Alleluia!!! We Won!

"We"  being the young men of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, who faced a final game 5 against HC VMF at home this morning.  Once again it was a capacity crowd of 9046 cheering on the valiant young men, and the game was much more peaceful than had been the penalty filled games three and four at St. Petersburg, with both teams combining for 16 minutes in penalties for the whole game (when Albert Konozov had 14 himself in game three).  Oleg Yashin, Daniil Apal'kov, Yegor Yakolev, Vitaly Zotov, and Maxim Zyuzyakin all had good attempts that were rejected by VMF goalie Dmitry Shikin.  A scoreless first period moved into the second.

At 3:13 of the second, Yakolev sent a dribbler at the net that Shikin whiffed on, and Lokomotiv was up 1-0.  The Railroaders outshot the Sailors 16-7 in the second, but soon the Sailors were back in a tie.  It was, apparently, a nice pass-pass-shoot play topped off by Ilya Grebennikov who got his third of the series (I say apparently because the google translate read it: " But the hosts were in the long run - a combination of Gregory Serkina and Anton Seleznev and Piglet completed Ilya Grebennikov.")  at 6:18 of the second.

A tightly-played third period followed, and at 6:08 Yakolev hit on a "brilliant" wrist shot for his second of the game and third of the series for a 2-1 lead, and Nikita Lohzkin shut the door to make it stand up.

Prior to the game, Coach Petr Vorobiev had this to say: "I have to say that most of the guys on our team was initially a very responsible attitude to the game for the "Locomotive": to understand which club they came from and what is expected of them, and well then, what chance they're given. Now that responsibility has become even higher. Ahead of us is waiting for the main match of the season. For many, it may become a turning point in his career".  Afterwards, he said,  "In today's duel most of the load carried on the shoulders of their more experienced players. The boys stood up to the end of the tension, cope with nerves and excitement. These meetings are important for the growth of our players. On the morning of the game we were told that if we can not overcome the first round, then all work will come to nothing. Play-off - it's a different game. After these games grow up masters."

Yegor Yakovlev

• Club: Lokomotiv
• Number: 44
• Position: Defender
• Height: 180
• Weight: 83
• Birth Date.: 09/17/1991
• Nationality: Russia
• Age: 20 years 5 months
• Clubs with the seasons: Oilman ^(11-12) , Lokomotiv ^(11-12) , oil ^(10-11)

The series against Penza Disel ("Diesel") begins in Penza, which is the halfway point between Moscow and Armenia, on Sunday.