Kings of shootouts
Andrei
Popov returned to the lineup after missing a month with an
injury and took a spot in the top line. Therefore, Alexander Rybakov had to be moved to the third one to accompany his
longtime partners, Semyon Kokuyov and Danil Gubarev. Alexander
Sharov became the center of the fourth line while Osnovin was moved to the right wing of the second one. A couple of changes
took place in the D as Martynov accompaniedNovak in the first pair; Petrov and Khlystov constituted the fourth pair. Demchenko was the starting goalie.
Six minutes in, Traktor opened the score. Deron Quint took a shot from the point, and the puck went in, having touched no one on the way (despite some heavy traffic organized by the black-and-white’s third line. Soon enough, the hosts could have increased the lead, but a brilliant pass by Semyon Afonasyevsky was in vain as Kruchinin could not quite hit the bouncing puck. Medvescak also had a sure-fire chance on goal, but Demchenko beat Genoway, and a rebound shot was blocked by Alexei Petrov.
Traktor amped up the pressure in the second period, organizing one fine combination after another, while Medvescak played their trademark hard-hitting hockey, which resulted in a blatant hit delivered by Blake Parlett to young Afonasyevsky. Semyon had to leave the ice, and Medvescak D-man was awarded with a two plus ten penalty. As far as the scoring chances go, a couple of the most memorable ones were created by the black-and-white. Five minutes in, Glinkin hit the D-man with his shot after a terrific tic-tac-toe that involved Pestunov and Yakutsenya. Plus, six minutes before the horn, during a power play chance, Alexander Shinin lasered a pass to the far post instead of taking a shot by himself, but Rybakov just missed the net.
Medvescak mustered all their strength to try and tie this game up, and boy were they close to doing so eight minutes into the period. Nonetheless, Demchenko was able to keep Traktor ahead with a masterful save. Unfortunately, four minutes before the end of the game even Vasya could not save the black-and-white after a cannon from the point by Tuukka Mäntylä. Once again, 60 minutes of regulation was not enough for Traktor, and the game went into the OT. It went rather calmly, bar one scoring chance created by Kokuyov and Rybakov. Alas, Alexander missed the net yet again. When it was time to get into the shootouts, everybody knew what was coming, and indeed it was a Traktor victory for the ninth time in this season. The black-and-white get two points and are now preparing to meet Slovan (and possibly Michael Garnett) on December 30.
Game details
TRAKTOR vs. MEDVESCAK – 2:1 SO (1:0, 0:0, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Goals: Quint (Gubarev, Rybakov), 8 (1:0); Mäntylä (Gysbers, Saarinen), 56 (1:1 – PP goal); Yakutsenya, 65 (2:1 – game-winning penalty shot).
Shootouts: Smolenak (0:0 – denied by goalie), Glinkin (1:0), Genoway (1:0 – denied by goalie), Yakutsenya (2:0).
TRAKTOR
Demchenko;
Novak – Martynov, Glinkin – Popov – Yakutsenya;
Borodkin – Denisov, Ruzicka – Pestunov (A) – Osnovin;
Shinin – Quint (C), Gubarev – Rybakov – Kokuyov;
Petrov (A) – Khlystov, Afonasyevsky – Sharov – Kruchinin.
MEDVESCAK
Taylor;
Morrisonn – Parlett, Saarinen – Mertl – Smolenak (A);
Mäntylä (A) – Gysbers, Bolduc – Brule – Bjorkstrand;
Katic – Jurcina, Jämtin – Genoway – Hedberg;
Deutsch, Arkalov – Perkovich – Glumac (C).
Shots on goal: 37 (13+13+8+3) – 32 (10+8+13+1).
Faceoffs won: 32 (9+9+10+4) – 40 (14+14+8+4).
PIM: 8 (4+0+4+0) – 32 (4+28+0+0).
Shots blocked: 10 (2+2+6+0) – 11 (2+7+1+1).
Hits: 20 (7+3+8+2) – 23 (4+11+8+0).
PP goals: 0-1.
Ice time: Martynov (23:36), Novak (22:13), Denisov (19:23) – Morrisonn (24:39), Gysbers (22:55), Mäntylä (21:18).
Referees: Sergei Belyayev (Moscow Oblast), Yevgeni Gamaley (Moscow).
Linesmen: Andrei Matyusha (Barnaul), Yakov Paley (Magnitogorsk).
December 28, 2015. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 5000.
Six minutes in, Traktor opened the score. Deron Quint took a shot from the point, and the puck went in, having touched no one on the way (despite some heavy traffic organized by the black-and-white’s third line. Soon enough, the hosts could have increased the lead, but a brilliant pass by Semyon Afonasyevsky was in vain as Kruchinin could not quite hit the bouncing puck. Medvescak also had a sure-fire chance on goal, but Demchenko beat Genoway, and a rebound shot was blocked by Alexei Petrov.
Traktor amped up the pressure in the second period, organizing one fine combination after another, while Medvescak played their trademark hard-hitting hockey, which resulted in a blatant hit delivered by Blake Parlett to young Afonasyevsky. Semyon had to leave the ice, and Medvescak D-man was awarded with a two plus ten penalty. As far as the scoring chances go, a couple of the most memorable ones were created by the black-and-white. Five minutes in, Glinkin hit the D-man with his shot after a terrific tic-tac-toe that involved Pestunov and Yakutsenya. Plus, six minutes before the horn, during a power play chance, Alexander Shinin lasered a pass to the far post instead of taking a shot by himself, but Rybakov just missed the net.
Medvescak mustered all their strength to try and tie this game up, and boy were they close to doing so eight minutes into the period. Nonetheless, Demchenko was able to keep Traktor ahead with a masterful save. Unfortunately, four minutes before the end of the game even Vasya could not save the black-and-white after a cannon from the point by Tuukka Mäntylä. Once again, 60 minutes of regulation was not enough for Traktor, and the game went into the OT. It went rather calmly, bar one scoring chance created by Kokuyov and Rybakov. Alas, Alexander missed the net yet again. When it was time to get into the shootouts, everybody knew what was coming, and indeed it was a Traktor victory for the ninth time in this season. The black-and-white get two points and are now preparing to meet Slovan (and possibly Michael Garnett) on December 30.
Game details
TRAKTOR vs. MEDVESCAK – 2:1 SO (1:0, 0:0, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Goals: Quint (Gubarev, Rybakov), 8 (1:0); Mäntylä (Gysbers, Saarinen), 56 (1:1 – PP goal); Yakutsenya, 65 (2:1 – game-winning penalty shot).
Shootouts: Smolenak (0:0 – denied by goalie), Glinkin (1:0), Genoway (1:0 – denied by goalie), Yakutsenya (2:0).
TRAKTOR
Demchenko;
Novak – Martynov, Glinkin – Popov – Yakutsenya;
Borodkin – Denisov, Ruzicka – Pestunov (A) – Osnovin;
Shinin – Quint (C), Gubarev – Rybakov – Kokuyov;
Petrov (A) – Khlystov, Afonasyevsky – Sharov – Kruchinin.
MEDVESCAK
Taylor;
Morrisonn – Parlett, Saarinen – Mertl – Smolenak (A);
Mäntylä (A) – Gysbers, Bolduc – Brule – Bjorkstrand;
Katic – Jurcina, Jämtin – Genoway – Hedberg;
Deutsch, Arkalov – Perkovich – Glumac (C).
Shots on goal: 37 (13+13+8+3) – 32 (10+8+13+1).
Faceoffs won: 32 (9+9+10+4) – 40 (14+14+8+4).
PIM: 8 (4+0+4+0) – 32 (4+28+0+0).
Shots blocked: 10 (2+2+6+0) – 11 (2+7+1+1).
Hits: 20 (7+3+8+2) – 23 (4+11+8+0).
PP goals: 0-1.
Ice time: Martynov (23:36), Novak (22:13), Denisov (19:23) – Morrisonn (24:39), Gysbers (22:55), Mäntylä (21:18).
Referees: Sergei Belyayev (Moscow Oblast), Yevgeni Gamaley (Moscow).
Linesmen: Andrei Matyusha (Barnaul), Yakov Paley (Magnitogorsk).
December 28, 2015. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance – 5000.
