Six wins, climb continues for Traktor

A couple of changes took place in Traktor’s lineup compared to the previous matchup against Metallurg Novokuznetsk. A well-rested Michael Garnett took his rightful spot in between the pipes. Aleksei Petrov was absent, Aleksei Vasilchenko became seventh D-man; Igor Velichkin – 13th forward.

Traktor lost both head-to-head games during current regular season. In the first meeting of the two, Avtomobilist was victorious in the shootouts (3:2); three weeks later, a very tight game saw Traktor come up short once again (0:1).

Before the match began, personal flags of Anatoli Kostryukov and Valeri Belousov were lifted towards the top of Traktor Arena. Then, Anvar Gatiyatulin, assistant coach of Traktor, was congratulated on winning the silver medals of recent U20 World Championship, as were Kristina Korotkikh and Alesya Gimazetdinova, bronze medalists of Junior Women’s World Championship.

Two words that describe the first twenty – dynamic and passion. Both teams jumped into the game head first; three minutes into the game Aleksei Simakov hit the bar. Traktor found an answer to that, and what an answer that was! Pestunov fought the puck away from two D-men and directed the puck to Andrei Popov who beat Jakub Kovar from close range. Popov, by the way,has scored in four straight games. Visitors then responded with several sharp attacks, during one of which Garnett had to stop two Brule shots from close range. Around ten-minute mark a little brawl happened near Kovar’s goal, resulting in a PP opportunity for the black-and-white. Maksim Kondratyev had the best scoring chance of these two minutes, but after his slapshot the puck bounced beside the net before Avto D-men finally cleared the zone. A rarity for the fans came at minute number 17 in the form of a goal by Aleksei Vasilchenko; your typical stay-at-home defenseman scored his first goal of the season after a cunning wrist shot from around the blue line.

Second period began with a dominant few minutes by Avtomobilist that logically resulted in a goal. Visitors converted a power play with a quick combo by Simakov and Rybakov, thus pulling their team back into the thick of things. Immediately thereafter, Glinkin was inches away from skating one on one with Jakub Kovar, but lacked wiggle room and decided to pass the rubber to Popov who, unfortunately for Traktor, hit Kovar’s pads instead of the net. Popov had yet another chance on goal, but this time hit the post. Before the buzzer, Traktor and Avtomobilist exchanged minors, during one of which Aleksandr Rybakov could have punished the hosts for a defensive lapse, but the puck went high of the goal after his open shot.

The third twenty started off with a trademark Glinkin-Popov goal; it’s mind-boggling how those two do basically the same old trick in almost each power play, but are still able to outsmart the opponents’ defensemen. Credit goes to Avtomobilist for not giving in; eventually they would outshoot Traktor when it all was said and done, but Michael Garnett had an opinion of his own as to whether the puck would go in or not. Two minutes before the final horn visitors’ coaching staff pulled the goalie, but all it led to was a goal by the recently hot third line – Ruzicka and Penkovsky passed, and Slava Osnovin scored. Four one the final score; Traktor gains 17 points out of 18 in this huge six game home series and is set to hit the road for a long away series.

Game details

TRAKTOR vs. AVTOMOBILIST – 4:1 (2:0, 0:1, 2:0)
Goals: Popov (Pestunov), 5 (1:0); Vasilchenko (Glinkin, Pare), 17 (2:0); Rybakov (Lazarev, Simakov), 29 (2:1 – PP goal); Popov (Pestunov, Glnkin), 42 (3:1 – PP goal); Osnovin (Ruzicka, Penkovsky), 60 (4:1 – empty net goal).

TRAKTOR
Garnett;
Quint – Borodkin, Panov (A) – Pare – Chistov (C);
Kondratyev – Piganovich (A), Glinkin – Pestunov – Popov;
Martynov – Davydov, Penkovsky – Osnovin – Ruzicka;
Vasilchenko, Kokuyov – Kruchinin – Gubarev.

AVTOMOBILIST
Kovar (0:00 – 57:48, 59:31 – 60:00);
Antonov – Metlyuk, Klimenko – Brule – Nesterov;
Viklund – Lepistö, Lazarev – Rybakov – Simakov (A);
Loginov – Gusev (C), Mikhnov – Lewandowski (A) – Mityakin;
Tryamkin – Zhuravlyov, Palushaj – Yemelin – Gareyev.

PIM: 22 (16+6+0) – 18 (6+6+6).
Shots: 22 (7+9+6) – 27 (8+8+11).
Faceoffs won: 28 (7+13+8) – 23 (9+6+8).
Hits: 20 (9+7+4) – 24 (7+7+10).
Shots blocked: 11 (5+3+3) – 13 (2+7+4).
TOI: Quint (25:03), Martynov (23:16), Piganovich (20:16) – Simakov (20:18), Rybakov (18:53), Lepistö (18:37).
PP goals: 1-1.

Referees: Viktor Gashilov (Perm), Andrei Rogachyov (Moscow).
Linesmen: Pyotr Alyoshin, Yuri Ivanov (both – Saint-Petersburg).

January 18, 2015. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 7500.