Battleship

The only change that took place in Traktor’s lineup was Nikita Zhuldikov replacing team captain Alexander Shinin. Therefore, the C letter appeared on the jersey of Vladimir Denisov.

The black-and-white began this game in a very active manner, and it seemed as though Admiral was not ready for this kind of pressure. Rather early, visitors opened the score when Alexander Pankov had to only hit the empty net to pull Traktor ahead. Closer to the end of the period, Admiral started getting into the groove, but Pavel Francouz was impeccable in between the pipes.

The second twenty was rather uneventful, despite several penalties, including a disciplinary 2+10 for the goalscorer in Alexander Pankov. Still, nothing of note happened during these power play minutes, except for a Paul Szczechura breakaway; unfortunately for Traktor fans, the Canadian did not find the back of the net.

The black-and-white opted to play cautious hockey in the third twenty; however, it did not stop them from stinging Admiral with sharp counterattacks. During one of the those counters, Yuri Petrov could not beat hosts’ goalie Maxim Tretyak, who was playing this game under the attention of his famous grandfather. Both seemed looked exhausted closer to the end of the game. Eventually, Admiral pulled the goalie but were still unable to upset Francouz. Traktor gets a W and brings home six points out of possible nine out from the farthest away series of the season.

Game details

ADMIRAL vs. TRAKTOR – 0:1 (0:1, 0:0, 0:0)
Goal: Pankov (Koltsov, Chernikov), 7 (0:1).

ADMIRAL
Tretyak (58:54-60:00 – empty net);
Bartulis (C) – Gavrilenko, Tkachyov – Fisenko – Sabolic;
Volchenkov – Zemchyonok, Akeson – Wright – Krasnoslobodtsev;
Mnatsyan – Konev, Kazakov – Yakovlev – Sigaryov;
Kurashov, Gorshkov – Mamin – Voronin, Makarenko.

TRAKTOR
Francouz;
Borodkin – Belov, Yakutsenya – Szczechura – Vesce;
Koltsov – Denisov (C), Chernikov – Yuri Petrov – Pankov;
Alexei Petrov (A) – Klimontov, Kruchinin – Pestunov (A) – Afonasyevsky;
Zhuldikov, Gubarev – Sharov – Zinovyev, Sholokhov.

Shots on goal: 29 (11+7+11) – 23 (9+5+9).
Faceoffs won: 37 (11+11+15) – 24 (16+6+2).
Shots blocked: 6 (3+2+1) – 11 (2+2+7).
Hits: 18 (8+6+4) – 6 (2+3+1).
PIM: 2 (0+2+0) – 24 (0+14+10).
TOI: Bartulis (26:29), Zemchyonok (22:24), Fisenko (18:58) – Belov (21:50), Denisov (21:06), Borodkin (20:39).

Referees: Alexander Sergeyev, Alexander Soin.
Linesmen: Dmitri Golovlyov, Roman Shikhanov.

October 23, 2016. Fetisov Arena, Vladivostok, Russia. Attendance – 5514.