The top clubs in the KHL are predictably hard to enter the new season. Everyone is trying to correct the situation in their own way: somewhere they completely mix the links, and somewhere they experiment with the playing style. In Ak Bars, they chose a very controversial tactic. The Kazan club in the match against Torpedo, in order to turn the tide of the meeting, began to play dirty and break opponents.

Even Alexander Radulov distinguished himself: the star veteran provoked the young Torpedo players, and hit one of them on the back with a club.

Dirty game “Ak Bars”

The dream team of Ak Bars had a terrible start to the season: in the very first match, Kazan lost to the nominal outsider Dynamo. The Moscow club without big stars in the composition beat the favorite dry – 2: 0. The team of Oleg Znarka still rehabilitated in the next match, defeating the current holder of the Gagarin Cup CSKA – 5:1. But then Ak Bars stalled again. The strongest squad in the league struggled with an absolute outsider and managed to beat Admiral only in overtime. And then he again lost to Dynamo, but this time to Minsk.

After this segment, many criticized the Znark team: a line-up with such a selection of performers and masters should show a more interesting game. The constant pressure and high expectations take a toll on Ak Bars players. But before the meeting with Torpedo, it seems, there was no reason to worry. Many experts confidently said that Nizhny Novgorod will yield to the opponent in all respects. And all because of the very attacking and adventurous style of “Torpedo”.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

Spectacular hockey, which Igor Larionov instilled in them, often leads to mistakes and counterattacks. And for the masters from Ak Bars, even half a moment is enough to draw a goal. However, after the starting throw-in, it was Torpedo that took the initiative. Nizhny Novgorod hockey players did not hesitate to go through the pass from their zone and gave out long positional attacks. And at the end of the first period, it resulted in an abandoned puck.

Having one of the strongest lines of attack at their disposal, Ak Bars did not accept the opponent’s offer to play open hockey. Kazanians began to act dirty and even break Nizhny Novgorod.

Most distinguished veteran Radulov. First, the Ak Bars forward hit 20-year-old defender Maxim Fedotov hard with a stick on the back. The young player immediately fell and grabbed his bruised place with his hands, but in the end he was able to continue the game. Interestingly, Radulov hit his opponent on the back in front of the referee, who did not react at all to the episode. Of the Torpedo players, too, no one began to present Alexander for unsportsmanlike behavior. Perhaps the authority allows you to do such things.

Radulov’s impunity led to the fact that the striker continued to nightmare the Torpedo players. After another save by the keeper of Nizhny Novgorod, a fight began at the gate. Radulov grabbed 19-year-old Vasily Atanasov by the collar and began to shake him. This time, the Torpedo players nevertheless helped their teammate and dragged the aggressive striker away.

Alexander Radulov / Photo: © KHL / Bezzubov Vladimir

The authority and status of Radulov, probably, psychologically put pressure on the young team of Larionov. It will be interesting to look at the striker’s behavior in the match against Kunlun, where there is Gareth Hunt, or against Admiral with Mark Verba in the squad: both players are ready to throw off their gloves at any moment.

Radulov, although he played dirty, did not injure anyone. But his teammate Vyacheslav Voinov broke Yegor Vinogradov, flying into the knee at speed. So it turned out that the team with the brightest attack was forced to fight and fight for the sake of victory: Ak Bars won with a minimal difference – 2:1.