MHL. Through trouble to victory

Compared with the second match against Belye Tigry, forwards Semyon Afonasyevsky and Maksim Kulikov were absent due to various reasons. D-man Artyom Chistyakov and forward Artyom Sevankayev joined the team.

The game started with an excellent attack from Belye Medvedi. Artyom Sevankayev passed on Aleksandr Sharov, but the captain sent the puck wide of the goal. In a minute Gleb Kuzmin could have scored a backhander, but the puck went high. In the middle of the period Artyom Sevankayev ran off for a breakaway, made a couple of dekes and took a shot that, unfortunately for the black-and-white, was blocked by the opposition’s goaltender. Soon enough, Tolpar punished Medvedi for wasting this chance; during the power play Tolpar forward got the puck on the slot and easily hit the empty corner – 0:1. Forty seconds before the first break Stepan Khripunov scored his second goal of the period, doubling Tolpar’s lead – 0:2.

At the start of the second period, Medvedi began to put heavy pressure on Tolpar’s goal. This resulted in scoring chances by Artyom Melikhov and Ilya Zinovyev, but the puck did not go in. Tolpar had a great chance when two Medvedi players collided in the center of the rink, and Tolpar players were in a four on one situation. Alas, Yegor Nazarov was unable to save his team, and Tolpar tripled their lead – 0:3. Such score could have easily broken any team psychologically, but Belye Medvedi is not just any team. In the middle of the game Maksim Korinevsky finished a three on two breakaway – 1:3. Four minutes later, Aleksandr Sharov banked outside the goal and scored a backhander that surprised the visitors' netminder – 2:3. Shortly before the break, Maksim Shipin assisted Artyom Sevankayev who tied it at three apiece. In the remaining one and a half minutes Tolpar organized two attacks one of which ended with a minor, and the other – with a goal. Ruslan Ibatullin threw the puck toward the net from the blue line, and the puck didn’t not touch anyone and plunged into the net – 3:4.

Thirty seconds after the opening faceoff KonstantinZabavin demonstrated excellent skills, first outplaying the D-man, and then scoring a wrister into the top corner – 4:4. Tolpar had a number of attacks, one of which was very dangerous, but the puck went just over the bar. Still, Tolpar was able to take the lead again. During a delayed call Stepan Khripunov assisted Vasili Zhilov, and the latter hit a terrific one timer – 4:5. It seemed as though all Medvedi’s efforts just would not be enough, but it was not so. Once again, Medvedi tied the score. Yevgeni Petrikov scored from the blue line just under the crossbar – 5:5. Until the end of the third period, Medvedi dominated and created decent openings, but it eventually had to come down to the OT, and it did.

During the overtime, it was Ilya Zinovyev who had the only scoring opportunity, but his shot was not accurate enough. In the shootouts, Medvedi left no chance to Tolpar, scoring two goals while Tolpar did not score at all. Aleksandr Tridchikov gave hosts a very hard fought win.

Game details

BELYE MEDVEDI vs. TOLPAR – 6:5 SO (0:2, 3:2, 2:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Goals: Khripunov (Shmurygin, Ibatullin), 15 (0:1 – PP goal); Khripunov (Shmurygin, Setdikov), 20 (0:2); Pimenov (Zhilov, Mansurov), 22 (0:3); Korinevsky (Nazarkin), 29 (1:3); Sharov, 33 (2:3); Sevankayev (Shipin), 39 (3:3); Ibatullin (Setdikov), 40 (3:4 – PP goal); Zabavin (Sharov, Nazarkin), 41 (4:4); Zhilov (Khripunov, Ibatullin), 46 (4:5); Petrikov (Melikhov), 53 (5:5); Tridchikov, 65 (6:5 – game-winning penalty shot).

BELYE MEDVEDI
Nazarov;
Nazarkin – Zabavin, Korinevsky – Sharov – Ionin;
Petrikov – Chistyakov, Sevankayev – Melikhov – Zinovyev;
Voynov – Tridchikov, Podkorytov – Gomolyako – Zakarlyukin;
Lukin – Alekseyev, Bezrukov – Shipin – Mosharov.

TOLPAR
Romanov;
Tsulygin – Ibatullin, Shmurygin – Khripunov – Setdikov;
Pangelov-Yuldashev – Moskalyov, Mansurov – Pimenov – Zhilov;
Ponomaryov – Dubinin, Razumnyak – Kuzmin – Mokin;
Bitkin – Rodionov, Margamov – Gindullin – Noskov.

Shots: 35 (8+13+12+2) – 28 (5+15+7+1).
Faceoffs won: 40 (6+15+19+0) – 28 (7+8+10+3)
PIM: 4 (2+2+0+0) – 8 (4+2+2+0).
PP goals: 0-2.
Senior officials: Viktor Spirin (Tyumen), Sergey Nosov (Kazan).

December 11, 2014. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia.