Kasutin made Hasek?

The main hero of the capital's derby "Spartak" - CSKA within the next round of the Kontinental Hockey League championship was the red-and-white goalkeeper Ivan Kasutin. In sixty-five minutes of regular and extra time, the goalkeeper stopped 41 shots. In addition, he performed brilliantly in the shootout, giving his team a 2:1 victory.

Perhaps for the first time in the last ten years - since the time of the gold medalist of the Youth World Championship Andrei Medvedev, and not counting the legendary Dominik Hasek, who adapted to Russian hockey for a very long time - Spartak received such a reliable player at the last line. For a good three quarters of the meeting, the army team unleashed their attacks on the opponent, but each time Kasutin was flawless.

Another interesting thing is that despite the fact that the team’s defensive formations have undergone almost no changes in the off-season (again, for the first time in a long time), the hockey players still lack mutual understanding. Moreover, not only with each other, but also with the goalkeeper. This was noticeable throughout the match, but especially significant in this sense was the goal missed by Spartak, when Budkin froze between his goal and the shooting Shirokov. As a result, the defender not only failed to interfere with the army scorer, but also blocked the visibility of his goalkeeper...

At one time, Hasek complained that he could not teach his partners to position themselves correctly when defending their own possessions. A year has passed and, by and large, nothing has changed. It’s just that the number of goals conceded by the red-and-whites, and the team’s results, are noticeably superior to the intermediate indicators of last season...

Not long ago, Kasutin admitted to Sobesednik.ru that he was not only ready to be compared with the legendary Czech, but felt he had the ability to surpass his game. Well, so far Ivan’s words do not diverge from deeds. And the interest in the 24-year-old goalkeeper from the coaching staff of the national team is the best confirmation of this...