MHL. Fifth defeat of regular season

The only change made to Medvedi lineup was Maksim Shipin being absent.

The hosts rushed forward from the get-go, but their initial flurry cooled down after the minor received by Kirill Tsulygin. Having killed off the penalty, Tolpar players continued the assault on Yegor Nazarov’s goal. Medvedi goaltender demonstrated his skills, having coped with very good shots. In the middle of the first period Belye Medvedi played almost a minute three against five. Tolpar possessed the puck well and created scoring chances for D-men, but all the threats were averted by Yegor Nazarov. The home team played well in the first period, but didn’t score any goals.

The opening goal of the game occurred in the first few minutes of the second period when Igor Isayev assisted Maksim Kulikov who, after a great pause, sent the puck between the legs of Tolpar’s goaltender – 0:1. Four minutes later, Medvedi increased the lead, taking advantage of a power play. Ilya Zinoviev got the puck in the face-off circle and laid a wrister accurately in the corner – 0:2. Tolpar did not give up and scored in the middle of the second period. Kirill Shmurygin deflected the puck into the net off of a strong pass from his teammate – 1:2. Less than four minutes later, Tolpar tied the game. Filipp Pangelov-Yuldashev entered Medvedi’s zone and sent the rubber towards the goal, where Yegor Nazarov tried to catch it, but failed, and Vasili Zhilov added the puck into the empty goal – two apiece. Ufa players could have taken the lead before the second break, but Roman Dubinin failed to beat our goalkeeper.

The third period, as expected, was played very cautiously by both teams. The opponents reluctantly attacked each other’s goal, obviously afraid to make a mistake. The game lasted in such tempo until minute 57 when Kirill Shmurygin scored the one-timer and allowed hosts to take the lead for the first time in this game. Ninety seconds before the end of the game, Tolpar was left shorthanded, and Medvedi’s coaching staff immediately pulled the goalie. Medvedi kept the puck in zone and due to the rapid movement could have tied the game, but were unlucky in the final stages of their attacks. As the old sports adage goes, if you don’t take your chances, then you get punished. Andrei Balaba shot from his side of the rink and sent the puck right in the empty net – 4:2. A moment later, the hosts could have scored the fifth goal, but two Tolpar players could not beat one Medvedi’s defender in the attacking zone, after which they immediately conceded a goal. Belye Medvedi ran four on two and Artyom Sevankayev’s shot found the back of the net – 4:3. Unfortunately for the black-and-white, it was too late to turn this game around.

Belye Medvedi suffered second straight defeat. The black-and-white return to Chelyabinsk to take on another very tough opponent, Stalniye Lisy on November 16 and 17.

Game details

BELYE TIGRY vs. BELYE MEDVEDI – 4:3 (0:0, 2:2, 2:1)
Goals: Kulikov (Isayev), 23 (0:1); Zinovyev (Petrikov, Zhuldikov), 27 (0:2 – PP goal); Shmurygin (Khripunov, Setdikov), 30 (1:2); Zhilov (Razumnyak, Pangelov-Yuldashev), 35 (2:2); Shmurygin (Setdikov), 57 (3:2); Balaba (Khripunov, Setdikov), 60 (4:2 – shorthanded empty net goal); Sevankayev (Zhuldikov, Ionin), 60 (4:3 – PP goal).

TOLPAR
Volkov;
Dubinin – Tsulygin, Khripunov – Shmurygin – Setdikov;
Pangelov-Yuldashev – Ibatullin, Mansurov – Zhilov – Balaba;
Rodionov – Ponomaryov, Mokin – Razumnyak – Pimenov;
Moskalyov – Nurgaliyev, Gindullin – Krasilnikov – Noskov.

BELYE MEDVEDI
Nazarov;
Isayev – Zabavin, Korinevsky – Sharov – Zakarlyukin;
Voynov – Lavrinenko, Sevankayev – Tridchikov – Ionin;
Petrikov – Zhuldikov, Mosharov – Melikhov – Zinovyev;
Bezrukov – Kulikov – Popov – Mogilnikov.

Shots: 49 (19+19+11) – 36 (5+10+11).
Faceoffs won: 30 (12+8+10) – 21 (4+7+10)
PIM: 8 (2+2+4) – 10 (6+2+2).
PP goals: 0-2.
Senior official: Roman Trenkachev (Togliatti).

November 10, 2014. Ice Palace, Ufa, Russia.