Play your heart out

A handful of changes took place in Traktor’s lineup. Vlad Fokin and Dmitri Sayustov replaced Vasili Demchenko and Semyon Kokuyov respectively. D pairs were also shaken up a little as Vasilchenko was put in the second pair and Borodkin – in fourth. Finally, Zavarukhin and Osnovin swapped their respective spots in the lines.

Traktor was quickly left shorthanded but did not allow Torpedo to take a meaningful shot on Garnett’s goal. The black-and-white created their first scoring chances of the game around mid-period mark when Sayustov could have upset Kasutin on two occasions, but was not in luck. Shortly thereafter Traktor found themselves with two man advantage, which, however, nearly brought disaster when Potapov spurted off for a breakaway, but his shot was stopped by Garnett. Seeing as how Michael was his usual confident self, Traktor skaters were able to get it together and pulled ahead – Piganovich scores in two straight matches as he is starting to remind the hammer Piganovich circa 2008. Two minutes before the buzzer a scary scene took place on the ice as the rubber hit Ilya Davydov in the face. Davydov was taken away from the ice by local trainers and obviously could not continue.

Traktor should have extended their lead during the opening minutes of the period; Quint, Chistov and Bulis all had their scoring chances, but were totally out of luck. Five minutes after the start of the second twenty Vasilchenko was awarded double minor, but Traktor killed it off perfectly, and in the closing moments of four-on-five Chistov had a breakaway chance, but outsmarted himself and not Kasutin. Then, Torpedo was able to turn the tables on Traktor. Without any visible mistakes, the black-and-white allowed two goals by Denis Kazionov and Mikhail Grigoryev and went for a break with one goal deficit.

Third period saw another comeback take shape. First off, Ivan Kasutin thwarted chances on goal by Piganovich and Osnovin. This seemingly sparked the fire in the hearts of the black-and-white as ten minutes prior to the final buzzer Chistov gave yet another saucer pass to Panov who converted his chance and tied the game at two apiece. The same combo paid off six minutes later; Chistov passed from the boards, Panov deflected the puck from the slot into the net. Panov could have even completed a hat trick, but did not hit the empty net a couple of shifts later. When Torpedo pulled the goalie, Panov’s linemates tried to assist Konstantin, but a couple of times their passes were turned away by Torpedo players. Nonetheless, Traktor still comes away with a win and takes a five day break.

Game details

TRAKTOR vs. TORPEDO – 3:2 (1:0, 0:2, 2:0)
Goals: Piganovich (Chistov, Bulis), 15 (1:0 – PP goal); Denis Kazionov (Galuzin), 30 (1:1); Grigoryev (Galuzin), 34 (1:2); Panov (Chistov, Bulis), 50 (2:2); Panov (Chistov), 56 (3:2).

TRAKTOR
Garnett;
Quint – Kondratyev, Panov (A) – Bulis (C) – Chistov;
Vasilchenko – Piganovich, Glinkin – Pestunov – Popov;
Katichev – Atyushov (A), Gubarev – Osnovin – Ruzicka;
Davydov – Borodkin, Penkovsky – Zavarukhin – Sayustov.

TOPREDO
Kasutin (0:00 – 58:16);
Blazhievsky – Grigoryev, Salminen – Dmitri Kazionov (A) – Wolski (C);
Khomitsky (A) – Osipov, Filatov – Galuzin – Krasnoslobodtsev;
Bernatsky – Malevich, Denis Kazionov – Drugov – Kulyomin;
Makarov, Demagin – Potapov – Yamkin.

PIM: 20 (14+6+0) – 8 (4+4+0).
Shots: 25 (12+5+8) – 25 (7+10+8).
Faceoffs won: 30 (13+7+10) – 27 (4+12+11).
Hits: 17 (8+3+6) – 18 (9+4+5).
Shots blocked: 23 (4+10+9) – 11 (5+5+1).
TOI: Kondratyev (23:41), Quint (22:23), Piganovich (20:04) – Grigoryev (25:12), Dmitri Kazionov (21:06), Wolski (19:57)
PP goals: 1-0.

Referees: Eduard Odins (Riga, Latvia), Vladislav Kiselev (Ufa).
Linesmen: Jakov Paley (Magnitogorsk), Aleksandr Otmakhov (Yekaterinburg).

November 8, 2014. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 5700.