I against I

Vladimir Denisov returned to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension. Ilya Zinovyev and Danil Gubarev took their spots in the fourth line. Plus, after taking some time off, Vasily Demchenko was once again the starting goalie.

Avangard suffered three straight losses on home ice before this bout, so it is not surprising that they were ready to rock and roll from the start. Their active play led to a Penkovsky penalty that was uneventful. Hosts continued attacking, and one of those attacks ended in a well-organized goal scored by former Traktorian Nikolay Lemtyugov.

Just like the first twenty, the second period started with a penalty, but this time around it was an Avangard player who went to the sin bin. The black-and-white were rather active but could not upset Furch. Another penalty suffered by Vladimir Denisov led to Denis Parshin doubling the goal differential. Visitors had a chance to pull one back before the second break, but Max Yakutsenya sent the puck into the post.

Avangard calmed down in the third period, and this almost cost them the game. Some heavy forechecking employed by Traktor resulted in a goal scored by Alexander Sharov off of a rebound. A couple of minutes later, Yuri Petrov had an opportunity to tie it up, but his shot was stopped by Dominik Furch. Unfortunately, all of the black-and-white efforts to salvage this game were futile, and Maxim Pestushko sealed the deal on this one with an empty net goal. Traktor brings to Chelyabinsk 4 out of possible 9 points and has some time to recuperate before heading to a short two-game away series to play against Magnitka and Salavat, the team that is currently on a roll.

Game details

AVANGARD vs. TRAKTOR – 3:1 (1:0, 1:0, 1:1)
Goals: Lemtyugov (Kulik, Zubov), 13 (1:0); Parshin (Zubov, Gustafsson), 29 (2:0 – PP goal); Sharov (Borodkin, Zinovyev), 50 (2:1); Pestushko, 60 (3:1 – empty net goal).

AVANGARD
Furch;
Martynov (C) – Medvedev, Roy – Sobotka – Perezhogin;
Gustafsson – Ahnelöv, Parshin – Zubov – Lemtyugov;
Kulik – Nikitin, Pestushko – Pyanov – Khokhryakov;
Dervuk – Mineyev, Mikheyev – Kucheryavenko – Maltsev.

TRAKTOR
Demchenko (59:07 – 59:41 – empty net);
Koltsov – Belov, Mirnov – Pestunov – Yakutsenya;
Denisov – Borodkin, Birner – Szczechura – Pankov;
Shinin (C) – Zhuldikov, Chernikov – Yuri Petrov – Penkovsky;
Alexey Petrov, Gubarev – Sharov – Zinovyev, Sholokhov.

Shots on goal: 21 (11+8+2) – 36 (4+16+16).
Faceoffs won: 28 (10+8+10) – 27 (7+11+9).
Shots blocked: 5 (0+4+1) – 6 (2+1+3).
Hits: 15 (12+1+2) – 15 (7+6+2).
PIM: 8 (0+4+4) – 16 (2+4+10).
PP goals: 1-0.
TOI: Medvedev (24:57), Gustafsson (21:51), Nikitin (20:14) – Belov (22:10), Koltsov (21:19), Szczechura (19:08).

Referees: Daniel Konz (Germany), Alexey Belov.
Linesmen: Pyotr Alyoshin, Alexander Nesterov.

October 1, 2016. Arena Omsk, Omsk, Russia. Attendance – 7820.

Photo courtesy of Avangard Press Office