MHL. Calm and collected victory

A couple of changes took place in Medvedi’s lineup. Artyom Sevankayev, who came back from North America, replaced Maksim Kulikov. Aleksandr Yakovenko became the seventh D-man instead of Stanislav Lukin.

The match started off with a bang. Not even two minutes into the game Ruzal Galeyev scored a wrister after a good attack by Irbis – 0:1. Medvedi bounced back in four minutes during the power play. Igor Isayev slightly sent the puck toward the slot where Vladimir Ionin deflected the shot and the puck, changing its direction, fell into the net – 1:1. In the middle of the period Medvedi took the lead without delay. Semyon Afonasyevsky decided to attack by himself, outplayed a D-man and pushed the puck into the goal – 2:1. Shortly after, Artyom Melikhov could have increased the lead, but the breakaway attempt was not successful.

The second period began with a swift attack by Belye Medvedi. Hosts had a three-on-one breakaway, but at the last moment our team’s forward failed to hit the bouncing puck. But, three minutes later Andrei Yerofeyev hit the puck very well and sent it to the top corner – 3:1. Mikhail Shabanov could have scored for Irbis after Medvedi’s blunder, but failed to beat Yegor Nazarov. Shortly before the second break Artyom Sevankayev and Vladimir Ionin had a two-on-one breakaway, but Irbis goaltender was confident and turned the threat away. Aleksandr Sharov completed the list of scoring chances of the second period, but, unfortunately for Medvedi’s fans, the puck after his shot hit the crossbar and flew out of bounds.

The third period was the most spectacular one of the match. First, Ilya Zinovyev demonstrated his well-known accurate wrist shot, hitting the top corner during the power play – 4:1. Immediately after, Aleksandr Tridchikov could have increased the goal margin, but he hit the post. Irbis replied quite quickly. Yevgeni Aleksarov appeared directly opposite the goal of our team and gently sent the puck just between the goaltender’s pads – 4:2. Irbis could have approached to the black-and-white even closer, but Ruzal Galeyev sent the puck into an empty corner too weakly, and Yegor Nazarov managed to avert the threat. Ninety seconds before the horn Kazan pulled the goalie, but as the day before, they conceded a goal. It was Konstantin Zabavin who scored the goal after returning from the sin bin – 5:2. The last word in the match was said by Irbis whenYevgeni Lyzin set the final score of the game with a shorthanded goal – 5:3.

Game details

BELYE MEDVEDI vs. IRBIS – 5:3 (2:1, 1:0, 2:2)
Goals: Galeyev (Tyanulin, Kochkaryov), 2 (0:1); Ionin (Sevankayev, Isayev), 6 (1:1 – PP goal); Afonasyevsky, 13 (2:1); Yerofeyev (Zakarlyukin), 29 (3:1 – PP goal); Zinovyev (Petrikov), 43 (4:1 – PP goal); Aleksarov (Rasulov), 47 (4:2); Zabavin (Zinovyev), 59 (5:2 – empty net goal); Lyzin (Galeyev), 60 (5:3 – shorthanded goal).

BELYE MEDVEDI
Nazarov;
Nazarkin – Zabavin, Yerofeyev – Sharov – Zakarlyukin;
Voynov – Isayev, Sevankayev – Tridchikov – Ionin;
Petrikov – Alekseyev, Afonasyevsky – Melikhov – Zinovyev;
Yakovenko, Mosharov – Korinevsky – Bezrukov – Gomolyako.

IRBIS
Golubev;
Khalikov – Danilov, Aleksarov – Kashtanov – Rasulov;
Galin – Tsukanov, Valeyev – Redkov – Kochkaryov;
Ryzhenkov – Sergachyov, Tyanulin – Yeliseyev – Lyzin;
Marin – Derzayev, Galeyev – Samsonov – Bayin.

Shots: 33 (11+8+14) – 22 (5+8+9).
Faceoffs won: 31 (9+11+11) – 28 (10+7+11)
PIM: 12 (4+2+6) – 24 (2+2+20)
PP goals: 2-0.
Senior official: Mikhail Surdyayev (Perm).

January 9, 2015. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia.