This is it for the 2016/17 KHL season, with four to seven games to determine this year's champion.
Game 1: Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk, Russia. In goal: Igor Shestyorkin of SKA and Vasily Koshechkin of Metallurg. St. Petersburg led off in the first period with an Evgeny Ketov power play goal, powered by Patrik Hersley and Anton Belov. Magnitogorsk tied it on an Evgeny Timkin goal in the second period, passed from Sergei Tereshchenko and Yaroslav Kosov. Metallurg took the lead with a Sergei Mozyakin goal, going in unassisted. SKA retied it on an Evgeny Dadonov goal, made possible by Nikita Gusev. St. Petersburg took the lead with a Nikolai Prokhorkin goal, via Hersley and Alexander Barabanov. Magnitogorsk tied it again with a Viktor Antipin power play goal, with assists provided by Chris Lee and Mozyakin. SKA took the lead with a Hersley power play goal in the third period, guided in by Vadim Shipachyov and Gusev. St. Petersburg added on with an unassisted Dadonov goal. Metallurg got one back with a Tomas Filippi goal, going in unassisted. This only made it 5-4, the final, with the three stars being Hersley, Dadonov, and Mozyakin, while Gusev gets an honorable mention. SKA leads the series 1-0.
Game 2: Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk, Russia. In goal: Igor Shestyorkin of SKA and Vasily Koshechkin of Metallurg. Magnitogorsk began in the first period with a Jan Kovar power play goal, powered by Chris Lee. St. Petersburg tied it on a Vadim Shipachyov power play goal, with assists provided by Ilya Kovalchuk and Nikita Gusev. Metallurg took the lead back in the second period with a shorthanded goal by Vladislav Kaletnik, set up by Oskar Osala. Magnitogorsk iced it at 3-1 with a Tommi Santala empty net goal in the third period, via Evgeny Timkin and Evgeny Biryukov. The three stars were Koshechkin (43 for 44 in saves), Kaletnik, and Kovar. The series heads west tied at 1.
Game 3: Ice Palace Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia. In goal: Vasily Koshechkin of Metallurg and Mikko Koskinen of SKA. St. Petersburg got going in the second period with an Andrei Zubarev goal, via Artyom Zub and Sergei Shirokov. Magnitogorsk tied it on a Denis Kazionov goal, assisted by Chris Lee and Vladislav Kaletnik. SKA won 2-1 in double overtime with an Evgeny Dadonov goal, passed from Vadim Shipachyov and Nikita Gusev. The three stars went to Dadonov, Zubarev, and Koskinen (27 for 28 in saves). SKA leads the series 2-1.
Game 4: Ice Palace Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia. In goal: Vasily Koshechkin of Metallurg and Mikko Koskinen of SKA. Magnitogorsk opened in the first period with a Viktor Antipin goal, assisted by Evgeny Biryukov and Sergei Mozyakin. St. Petersburg tied it in the second period on a Dinar Khafizullin goal, passed from Vadim Shipachyov and Nikita Gusev. Metallurg retook the lead with an Oskar Osala goal, via Tommi Santala. SKA tied it in the third period with an Andrei Zubarev goal, guided in by Nikolai Prokhorkin and Gusev. St. Petersburg won with a Khafizullin goal, his second of the game, made possible by Patrik Hersley and Gusev on the power play. This made it 3-2, the final, with the three stars awarded to Khafizullin, Gusev, and Zubarev. SKA heads back on the road with a 3-1 series lead.
Game 5: Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk, Russia. In goal: Igor Mikko Koskinen of SKA and Vasily Koshechkin of Metallurg. Magnitogorsk started in the first period with an Oskar Osala goal, via Tommi Santala and Yaroslav Khabarov. Metallurg added on with a Viktor Antipin goal, with a lone assist by Jan Kovar in the second period. St. Petersburg got on the board with a Nikita Gusev power play goal, powered by Evgeny Dadonov and Vadim Shipachyov. SKA tied it on an Alexander Barabanov goal, passed from Ilya Kovalchuk. St. Petersburg took the lead with a Dadonov goal, coming off of Shipachyov and Gusev. SKA extended the lead as Kovalchuk scored in the third period, thanks to Patrik Hersley. Magnitogorsk got one back with a Yaroslav Kosov going, going in unassisted. St. Petersburg iced it at 5-3 with a Sergei Plotnikov empty net goal, set up by Nikolai Prokhorkin. The three stars were Kovalchuk, Dadonov, and Gusev, while Shipachyov gets an honorable mention. SKA won the Gagarin Cup 4-1, but Metallurg's Koshechkin was the Playoff MVP.
With that, my time covering the KHL comes to a close. As I continue toward a professional career in sports, I must be more resourceful with my time, and covering the KHL, while quite the pleasure to a hockey fan like me, will not help me at this stage. I plan on continuing to follow the league from a distance, but there will be no more posts on this blog. I have enjoyed the four and a half years I spent learning about hockey outside of the NHL, but it's time to move on and I hope everyone can understand that decision. With that, I am still accessible on Twitter @OutsiderSports0.
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