Stone cold defense

Compared to the last game against Neftekhimik, only the attacking lines were changed in Traktor’s lineup. Francis Pare was replaced by Mikhail Mokin. The Rybakov line became the nominal top one; the Glinkin-Pestunov-Popov line was named the third one. The second line was comprised of Kruchinin, Penkovsky and Chistov. As far as the fourth line is concerned, it was centered by Osnovin, with Mokin and Ruzicka being his wingers.

In the first few minutes of the game, there was only one noteworthy episode when Pavel Koledov nearly drove the puck in his own net, but Loko goalie Vitali Kolesnik was there to make the save. Within the first stanza, both goalies were the most prominent characters on the ice as they turned aside all of the total 19 shots taken by both teams. Martin Ruzicka was the most active Traktor player; Czech forward tried to shoot on goal from every angle and position. Loko, on the other hand, focused on team efforts.

Just two minutes in, the opponents exchanged scoring chances created by Anton Glinkin and Sergei Konkov, but the respective goaltenders came out on top yet again. The very next minute could have proved to be fatal for the black-and-white when Kartayev and Kraskovsky tried to upset Demchenko, but Vasya saved Traktor for the zillionth time. Around mid-game mark, Lyubushkin gave up the puck in his own zone, but Alexei Kruchinin was unable to punish hosts for this blunder. Despite two zips, Loko seemed to be quicker and more assertive than Traktor, and this eventually resulted in two straight goals scored by the Railwaymen. First, Apalkov scored the go-ahead goal from close range after Demchenko coughed up a rebound; then, good ole’ Petri Kontiola upset his former teammates with a one-timer.

Yegor Korshkov tripled Loko’s lead six minutes into the third stanza. A couple of minutes later, Vyacheslav Osnovin got the first penalty of this contest, and the call was illegal check to the head. Lokomotiv did not press the issue, and the two minutes went without a hitch. Nonetheless, hosts were able to score once more, but the officials waived it off due to high sticking. Closer to the horn, the black-and-white got the only power play chance of the game, but nothing came out of it. Three nothing, Loko stays on top of the league standings while Traktor loses the second game in a row.

Game details

LOKOMOTIV vs. TRAKTOR – 3:0 (0:0, 2:0, 1:0)
Goals: Apalkov (Grigoryev, Averin), 36 (1:0); Kontiola (Averin), 39 (2:0); Korshkov (Kontiola), 46 (3:0).

LOKOMOTIV
Kolesnik;
Kronwall (C) – Hersley, Apalkov – Kontiola – Averin (A);
Pashnin (A) – Lyubushkin, Konkov – Loktionov – Mosalyov;
Gorokhov – Grigoryev, Maltsev – Kartayev – Galimov;
Koledov, Kapustin – Kraskovsky – Korshkov;
Ilyenko.

TRAKTOR
Demchenko;
Quint (C) – Borodkin, Gubarev – Rybakov – Kokuyov;
Petrov (A) – Khlystov, Chistov – Penkovsky – Kruchinin;
Zhuldikov – Davydov, Glinkin – Pestunov (A) – Popov;
Shinin, Mokin – Osnovin – Ruzicka;
Glovatsky.

Shots on goal: 33 (10+18+5) – 18 (9+5+4).
Faceoffs won: 23 (5+8+10) – 26 (11+9+6).
PIM: 2 (0+0+2) – 12 (0+0+12).
Shots blocked: 8 (1+2+5) – 14 (6+3+5).
Hits: 14 (7+3+4) – 14 (3+6+5).
PP goals: 0-0.
Ice time: Kronwall (20:50), Hersley (19:17), Gorokhov (18:15) – Davydov (21:06), Borodkin (19:18), Khlystov (18:35).

Referees: Alexei Vasilyev (Saint-Petersburg), Yakov Deyev (Moscow).
Linesmen: Pyotr Alyoshin, Yuri Ivanov (both – Saint-Petersburg).

October 14, 2015. Arena-2000-Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl, Russia. Attendance – 9000.