On October 21, Admiral played the final game of their second home series. Their opponent wasSeverstal, who hadn’t lost in the last four matches. There were still few changes in the Sailor’s lineup after the game against Spartak - Osnovin returned to the ice. With Osnivin’s comeback, Olson moved up to play alongside Zavgorodniy and Geraskin, while number 74 himself took the center spot on the fourth line. Leontiev also appeared on the ice, while Daryin and Deryabin were left out of the lineup.
The game opened with an attack from the Sailors, which could have easily turned into a goal, but Tertyshny was just one stride short of catching the rebound and passing the puck past Skotnikov, who was guarding the “black-and-yellows”’ net tonight. The next shift also gave the visitors a headache - Ruchkin joined the rush and fired a shot from just two meters out. But the Lynxes quickly recovered from that cold shower and began playing their trademark hockey — fast, creative, and risky, but effective. By the first intermission, Severstal had caught up with the hosts in shots on goal - 5:5.
During this stretch, the fans saw two solid positional attacks from Admiral, with the home team working the puck right up to the crease, but lacking a finishing touch. Several times Severstalcaught the Sailors on counterattacks. One of them ended with Gregoire’s close-range shot, but Huska was in perfect position to stop it. No goals were scored, and the teams went into theintermission tied 0:0.
In the second period, Admiral had the upper hand. The away team’s careless play worked in the home team’s favor, as Severstal were sent to the penalty box twice. The first penalty went by without much excitement from the crowd. During the second, the fans saw a “two-on-one” breakaway from Severstal, and Gutik’s shot slipped under Skotnikov’s pads, but it never crossed the goal line. By the midpoint of the period, Admiral had more than twice as many shots on goal as their opponents. Still, the visiting goalie stood tall, but when he didn’t, the goalposts came to the rescue, like after Osnovin’s sharp-angle shot. The Sailors couldn’t break their unlucky streak before the end of the period. Quite the opposite, they conceded twice within a minute. Dumbadze opened the scoring, netting the puck on his second attempt after a faceoff won in front of Huska’s net. Right after that, Chebykin doubled the lead with a precise one-timer.
In the third period, the Sailors took three penalties, which made it hard for them to seize control of the game, close the gap, and turn things (game) around. Kamalov made their task even tougher with a blue-line rocket right under the crossbar.
After the third goal, the coaching staff decided to switch goalies. Tsyba came out and played flawlessly for the remainder of the game. The hosts went all in with three minutes left in regulation, pulling their goalie for an extra skater. But even then, they couldn’t score. A turnover led to a fourth goal for the “black-and-yellows,” this time into an empty net. Still, the Sailorscouldn’t let Skotnikov walk away with a shutout. One second before the final buzzer, Zavgorodniy found the back of the net, setting the final score at 4:1, Severstal’s victory.
