Ak Bars Wins Supergame, Barys’ Season Ends: KHL 3×3 Day Wrap-up

Three players score hat-tricks, Ak Bars takes the Supergame, Shumakov makes an honorable play, and Barys finishes the season with a 14th consecutive loss – a recap of the final game day of Round 23 in the KHL 3×3 Championship.

Traktor (Chelyabinsk) 6 – Ak Bars (Kazan) 2

Sergey Shumakov added some positive karma points. Midway through the game, while skating behind the Ak Bars net, the Traktor captain fell. The referee reacted by calling a tripping penalty. Getting up, Shumakov skated over and explained he fell on his own because his skate blade came out, not due to any foul. The referee reversed the call, and Sergey received approving stick taps from Ak Bars players for his sportsmanship.

Karma rewarded Sergey shortly after. The forward, who had complained the previous day that the puck wasn`t going in for him this round, scored against Ak Bars towards the end of the second period.

The first match of the final game day of Round 23 in Shcherbinka brought together not only the top two teams in the Winline conference but also two players at the top of the scoring race. The day before, two players had crossed the 100-point mark: Ak Bars representative Yuri Muravyov and Traktor forward Grigory Nesvetaev.

Nesvetaev earned two points just two minutes in, assisting first Egor Ivanov and then Artyom Udot, who ultimately recorded a hat-trick. Muravyov responded with a goal at the end of the period. However, their scoring contributions ended there. Nesvetaev finished Round 23 with 104 points, while Muravyov had 102.

Ak Bars, after a poor second period, couldn`t recover. The team that recently seemed invincible lost twice in the current round. Notably, they suffered a four-goal difference in this game (“minus 4”), something they hadn`t experienced since mid-March. At that time, they also lost 0-4 to none other than… Traktor.

Barys (Astana) 4 – Avangard (Omsk) 9

Anton Kovalyov was unstoppable today. He scored his 17th goal of the season against Barys just 10 seconds into the game. The previous day, another “cat” team, Ak Bars, had ended his five-game scoring streak, which seemingly only motivated him further.

Four minutes into the game against the Astana team, Kovalyov completed his double, responding to a pass from the same Evgeny Chesalin in a similar situation. Anton also recorded an assist on Maxim Rybin`s goal. In total, Kovalyov won the first period against Barys 3-0 himself.

This was the final game of the season for the Kazakh team. They entered it, to put it mildly, in poor form, burdened by a streak of 13 losses. Barys remembered their intention to finish strong in the second period, ending it with a minimal deficit of 3-4. Vsevolod Logvin`s goal, which set this scoreline, was spectacular. The Barys player accelerated from his own zone and, battling an opponent, shot with a backhand, finding the near corner of Igor Tyalo`s net.

However, Barys` attempts to salvage their reputation ended there. In the final period, Avangard showed no mercy. As a result, two Avangard players finished the match with hat-tricks: Anton Kovalyov completed his in the final minute, and Fyodor Gusynin did so at the beginning of the period. Veteran Maxim Rybin added a double.

Despite the score, the last goal of the match belonged to Barys. It flew into the Avangard net just one second before the buzzer.

Barys ended their season disappointingly: last place in the standings and 14 consecutive losses. As they say, they`re finally done suffering.

Supergame: Ak Bars (Kazan) 3 – Avangard (Omsk) 1

Anton Kovalyov continued his scoring streak in the Supergame. After a mistake by Pavel Gorokhov, who missed the puck when he should have cleared it, the Avangard forward broke away and tied the game against Ak Bars, making it 1-1.

Ak Bars and Avangard hadn`t had much time to miss each other. It was Avangard who, on the previous game day, broke Ak Bars` phenomenal 16-game winning streak, leaving the season leader`s locker room silent.

In the current round, Ak Bars lost with uncharacteristic frequency for them. After losing to Traktor in the first match of the day, they placed their hopes on the Supergame as a chance for redemption.

This was their 12th Supergame of the season. Ak Bars is unmatched in this regard. Avangard participated in the final match of the round for the fifth time. Notably, they had faced Ak Bars twice before in the Supergame and lost both times, 3-6 and 3-4.

Ak Bars moved closer to their third Supergame victory over Omsk at the start of the third period. Artemy Knyazev increased Kazan`s lead to two goals in the first minute of the period. It`s worth noting that Dmitry Drozhzhin, whose goal would ultimately be the game-winner, scored just 16 seconds before the end of the second seven-minute period. That`s how Avangard let the game slip away right at the period change.

Ak Bars, holding a two-goal lead, wasn`t shy about playing defensively – spending long periods behind their net and controlling the puck more. This strategy paid off: Kazan won 1 million rubles for the eighth time this season, finishing their KHL 3×3 regular championship campaign with a victory.

And finishing it effectively: in six matches, he recorded 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist).