CSKA wrapped up the Mayor's Cup with a third-place game against Avtomobilist. Pavel Karnaukhov and Denis Guryanov returned to the lineup, while Dmitry Gamzin got the start in goal. Defenseman Alex Cotton made his CSKA debut after returning from an injury.
In the first period, the Army Men spent a lot of time in the offensive zone, although there weren't many clear-cut scoring chances. Most of the scoring chances against the Avtomobilist occurred on the power play. Our team had a 5-on-3 power play for a minute, followed by another minute of 5-on-4. But the Urals held the line. And late in the period, the opponent capitalized on our defensive zone mistake to open the scoring.
We regrouped during the break and dictated the pace, though it took a moment. Maxim Sorkin opened the scoring on the power play, but the opposing power-play unit answered. The finished was a bang. Egor Zamula joined the rush, and later Nikolai Kovalenko finished off a sustained offensive zone possession. Early in the third period, Dmitry Buchelnikov scored after stealing the puck from Avtomobilist players himself. The visitors got one back, but Kovalenko's late empty-netter put this one to bed, making it 5-3.
Following the tournament, CSKA finished in third place, while Dmitry Gamzin was named Best Goaltender.
