Will CSKA join Ak Bars in the finals tonight?
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Will CSKA join Ak Bars in the finals tonight?

Источник: Официальный сайт КХЛ
SKA had a fast start in game five, going up by two after a mere seven minutes. However, CSKA didn’t lost its hopes and quickly rebounded back scoring five unanswered goals and sealing the deal. Mikhail Grigorenko scored a hat-trick, adding an empty-net tally later in the game as the Moscow side’s star is quickly climbing up the ranks in the goal-scoring, all-time playoff race, with only three players netting more goals than him (Sergei Mozyakin, Danis Zaripov, and Nikita Gusev), with finalist Vadim Shipachyov tied with 37 goals.

19:00: CSKA vs SKA 

Series stand
CSKA is leading the series 3-2 (3:2 3ОТ, 1:2, 4:0, 1:3, 7:3).

About the game 

SKA took the early lead in a remarkable first period of game five, when CSKA quickly tied things up as the fans enjoyed four tallies in the opening frame. Other than a hat-trick from Grigorenko, CSKA also had Konstantin Okulov netting a double, Maxim Mamin posting three points, and Anton Slepyshev contributing with a pair of helpers. Marat Khairullin had a minus-6 differential for SKA – he will need to improve his defensive game for the sixth game. On goal, SKA’s head coach Roman Rotenberg swapped Dmitry Nikolayev with Vladislav Podyapolsky, but he didn’t play much as the bench boss quickly recalled him back to ice a sixth skater – the move didn’t pan out as the team failed to recover, allowing seven goals to the opposition.

Milestone alert 

SKA’s forward Mikhail Vorobyov may reach 100 points in the KHL (currently at 99).

SKA’s forward Nikolai Prokhorkin, CSKA’s defenseman Nikita Nesterov, and CSKA’s forward Anton Slepyshev may reach 50 points in the KHL postseason. Slepyshev and Prokhorkin are sitting at 49 points, while Nesterov is at 48.