Goodbye, regular season! Hello, playoffs!

Michael Garnett was once again in the net. Panov was moved to the top line to accompany Chistov and Bulis; Francis Pare occupied the right wing of the second line while ArtyomPenkovsky was moved back to his usual partners during this season – MartinRuzicka and Vyacheslav Osnovin.

Before this bout, each opponent claimed two victories during the regular season; Avtomobilist won 3:2 and 1:0 (OT) while Traktor garnered two regulation time victories (4:1, 3:1), so one might have called this game a rubber match.

The first period was an exciting seesaw battle. Visitors opened the score during the power play as Andrei Antonov found the back of the net with a blue line shot. Three minutes later, Traktor stung Avtomobilist with a counter, and shots by Bulis and Chistov were turned away by Jakub Kovar. Shortly thereafter, officials issued a coincidental penalty, and during these two minutes Traktor tied the game; Deron Quint was the quickest on the rebound, adding the puck into the empty net. Interestingly enough, visitors scored once more, but referees disallowed the goal on the grounds that it was scored with a skate.

The second twenty was equally emotional and exciting as the first one. Avtomobilist looked better early on while Traktor took the reins of this game around the thirty minute mark. Igor Ustinsky, who replaced the seemingly irreplaceable Jakub Kovar, made a highlight reel save. The visitors’ goalie was solid on several subsequent exchanges, but was unable to deal with Martin Ruzicka, who was left alone on the crease five minutes before the second break. To their credit, the opponents found it in themselves to tie it up before the horn; a rare faceoff goal was scored my Sergei Yemelin.

Our neighbors were much more active throughout the third period, but Michael Garnett once again proved that his moniker (‘The Wall’) is not just a catch phrase; Misha committed a robbery of his own, stopping an individual effort by Sami Lepistö with an astounding pad save. Garnett also added two quality saves under his belt two minutes before the horn when Avtomobilist’s onslaught was at its peak. As a result, the game rolled into the OT.

As soon as the game between Salavat and Sibir was over, it became crystal clear it would be the Novosibirsk team that Traktor would be facing in the first round of playoffs. Both goalies produced a couple of ah-inducing saves, and the winner was eventually to be determined in the shootouts. Golden hands of Stas Chistov and Francis Pare gave Traktor the victory and a whole lot of positive emotions.

Game details

TRAKTOR vs. AVTOMOBILIST – 3:2 SO(1:1, 1:1, 0:0, 0:0, 1:0)

Goals: Antonov (Nesterov, Mikhnov), 7 (0:1 – PP goal); Quint (Martynov), 12 (1:1); Ruzicka (Penkovsky), 35 (2:1); Yemelin, 39 (2:2); Pare, 65 (3:2 – game-winning penalty shot).
Shootouts: Glinkin (0:0 – denied by goalie), Golyshev (0:0 – denied by goalie), Penkovsky (0:0 – wide), Lazarev (0:0 – denied by goalie), Chistov (1:0), Kozlov (1:1), Kozlov (1:1 – denied by goalie), Pare (2:1).

TRAKTOR
Garnett;
Quint – Petrov, Panov – Bulis (A) – Chistov (C);
Kondratyev – Vasilchenko, Glinkin – Pestunov – Pare;
Martynov – Atyushov (A), Penkovsky – Osnovin – Ruzicka;
Davydov – Borodkin, Kokuyov, Velichkin.

AVTOMOBILIST
Kovar (Ustinsky 20:00 – 65:00);
Tryamkin – Zhuravlyov, Klimenko – Popov – Kozlov;
Viklund – Lepistö (A), Lazarev (а) – Rybakov – Simakov;
Antonov – Megalinsky, Mikhnov – Lewandowski (C) – Nesterov;
Metlyuk – Postnikov, Gareyev – Yemelin – Golyshev.

PIM: 6 (6+0+0+0) – 2 (2+0+0+0).
Shots: 33 (13+10+7+3) – 36 (13+10+11+2).
Faceoffs won: 36 (10+15+6+5) – 29 (9+9+9+2).
Hits: 34 (9+9+14+2) – 21 (6+9+5+1).
Shots blocked: 14 (6+2+5+1) – 14 (2+4+7+1).
TOI: Quint(22:33), Davydov (21:42), Vasilchenko(20:49) – Lepistö (21:17), Viklund(18:55), Simakov (17:46).
PP goals: 0-1.

Referees: Eduard Odins (Riga, Latvia), Aleksei Ravodin (Moscow).
Linesmen: Dmitri Parfyonov, Aleksandr Sysuyev (both – Ufa).

February 24, 2015. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 7500.