Close second

Filip Novak played his first Traktor game, taking a spot in the second D pair along with Ilya Davydov. Zhuldikov accompanied Klimontov in the fourth pair. The attacking lines remained intact. Demchenko was once again the starting goalie while the returning Pavel Francouz was his substitute.

Magnitka seized control of the puck early on and were closing to getting ahead, but Vasili Demchenko was solid in between the pipes. After a starting flurry by the hosts, Traktor evened the game out and started to creep on the go-ahead goal. Two Metallurg penalties helped the black-and-white a great deal. Even though the Timkin penalty went without a hitch for the hosts, the second one could have proved to be fatal had Glinkin found the back of the net instead of the iron.

The second twenty saw the opponents finally break the goal silence. First, the new guy on the block Filip Novak made an accurate pass to Ilya Davydov who pulled Traktor ahead with just as accurate a shot. Metallurg tied it up several minutes later; two consecutive penalties by Osnovin and Pestunov were too big an advantage for Magnitka to have it slip by, and Sergei Mozyakin found the twine, sending the puck into the near corner to beat Demchenko. Traktor got an answer to that four minutes before the horn. Chistov skated into the attacking zone, tried to take shot, the puck bounced off to Penkovsky who put away his first season goal. After that, Demchenko kept Traktor in the lead with superb goaltending in close range.

Mikhail Mokin was close to increasing the black-and-white’s lead but could not send the rubber past Vasili Koshechkin. Shortly thereafter, Traktor got a power play chance; in a scuffle near the net, Rybakov sent the puck back towards the point where Artyom Borodkin was standing, and the latter delivered a devastating bomb to the top corner of the net. The nerve of the game was palpable, and Klimontov along with Osala decided to release this pressure by dropping the gloves. And then, Davydov got an unnecessary penalty that was quickly converted by Danis Zaripov. Quickly, Magnitka got another PP chance, and after Demchenko was blocked by a heap of players lying around the crease, Mozyakin added the puck into the net to tie it up. Then, one minute into overtime, Zaripov beat Demchenko with a slapper to give hosts the win.

Game details

METALLURG Magnitogorsk vs. TRAKTOR – 4:3 OT (0:0, 1:2, 2:1, 1:0)
Goals: Davydov (Novak, Glinkin), 21 (0:1); Mozyakin (Filippi), 29 (1:1 – PP goal); Penkovsky (Chistov, Khlystov), 36 (1:2); Borodkin (Rybakov), 49 (1:3 – PP goal); Zaripov (Mozyakin), 57 (2:3 – PP goal); Mozyakin (Zaripov, Potekhin), 59 (3:3 – PP goal); Zaripov (Mozyakin, Batyrshin), 61 (4:3).

METALLURG
Koshechkin;
Antipin – Biryukov (A), Mozyakin (C) – Filippi – Zaripov (A);
Khabarov – Lee, Kosov – Kaletnik – Potekhin;
Batyrshin – Tereshchenko, Osala – Zhelezkov – Timkin;
Bereglazov – Medvedev, Platonov – Kharytinsky – Arsenyuk.

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

Shots on goal: 39 (13+9+16+1) – 25 (5+9+11+0).
Faceoffs won: 23 (9+7+7+0) – 26 (9+2+14+1).
PIM: 25 (4+12+9+0) – 27 (2+4+21+0).
Shots blocked: 9 (3+3+3+0) – 8 (2+3+3+0).
Hits: 16 (6+3+6+1) – 15 (3+7+5+0).
PP goals: 0-0.
Ice time: Filippi (23:48), Antipin (23:16), Mozyakin (22:42) – Borodkin (24:05), Novak (23:47), Quint (23:31).

Referees: Alexei Anisimov (Moscow), Denis Naumov (Togliatti).
Linesmen: Konstantin Gordenko, Dmitri Parfyonov (both – Ufa).

October 18, 2015. Metallurg Arena, Magnitogorsk, Russia. Attendance – 7520.