Atlant have thrashed Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on the road, 6-1, to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series in the Gagarin Cup’s Western Conference final.
The team from Yaroslavl were regarded as slight favorites going into Wednesday’s game. The KHL Western Conference leaders had had a week-long rest after finishing their previous series against Dynamo Riga in five games. Meanwhile Atlant needed all seven attempts to go past SKA St Petersburg.
However, on Wednesday the Moscow region’s team looked way fresher and faster than Lokomotiv.
Ivan Nepryaev and Ilya Gorokhov started Loko’s humiliation in the first period. Yaroslavl seemed to be waking up early in the second period, but before they could net their first past Konstantin Barulin, the score was already 3-0, courtesy of Atlant’s leader Sergey Mozyakin.
Atlant added yet another one before the second break, and the last period was a simple training session for both teams. But it was not over for the hosts yet.Again Nepryaev and Oleg Petrov scored to make the final score 1-6.
The next game will also be held in Yaroslavl on March 25. While, on Thursday Salavat Yulaev and Metallurg Magnitogorsk will begin their showdown in the East.