MOSCOW, RUSSIA – It would take a brave man to bet against AK Bars lifting their second Gagarin Cup now. After stealing a narrow win in game 1 on Thursday, the Kazan based team took complete control of game 2 in Moscow, beating hosts HC MVD 4-1.
The home side put in a battling performance, but were unable to find a way past in-form netminder Petri Vehanen in the Bars goal. MVD also saw Alexei Tsvetkov and Alexander Boykov leave the game, Tsvetkov after being struck in the head by a stray puck and Boykov with a broken nose. Both would return, but with Roman Derlyuk already playing with a broken toe the odds keep stacking up against the Western conference side.
That said, the team did rally from 2 games down in the conference finals against Lokomotiv to steal the series in a decisive game 7! So hopes remain high in the camp will remain, but there is little doubt AK Bars will be looking to clinch the series on home ice early next week when games 3 and 4 take place.
Contact: rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com