Lionhearts

SKA’s already strong roster became even stronger during the offseason when the management of the team signed several established veterans and up-and-coming stars, including Pavel Datsyuk, Sergey Plotnikov, Viktor Tikhonov, Alexander Khokhlachev, and Nikolay Prokhorkin. To top it off, two-time Gagarin Cup winner Oleg Znarok became team’s head coach. Many say the roster that SKA now possesses is the strongest in KHL history, and they are not far from the truth.

As far as Traktor is concerned, Anvar Gatiyatulin did not surprise and used the lines that were established during the two preseason tournaments. Michal Birner made his Traktor debut, accompanying Michal Repik and Artyom Penkovsky in the third line. Vasily Demchenko began the game in between the pipes, Pavel Francouz was his backup.

Hosts were clearly nervous in the first few minutes of this contest, but after several sharp attacks of SKA, the black-and-white started their offensive work, and it quickly paid off when Paul Szczechura beat Mikko Koskinen. The rest of the period went scoreless, even though SKA attempted to tie the game up. The pressure near Demchenko’s net continued to mount in the second period, and eventually Traktor buckled, and Yevgeny Dadonov kept up with the tradition of Chelyabinsk hockey school alums upsetting the local team. The third period was a lot like your typical playoff game – minimum risk, maximum focus. Traktor was visibly tired but kept hanging on until the OT where a nice three-way combo ended in a game-winning goal by Kirill Koltsov. Traktor looked on par with one of the best teams in the league, and that might be even more important than the win itself.

Today, Traktor is heading to Moscow to play against CSKA Thursday night.

Game details

TRAKTOR vs. SKA – 2:1 OT (1:0, 0:1, 0:0)
Goals: Szczechura (Yakutsenya, Kruchinin), 7 (1:0); Dadonov (Shipachyov, Gusev), 32 (1:1); Koltsov (Yuri Petrov, Chernikov), 63 (2:1).

TRAKTOR
Demchenko (Francouz);
Nikolay Belov – Borodkin, Kruchinin – Szczechura – Yakutsenya;
Koltsov – Zhuldikov, Sharov – Pestunov – Mirnov;
Shinin – Klimontov, Birner – Penkovsky – Repik;
Alexey Petrov, Chernikov – Yuri Petrov – Zinovyev;
Sholokhov.

SKA
Koskinen;
Zubarev – Voinov, Kovalchuk – Datsyuk – Plotnikov;
Khafizullin – Chudinov, Gusev – Shipachyov – Dadonov;
Yakovlev – Anton Belov, Moses – Prokhorkin – Khokhlachev;
Tikhonov – Koskiranta – Ketov, Dergachyov.

Shots on goal: 28 (7+15+5+1) – 33 (12+10+8+3).
Faceoffs won: 27 (8+12+6+1) – 34 (9+11+11+3).
Shots blocked: 11 (4+3+3+1) – 5 (0+1+4+0).
Hits: 3 (2+1+0+0) – 3 (2+1+0+0).
PIM: 2 (0+0+2+0) – 6 (0+4+2+0).
PP goals: 0-0.

Referees: Alexey Ravodin (Moscow), Martin Frano (Czech Republic).
Linesmen: Eduard Metalnikov, Alexander Sirotkin (both –Samara).

August 23, 2016. Traktor Arena n.a. Valeri Belousov. Attendance – 7500.