'They Were Simply Better': Why Salavat Yulaev Lost to Avangard
Salavat Yulaev lost to Avangard 2:5 on their home ice. Just like against Avtomobilist, the green team conceded three times in the first twenty-minute period and failed to recover. UFA1.RU discusses the gross errors and talks about the match with forward Yegor Suchkov.
The game started cautiously and even meticulously. Avangard opened the scoring after an interception – a mistake by Danil Alalykin
Yevgeny Kulik came under pressure behind the net but managed to pass the puck to number 61. Alalykin essentially assisted the opponent in trying to develop an exit from the defense. The guests instantly passed for a shot, Michael McLeod screened the view, and Vyacheslav Voynov scored.
Forty-seven seconds later – almost the same goal. This time, Artem Gorshkov helped the opponent
Often, Gorshkov and Alalykin are the ones who draw penalties, meaning they create conditions for opponent errors. It turned out the opposite, and in a short time. Usually, the next shift after a goal is played especially tightly.
0:3 in the 15th minute from Igumnov, who hadn«t scored since September 23: a lost faceoff, a quick pass to the slot, and a rebound
Let«s say Dean Stewart and Sergei Varlov lost their positioning in the moment, but what did Devin Brosso do on that shift, the only one who could have covered Ivan Igumnov? Initially, number 57 went for a zone exit hoping that his teammates would retrieve the puck and pass to him to develop a counterattack. Instead of finishing the play.
As a result, Guy Boucher«s team spent six minutes, two seconds, and eight shots on goal for three goals. And this isn»t at all a question of the Omsk team«s skill: all the concessions were completely basic. So, I can»t agree with head coach Viktor Kozlov«s statement that Avangard punished Salavat for errors with their skill.
What really stands out about Avangard is their tenacity and pressure. Without the puck in the neutral zone, they operated in a 1-3-1 scheme, from which it«s easy to crowd the blue line against the puck carrier, meaning if you don»t get through the neutral zone with a quick short pass, it«s hard to break through. Omsk won a lot of battles and developed many attacks from successful takeaways and interceptions.
The period can«t be called anything at all a hundred percent. Yegor Suchkov made a couple of useful takeaways, after one of which he passed from behind the net to the slot. Alalykin squeezed through for a duel with the goalie. Jack Rodewald managed to set up Sheldon Rempal in a good position with a short pass.
There were two power plays (if you can call them that), the first of which was after a long-lasting but sluggishly developing five-on-five conflict. Although it didn«t even come to a scuffle, the teams didn»t go to the commercial break for a long time. A rare sight: simultaneously on the center ice were hockey players, ice cleaners, and ice girls.
Yulaev started a match as wrongly as possible for the second time in a row. In Tolyatti, the Ufa team won the first period against Lada 3:0, but then with the same score, they botched the starting twenty minutes against Avtomobilist and Avangard. And this despite how carefully they checked the rollout at the start, how cautiously they played.
Almost conceded while playing 5 on 4, but still converted their fourth consecutive power play
Rempal intended a pass to the far post. Maxim Lajoie read it but didn«t disrupt his compatriot»s plans – the puck bounced off him to Alexander Zharovsky. He coolly passed to Rempal, and the Canadian shot into practically an empty net. Nikita Serebryakov thought Zharovsky would shoot, so he left the back open.
Sheldon extended his scoring streak to an impressive 13 games (7 + 17 over the stretch). If he gets on the scoresheet against Sochi, he«ll enter the top-13 in KHL history including playoffs.
Towards the end of the period, the game opened up, starting what Viktor Kozlov calls «exchanging attack for attack.» In my opinion, if you«re going down, go down swinging. If the score is rubbish, you don»t need to protect it, you can risk and throw everything into somehow getting back into the game.
At the start of the third period, Avangard scored again. Again after an interception in the attack, again a shot and rebound, again Igumnov
For full context: this wasn«t a power-play goal, but a goal right after a power play: Alexander Khokhlachev, returning to the lineup, tripped an opponent in the offensive zone (Grigory Panin looked reproachfully at the fallen opponent).
Just under a minute and a half after 1:4, Salavat took a penalty: Yevgeny Kulik broke the rules in the second consecutive game, 6 penalty minutes over two games. During his penalty, there was a good counterattack from Suchkov and Alalykin.
In the 50th minute, SY literally conducted their first prolonged positional attack of the match. But at its end, Rempal decided to carry the puck from behind the net on his backhand (as he recently scored), this decision was read by the defense, and, albeit at the cost of an icing, the guests stopped the attacking surge.
Overall, Sheldon«s game left a mixed impression. He»s still the team«s best forward, but in the first period, he allowed two turnovers on the power play: in one attempt, he inappropriately tried to deke in his own zone, and the opponent stole it, Zharovsky had to clean up; in another attempt, the Canadian made an inaccurate pass up ice.
Conceded the fifth goal after replacing the goalie with a sixth skater. Sharipzyanov scored a double, and in the last match the defenseman had a hat trick
Suchkov earned a power play, played 6 on 5, and scored from an empty net after losing a battle in the corner.
Damir Sharipzyanov earned more points in two games than Artem Pimenov all season: 5 + 2 versus 1 + 5. Why, for example, does Denis Yan get into the rotation, but Pimenov doesn«t? I still don»t understand. At the press conference, Kozlov reminded that he«s a center, but you could list Zharovsky as center, and in the third line there are two centers (Khokhryakov and Alalykin).
In the 59th minute, Zharovsky developed an attack after Panin«s pick in the neutral zone, Tsulygin hit the post, Khokhlachev successfully finished
«It was a messy match. With this approach, on January 20 Avangard will also get revenge. Yulaev needs to perceive the fiasco in the Urals as an ice-cold shower and pull themselves together,» – that«s how the review of the game with Avtomobilist on January 17 ended.
It«s unknown what reflection there was on the chaotic play in the Urals, but obviously, with the »hawks,« they also botched the start and never got out of that quagmire. Of course, overall these are very different games.
On Tuesday, there were more dangerous moments, and it can«t be said that the Ufa team didn»t perk up, but Omsk knows how to defend, block, and hinder zone entries. The skill showed more here than during the goals, although that«s more a question of tactics.
Two big losses in a row – that«s enough to get a grip and start playing quality hockey from the first minutes again. And now they»re lucky with the schedule: three full days without games, then a match with an underdog, Sochi, and at the usual 19:00. Perhaps the lineup needs a shake-up.
Yegor Suchkov: «When we all want it and work together, it»s a completely different game«
The winger summed up the meeting with Avangard.
– We started poorly overall. You could tell by the score. I won«t say we outright slept through it, but it was like we were watching the opponent more, what he was doing. There was no control, it was hard to get through the neutral zone. Turnovers. Overall, the second, third [periods] – I think it was visible how much we wanted it. But it was already hard to change the course of the game. But I think that in these two periods – you can find some positive situations for yourself. At least the desire.
– You said that at first you were watching the opponent more. What do you mean?
– There was no puck control. They were doing something, we were watching them, but no takeaways, no pressure, no battling, so that«s how I put it, in general.
– The fact that two games in a row 0:3 in the first period, why does that happen?
– It«s hard to say. Against Avtomobilist, we conceded on a penalty kill at the start. Even though we scored the first one, it was disallowed. And today – simply they were better, no questions asked. It was hard afterwards.
– What did you decide to change?
– They told us just to work, forget the score, just do what was said. There really wasn«t that spark, that desire, we just needed to want it more and work.
– Personally, you had a fairly good match: counterattacked on the penalty kill, played well in takeaways. What was missing to get to a goal?
– I wouldn«t say that, today I also lost the puck a lot. I just risked somewhere, thinking that if those passes had connected, I think there would have been good attacks, but they, unfortunately, didn»t, and we had to skate back 60 meters. Yes, there were some good moments, but unfortunately, we lost, and it«s hard to talk about myself. Those breakaways on the penalty kill – they needed to be executed.
– How to properly react to this defeat?
– I think, at the very least, start the next match better, because that«s at least a foundation. Just desire first of all. When we all want it and work together, it»s a completely different game. I think that in the second, third [periods], somewhere that spark flickered, but it was already difficult with such an opponent. And especially such a team – if you imagine this in the playoffs, then, how we started, it«s probably 0–4. So we need to be ready from the very beginning.
– There were five wins in a row, then two fairly painful losses. Such a sharp transition happened. Is there anything common in these two losses?
– The opponents are all actually tough. Even when we were winning five in a row. But starting a match 0:3… You understand. Probably need to emphasize the start of the match, try harder.
Three stars of the match according to UFA1.RU
Zharovsky: two assists.
Rempal: scored a goal, six shots on goal (tied for most in the match with Sharipzyanov).
Suchkov: good counterattacks and takeaways.
Next games
January 24. 19:00. Sochi – Salavat Yulaev.
January 26. 21:10. Dinamo Minsk – Salavat Yulaev.
January 28. 21:00. Ak Bars – Salavat Yulaev.
