The last away series of the regular season started for CSKA with Astana. Local Barys doesn't have any chances for a playoff spot in a long time, but the young team is progressing and trying to fight for a win in every game. The big news before the game was the return to the lineup after a long absence of Dmitry Samorukov, who healed an injury. He went on the ice in the second pairing with Christian Yarosh. Forwards Vladislav Kamenev and Ivan Drozdov did not play, their places in the lineup were taken by Rourke Chartier and Stanislav Galiev. Pavel Khomchenko became the starting goalkeeper, while 18-year-old Pyotr Andreyanov was added to the roster as his replacement.
The Army team opened the scoring in the second minute. Vladislav Provolnev had a powerful and accurate shot. That goal immediately set the game in motion, CSKA acted confidently and soon scored again. On the power play, Stanislav Galiev attacked with a touch off a pass from Maxim Sorkin - 2-0. The pass was Sorkin's 50th goal of the season. Barys put up a decent resistance and had several promising attacks, but the players lacked skill in the final stages, and Pavel Khomchenko also deflected a couple of dangerous shots. The second period also started with a quick goal. Galiev scored a double, although he didn't shoot on goal. Egor Afanasiev sent the puck to the slot, it hit Galiev and ricocheted into the goal, the goalie had no chance to react. Even with the score 3-0, the game was not so easy for our team. The opponents actively went on the counterattack and could count on the success of the game. In the third period, the Army team had to defend more than in the previous game segments. Nevertheless, CSKA played with class and didn't let their victory be in doubt. We take the two points and head to Ekaterinburg.
