, a mistake was made with rotating Bilyalov, who played every game without rest, and at the crucial moment, his backup Amir Miftakhov was “cold” (out of practice). That is not the case now.

— There is no ghost of last season; we've already discussed last year's series. What's important is that every new game is a new challenge. It's important to prepare properly and go out to play. And what matters is not just what happened the day before yesterday, but also what happened before. We analyzed our opponent and understood that this is one of the strongest attacks in the league. We need to play properly and switch at the right time. And today, we succeeded, — said Gatiyatulin.

Ak Bars — Dinamo Mn — 4:0 (1:0, 3:0, 0:0)
Goals:
1:0 — Barabanov (Safonov, Miller, 14:32);
2:0 — Yashkin (Miller, Galimov, 26:47, 5x4);
3:0 — Lyamkin (Todd, Semyonov, 36:54);
4:0 — Semyonov (Barabanov, Karpukhin, 39:25, 4x6, EN).

The next game of the series between Ak Bars and Dinamo Minsk will take place on April 15 in Kazan at 7:30 PM Moscow time. A win would allow Gatiyatulin's team to advance to the Gagarin Cup semifinals early. Coming back from a 0-3 deficit in the playoffs is considered impossible. In the entire history of the tournament, it has only happened once.