Former forward and current hockey executive Sergei Gomolyako shared his thoughts on the first game of the Gagarin Cup final series between Lokomotiv and Ak Bars (3:1, 1-0).
Lokomotiv (Yaroslavl) — 3 : 1 — Ak Bars (Kazan)
1:0 — Radulov (Surin, Shalunov) — 21:02 (5×5)
2:0 — Beryozkin — 21:48 (5×5)
3:0 — Freese (A. Radulov, Gernat) — 35:36 (5×4)
3:1 — Miller (Galimov, Khmelevski) — 47:06 (5×4)
— Was the result expected, or was there some surprise?
— What surprise? Lokomotiv won at home.
— Can we say the game was decided in 46 seconds of the second period?
— Yes, basically the game was decided in those 46 seconds. Two quick goals in the second period influenced the outcome, although the game was largely even. Ak Bars even looked better at times, but they need to capitalize on power plays. They had plenty of power-play opportunities but no conversion until Miller scored in the third period. In the final, you have to handle such moments more carefully and convert them.
— How should Ak Bars recover from such a knockout? What plan would you suggest for the next game?
— I wouldn’t call it a knockout. It’s just one game. I won’t give advice — they have a very good coaching staff. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov is there alongside. I’m sure Ak Bars will draw conclusions, and the next game will be different. I can’t say the team played poorly. They played well, even outplaying Lokomotiv at times. But it’s very difficult to come from behind when they’re winning. It would be great if the series goes to seven games. Nothing terrible has happened — just one game lost. It’s nothing, — Gomolyako said, as quoted by Metaratings.