The final game of the longest road trip took place in Tolyatti. CSKA entered the game on a four-game winning streak and had no intention of slowing down. There are a few lineup changes for the game. Nikolai Kovalenko and Dmitri Samorukov sat out as Denis Zernov and Alex Cotton entered the lineup. Alexander Samonov, coming off a shutout against Amur, was rested on the bench, while Dmitry Gamzin started in goal.
It was an uneventful first period. The Army Men were shorthanded twice, but their defense was so solid that Lada managed only two shots on goal over 20 minutes. Our team had more zone time and shots, but struggled to generate high-danger scoring chances.
Just like in the game against Amur, CSKA stepped it up in the second period to build a decisive lead. Togliatti-trained forward Denis Guryanov has opened scoresheet. Dmitry Buchelnikov set him up with a gorgeous breakaway pass, and with no defensemen in sight, Denis buried it with his trademark skill. Three minutes later, Maksim Sorkin capped off the success with an unstoppable power-play sniper under the bar. And late in the period, Prokhor Poltapov put the game out of reach for the opponent. Despite being caught on a line change, we managed to get the puck to Prokhor, who was left all alone in front of the net to make it 3-0. In the third period, our number 13 scored again, followed by Denis Zernov, whose goal marked his 300th career KHL point. We should also note a beautiful feed from Ivan Drozdov to Denis into an open net. Late in the game, the key was protecting Gamzin’s shutout and locking it down defensively, and the team got the job done.
We’re taking 10 points out of 10 on the road and heading back to Moscow. Next up – the Army Derby against SKA.
