Heartbreak

The only change taking place in Traktor lineup was Davydov replacing Aleksei Vasilchenko as seventh D-man while the latter took his spot in the third D pair along with Yegor Martynov.

The last five head-to-head games between the opponents were very tight; four of them were won by Lokomotiv (3:2 SO, 2:1, 1:0 SO, 4:3 OT), and only won – by Traktor (2:1 back in October 2013).

Despite the long home series where Traktor often dictated the pace of the game, in this particular bout the black-and-white decided to focus on the defensive efforts. Lokomotiv had the puck possession, but it did not reflect in many scoring chances. The only opportunities worthy of mention is a shot by Sergei Konkov turned away by Michael Garnett, and a rebound chance by Konstantin Panov, also turned aside by Lokomotiv netminder, Vitali Kolesnik.

Traktor stuck to the game plan in the second twenty as well, and once again, it did not result in a slew of scoring chances around Garnett’s net, although Loko, of course, had their share of opportunities. Most of them came when visitors were left shorthanded twice. Around mid-game mark Oleg Piganovich made a save that might make the top 10 list; Garnett was unable to cover the puck and left the net, but Traktor #77 heroically threw himself in puck’s way and kept the threat away. Michael Garnett also stopped quite a few shots by Petri Kontiola, Jeff Platt and Andrei Loktionov. Traktor’s biggest opportunity came when Panov was alone some ten feet away from Kolesnik’s goal, but was unable to beat the goalie.

It was clear that the only goal would decide this game. Lokomotiv was putting some serious pressure and had a couple of decent scoring chances throughout the period, but Garnett was very solid in between the pipes, rarely allowing the puck to bounce back to the ice. Even when Michael was powerless, his best friend, the iron of the net saved him, like two minutes before the horn when the rubber hit the bar. It seemed logical for this game to go into OT, but a little loss of concentration by Traktor led to a heartbreaking goal 17 seconds prior to the horn at the hands of Sergei Plotnikov. One zip, Traktor loses for the first time in 2015 and heads to Podolsk to continue the away series.

Game details

LOKOMOTIV vs. TRAKTOR – 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 1:0)
Goal: Plotnikov (Novotny, Averin), 60 (1:0).

LOKOMOTIV
Kolesnik;
Holǿs – Yakovlev, Averin (A) –Novotny – Plotnikov (A);
Kronwall – Pashnin, Konkov– Kontiola – Loktionov;
Vasilyev – Lyubushkin, Platt– Apalkov – Thörnberg;
Gavrikov – Gorokhov (C), Kapustin – Kartayev – Galimov.

TRAKTOR
Garnett (0:00 - 59:43);
Quint – Borodkin, Panov (A) – Pare – Chistov (C);
Kondratyev – Piganovich (A), Glinkin – Pestunov – Popov;
Martynov – Vasilchenko, Penkovsky – Osnovin – Ruzicka;
Davydov, Kokuyov – Kruchinin – Gubarev.

PIM: 6 (2+2+2) – 6 (0+4+2).
Shots: 35 (9+15+11) – 27 (9+10+8).
Faceoffs won: 33 (8+12+13) – 12 (6+3+3).
Hits: 7 (3+3+1) – 8 (4+2+2).
Shots blocked: 14 (5+5+4) – 14 (2+6+6).
TOI: Kronwall (20:12), Novotny (19:42), Holǿs (19:26) – Quint (25:18), Piganovich (20:20), Pare (19:43).
PP goals: 0-0.

Referees: Vladislav Kiselev (Ufa), Antonin Jerabek (Czech Republic).
Linesmen: Aleksandr Zakharenkov, Ivan Sazonov (both – Moscow).

January 20, 2015. Arena-2000-Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl, Russia. Attendance – 9000.