Riding the wave
No changes were made in the lineup compared to the Lada match. As far as
lines composition goes, the only change made was Penkovsky and Ruzicka swapping their respective places.
During current regular season Traktor and Neftekhimik played one head-to-head
match that saw the latter emerge victorious, 4:1.
Traktor rushed to attack right off the bat. Bulis and Chistov organized a nice merry-go-round for visitors’ D-men which did not lead to a
goal though. Following this episode, the unfortunate happened when Katichev became the recipient of a huge
body check and could not continue the game. The match calmed down until minute
number 17 when Davydov hit the post,
and then Neftekhimik scored twice in rather quick fashion; Milovzorov and Sexton put their names on the scoreboard.
The discouraging ending to the first twenty fired the hosts up as they rallied
to score five times during the second period. First, Piganovich took a blue line shot which was deflected into the net
by Anton Glinkin with a mind-boggling trajectory. Then, 43 seconds later Ruzicka scored a rare goal to tie the game.A minute later Quint turned the puck over along the
boards, passed it to Popov who,
after a nice little combo with Pestunov,
found the back of the net. Traktor did not let up and soon scored another one; Piganovich garnered a second assist
while Panov scored his eighth goal
of the season with a terrific wrist shot to the near corner. Neftekhimik
coaching staff substituted the goaltender, but Aleksandr Sudnitsyn was
unable to keep the door shut for long as Chistov upset him five minutes before the buzzer.
The final period started off with a little brawl between Yaroslav Alshevsky and Danil Gubarev. The fight was ruled a tie, and both perpetrators received
double minors. Traktor did not let the foot off the gas pedal; Glinkin and Chistov missed their chances on yet another goal which, in fact,
finally came three minutes before the horn. Kondratyev was left alone on the slot and converted a saucer pass
from Chistov into six two on the board. Traktor routs Neftekhimik in arguably
team’s best effort of the regular season so far.
Game details
TRAKTOR vs. NEFTEKHIMIK – 6:2 (0:2, 5:0, 1:0)
Goals: Milovzorov (Sexton), 19 (0:1); Sexton (Stapleton, Milovzorov), 20
(0:2); Glinkin (Pestunov, Piganovich), 22 (1:2); Ruzicka (Atyushov, Velichkin),
22 (2:2); Popov (Pestunov), 23 (3:2); Panov (Chistov, Piganovich), 27 (4:2); Chistov
(Panov), 35 (5:2); Kondratyev (Quint, Chistov), 59 (6:2).
TRAKTOR
Garnett;
Quint – Kondratyev, Panov (A) – Bulis (A) –Chistov (C);
Borodkin – Piganovich, Glinkin – Pestunov – Popov;
Davydov – Atyushov (A), Gubarev – Osnovin – Penkovsky;
Katichev, Ruzicka – Zavarukhin – Kokuyov;
Velichkin.
NEFTEKHIMIK
Kolppanen (0:00 – 26:01), Sudnitsyn(26:01 – 60:00);
Berezin – Kosmachyov, Rybin (C) – Hennessy – Ivanov;
Eronen – Kalashnikov, Sexton – Stapleton – Milovzorov (A);
Yevseyenkov – Amirov, Y. Alshevsky – Khokhryakov – S. Alshevsky;
Kulikov – Nikulin – Zdunov;
Mnikhovich.
PIM: 8 (2+0+6) – 18 (0+4+14).
Shots: 40 (13+14+13) – 19 (9+7+6).
Faceoffs won: 31 (11+11+9) – 37 (12+14+11).
Hits: 19 (4+9+6) – 24 (8+7+9).
Shots blocked: 5 (4+0+1) – 12 (6+2+4).
TOI: Kondratyev (25:03), Quint (22:51), Piganovich (21:22) – Kosmachyov
(23:59), Berezin (23:35), Kalashnikov (19:32).
PP goals: 1-0.
Referees: Sergey Gusev (Serov), Yakov Deyev (Moscow).
Linesmen: Viktor Birin, Konstantin Chubykin (both – Moscow).
November 15,
2014. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 6750.
