NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
MINSK, 24 April (BelTA) – HC Metallurg Zhlobin beat HC Neman Grodno to raise the President's Cup of the 2022/23 Belarusian Extraleague on 24 April, BelTA has learned.
The two teams needed seven matches to decide the winner. In the final series Neman Grodno won the first (2-0), third (5-0) and fifth (6-1) matches and Metallurg Zhlobin responded with victories in the second (2-1), fourth (3-0) and sixth (7-1) games. A year ago, the fate of the President's Cup was also decided in the seventh game. Then Metallurg beat Yunost 3-0.
This year the final was played in the Grodno Ice Palace to the full stands. Apart from 3,000 Neman fans, there were about 200 fans of the Zhlobin team.
The opening period ended 0-0, although the hosts controlled the puck and created enough goal moments. The Grodno team had a real chance to open the score before the first hooter, but forward Nikita Remezov hit the post of Aleksandr Samoylov's net.
Metallurg produced several attacks in the middle stanza and Pavel Kupchikhin placed his team in the lead in the 29th minute.
The Neman players got a one-man advantage at the end of the second period and sent the puck into the Zhlobin net. However, after a video review the goal was canceled as the puck crossed the net line after the hooter.
Both teams had power plays in the final period but neither could capitalize on them. One minute before the final hooter Neman's coach Yevgeny Letov replaced the goalie with an extra player. The score however remained unchanged, 1-0.
HC Metallurg Zhlobin won the President's Cup for the third time in the history of the hockey club: the team raised the trophy in 2012 and 2022.
