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After a month-long hiatus, Jan Bulis returned to the ice. Ironically, Bulis got injured in the game against Yugra. Penkovsky was moved to the fourth line, relinquishing his place in the top one to Traktor’s resident Czech. Igor Velichkin and Ilya Davydov were left off the lineup; the latter was replaced by Aleksei Vasilchenko. Plus, Vasili Demchenko, the hero of two battles in Riga and Minsk, was replaced by the returning Michael Garnett who recovered from his flu.

Throughout current regular season, Traktor and Yugra faced off three times, and all of these encounters were won by the black-and-white. First off, Traktor won on away ice (4:3 SO), and then two victories on home ice followed (4:2 and 5:2).

The first ten minutes or so were not the most exciting excerpts of a hockey game one would see. The first Traktor shot took place seven minutes after the start when Oleg Piganovich checked Barry Brust’s level of readiness. A little bit later on, it was Garnett’s turn to impress; Michael turned aside two close-range shot. In general, Traktor had the initiative and organized more attacks; Popov almost found the top corner, but just missed, while Martin Ruzicka did everything right to put the puck away, but it treacherously slipped off his stick at the last second. Yugra looked better in the closing moments of the period, but Michael Garnett had all of hosts’ shots well scouted.

Almost as soon as the opponents were back on the ice, Popov sent the puck into the bar. While it was unclear from watching on TV whether the rubber went in or not, the officials were adamant that it did not and decided not to waste time for a replay. A little bit later, Traktor got the first power play opportunity, but failed to create anything substantial. It became clear that something extraordinary was needed to put the puck away, and this proved to be right when Vyacheslav Osnovin picked up the puck in the neutral zone, outskated two Yugra D-men and opened the score in a brilliant fashion. Look for this stellar effort to be in highlight reels for quite a while, and on Top 10 goal list too. Shortly thereafter, officials left Traktor shorthanded for too many men on ice for the second time within one period (!). Yugra converted this chance with relative ease; hosts’ biggest star right now, Nikita Gusev, found the space between Garnett’s pads and threw the puck right there to tie the score. Just seconds later, Gusev almost appeared all alone on a breakaway, but Kondratyev thwarted him with a stick.

The key moment of the game might have been the two straight penalties by former ‘Traktorist’ Nikolai Lemtyugov and Ben Maxwell. Andrei Nikolishin took a timeout; Traktor controlled the puck well, but all of three shots fired by Kondratyev were blocked either by D-men or Barry Brust. After a little back-and-forth and brilliance from both goaltenders, the game rolled into the overtime.

Even though Bulis was unable to score after a great setup by Chistov, Stas himself sealed the deal on this game when he skated through the entire ice, outsmarted three (!) Yugra defensemen and made fool even out of Barry Brust, sending the puck between his pads. Two one; third straight win by Traktor that allowed the black-and-white to climb at fifth place in the Eastern Conference, albeit at least until tomorrow when Salavat Yulaev faces Admiral.

Game details

YUGRA vs. TRAKTOR – 1:2 OT (0:0, 1:1, 0:0, 0:1)
Goals: Osnovin (Chistov, Piganovich), 36 (0:1); Gusev (Korolyuk), 39 (1:1 – PP goal); Chistov, 65 (1:2).

YUGRA
Brust;
Larsen – Mamkin, Gusev – Maxwell – Korolyuk;
Sergeyev – Valentenko, Sitnikov – Magogin – Kaspar;
Ryabykin – Zheldakov, Lemtyugov – Yatsenko – Bortnikov;
Adamchuk, Chibisov – Romantsev – Bulyansky.

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

PIM: 8 (0+4+4+0) – 6 (2+4+0+0).
Shots: 30 (12+8+8+2) – 39 (14+11+11+3).
Faceoffs won: 32 (8+11+12+1) – 26 (7+9+7+3).
Hits: 14 (6+2+6+0) – 12 (5+2+5+0).
Shots blocked: 13 (4+4+5+0) – 6 (3+2+1+0).
TOI: Larsen (27:51), Valentenko (25:32), Zheldakov (22:42) – Quint (24:51), Piganovich (23:58), Pare (20:45).
PP goals: 0-0.

Referees: Sergei Gusev (Serov), Aleksandr Sergeyev (Moscow Oblast). 
Linesmen: Tornike Kuchava, Nikita Novikov (both – Moscow).

February 11, Arena Yugra, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Attendance – 2500.