The meeting in Magnitogorsk ended with the victory of the guests with a score of 3:1 (0:0, 2:1, 1:0). As part of the army team, Sergey Andronov (24th minute), Nikita Nesterov (27) and Sergey Plotnikov (58) distinguished themselves. Maxim Karpov (32) scored for the hosts.
The second match of the best-of-four series will take place on April 20 in Magnitogorsk, after which the army team will host Metallurg in Moscow on April 22 and 24.
In the regular season, CSKA took third place in the Western Conference, the Magnitogorsk team became the first in the East. On the way to the final of the Gagarin Cup, the capital club passed Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (4-0), Dynamo Moscow (4-0) and SKA St. Petersburg (4-3). Metallurg defeated Kazakhstan’s Barys (4-1), Omsk Avangard (4-3) and Chelyabinsk Traktor (4-1).
CSKA and Metallurg meet in the Gagarin Cup final for the second time. In 2016, Magnitogorsk defeated the army team with a score of 4-3 in the series. Metallurg also became the champion of the KHL in 2014. CSKA, which has been a participant in five of the last six Gagarin Cup finals, has won the trophy in 2019.