2015 Governor Cup. 18 seconds

Answering the questions at the press conference last night, Andrei Nikolishin said the team had complete six lines, so everyone would have a chance to show what they are capable of. So, in line with his own words, Traktor head coach replaced Yakutsenya with Mikhail Mokin; Sentyurin, Klimontov and Rybakov were left off the lineup; the former of the three was replaced by Gubarev; Francis Pare took a spot in the third line along with Glovatsky and Ruzicka; Dmitri Pestunov was the center of the fourth line, while Smolin and Shinin constituted the fourth D pair.

Both teams did not create too many scoring chances throughout the period. Eight minutes in, Francis Pare caught a rebound and beat Vasili Koshechkin from close range. Unfortunately for the black-and-white, just a couple of minutes later Sergei Tereshchenko found the back of the net with a laser like shot from the blue line. After the tying goal, Metallurg grabbed the initiative; Kosov had a one-on-one chance, and Magnitka’s top line had a couple of scoring attempts on power play. However, Pavel Francouz stood tall in each and every of these situations, which allowed Traktor to seize the lead just before the horn; Yegor Martynov scored his second goal in two games, and this sent the fans to the concession stands quite happy.

The second twenty turned out to be goalless, but not scoring chance-less. Most of these opportunities came about in uneven strength. First, Metallurg’s top line was on fire during one of the power plays, but Francouz made two stellar saves. Then, Traktor had three PP chances, but conversely, Vasili Koshechkin showed his top notch goaltending skills. Vasili also put on the most eye-catching saves of the period, stopping a one-on-one chance by Alexandre Bolduc.

Third period was an equally matched affair right until minute number 52. Before that though, Chris Lee had a partial breakaway chance, but Pavel Francouz topped him. Then, Martin Ruzicka assisted Glovatsky and tried to score by himself, but the score did not change. And this was when the cursed minute 52 came; first, Osnovin’s line had two scoring chances, but Koshechkin denied both of them; and then, within the span of 18 seconds, Viktor Antipin and Wojtek Wolski scored two quick goals to give Magnitka the win.

Game details

TRAKTOR Chelyabinsk vs. METALLURG Magnitogorsk – 2:3 (2:1, 0:0, 0:2)

Goals: Pare (Glovatsky), 8 (1:0); Tereshchenko, 10 (1:1); Martynov (Ruzicka, Glovatsky), 20 (2:1); Antipin (Mozyakin, Zaripov), 52 (2:2); Wolski (Lee, Batyrshin), 52 (2:3).

TRAKTOR
Francouz;
Quint – Borodkin, Chistov (C) – Bolduc – Mokin;
Martynov – Davydov, Glinkin – Osnovin (A) – Popov;
Petrov (A) – Khlystov, Pare – Glovatsky – Ruzicka;
Shinin – Smolin, Gubarev – Pestunov – Kokuyov.

METALLURG
Koshechkin;
Biryukov (A) – Antipin, Mozyakin (C) – Kovar – Zaripov (A);
Batyrshin – Zhloba, Filippi – Osala – Wolski;
Lee – Bereglazov, Platonov – Kaletnik – Timkin;
Kosov – Zakharov – Zhelezkov.

SOG: 31 (10+11+10) – 39 (14+12+13).
Faceoffs won: 25 (12+7+6) – 30 (11+7+12).
PIM: 14 (6+2+6) – 12 (4+6+2).
Shots blocked: 5 (3+1+1) – 5 (1+4+0).
Hits: 26 (8+6+12) – 26 (12+3+11).
PP goals: 0-0.

August 7, 2015. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 7500.

Tournament schedule and results*

August 6
Avangard vs. Metallurg Magnitogorsk – 4:3
Traktor vs. Avtomobilist – 5:6 SO

August 7
Avtomobilist vs. Avangard – 1:8
Traktor vs. Metallurg Magnitogorsk – 2:3

August 9
13.00 Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs. Avtomobilist
17.00 Traktor vs. Avangard

August 10
15.00 3rd place game
19.00 Gold medal game

* Chelyabinsk time