Even Bob Hartley spoke about the historical context of this Gagarin Cup final. It’s a rematch of the very first KHL final, which was decided in Game 7 by a single goal. Alexander Radulov faces his former team, with whom he also reached the final. For Kazan, there’s a chance to become the first four-time Gagarin Cup champion in league history. For Lokomotiv, defending the title is a rare feat in the league. The storylines go on and on.
An ageless classic of the league, 17 years later:
Lokomotiv and Ak Bars are set to replay the first KHL final. This matchup was written in the stars.
Ak Bars, who dispatched Metallurg in five games in the conference final, had to wait over a week for the decisive series. Lokomotiv had less rest, but enough to recover. Plus, Yaroslavl should be riding a massive emotional high—they came back from a 1-3 deficit against Avangard, dragging out the last two games on sheer grit and championship character.
Both teams entered the season’s biggest battle fully ready, with no losses—their lineups were identical to the conference finals. There was no sign of rust; the opponents set a great pace with high intensity. The game was physical, bone-on-bone, but within the rules—the first period flew by without a goal, though Ak Bars looked sharper and came closer to scoring, breaking into the slot and trying to play it safe, like Stepan Falkovsky’s two massive chances. But Daniil Isaev made saves on direct shots, and Lokomotiv didn’t allow second chances or rebounds. Yaroslavl, on the other hand, wasn’t as creative in attack, shooting less and mostly from distance, offering few problems for Timur Bilyalov.
At the start of the second period, everything flipped. Alexander Radulov, who practically carried the team through the conference finals, set the tone and scored the final’s first goal. In a battle with Falkovsky at the crease, he redirected Yegor Surin’s long shot.
46 seconds later, Kazan had to call a timeout when Berezkin and Alekseev executed a two-on-one break. Gatiyulin’s team completely fell apart, and even two consecutive power plays (or three, counting a bench minor for an illegal change in the first period) couldn’t fix it. Lokomotiv kept punishing, scoring on their first power play—Byron Froese made it 3-0.
It was hard to believe Lokomotiv would let this match slip. Yaroslavl has mastered comebacks and knows how to protect a lead. In contrast, Ak Bars rarely faced trailing situations this postseason—and won only one game when behind in the first three rounds. Even then, they had no trouble with opponents, always leading on the scoreboard, so Lokomotiv is Kazan’s first real test of resilience.
Credit to Kazan: they came out highly motivated for the third period and could have scored early, but Isaev saved Semyonov’s dangerous power-play shot.
Only near the halfway mark did Mitch Miller—Ak Bars’ leading scorer this postseason—find the net, making it 3-1. But the comeback never gained full traction, and Lokomotiv held on for a 3-1 victory in Game 1.