Breaking the habit
One
thing that sweetened the pill for Traktor before this game was Alexei Kruchinin making his return
after an injury. Ilya Zinovyev replaced Semyon Afonasyevsky in the
fourth line. Pavel Francouz was the starting
goalie.
The black-and-white scored an early goal to grab the lead. Some forty seconds into the bout, Kirill Koltsov sent the puck towards the slot where Alexander Sharov deflected it past Alexander Sudnitsyn and into the net. Five minutes later, Max Yakutsenya beat Lokomotiv goalie off the rebound. After the mid-period mark, Max scored his second of the game, sending Sudnitsyn to the bench in the process. This was Yakutsenya's 15th goal of the regular season, which is a repeat of his career high during one regular season. Plus, Max his six more games to set a new one.
Sure enough, Lokomotiv hit the ice in the second period, motivated enough to reverse the unfavorable situation. Hosts controlled the puck a lot, but the black-and-white were pretty solid in their defensive play. However, Pavel Kraskovsky managed to pull one back around the mid-game mark, giving Lokomotiv a glimmer of hope. A true test for visitors came late in the second when the Yaroslavl team had two straight power play opportunities; the black-and-white managed to kill off both of them and head to the last break with a two-goal advantage.
The third twenty was rather nervous for all Chelyabinsk fans; Lokomotiv put together all of their remaining strength and stamina in order to get back into this game. Hosts crossed the neutral zone rather easily, but as soon as they entered the attacking zone, the black-and-white D met them with tremendous defensive efforts. Moreover, Pavel Francouz was also pretty great in between the pipes. The combination of these two factors allowed Traktor to get a victory and break several bad tendencies, the main being a three-game cold streak. The black-and-white are now six points away from the fifth place occupied by Salavat Yulaev and can breathe an itty-bitty sigh of relief.
Game details
LOKOMOTIV vs. TRAKTOR – 1:3 (0:3, 1:0, 0:0)
Goals: Sharov (Pestunov, Koltsov), 1 (0:1); Yakutsenya (Szczechura, Koltsov), 7 (0:2); Yakutsenya (Kruchinin), 12 (0:3); Kraskovsky (Osipov, Polunin), 28 (1:3).
LOKOMOTIV
Sudnitsyn (Murygin, 12);
Koledov – Nakladal, Kozun – Kontiola – Talbot;
Lyubushkin – Gavrikov, Ilyenko – Kraskovsky – Kadeikin;
Pashnin – Rafikov, Galimov – Apalkov – Kartayev;
Osipov, Lugin – Loktionov – Averin, Polunin.
TRAKTOR
Francouz;
Belov – Borodkin, Kruchinin – Szczechura – Yakutsenya;
Koltsov – Denisov (C), Sharov – Pestunov (A) – Roy;
Alexei Petrov (A) – Klimontov, Mosharov – Novotny – Penkovsky;
Mamayev, Chernikov – Yuri Petrov – Zinovyev.
Shots on goal: 39 (10+15+14) – 22 (11+4+7).
Faceoffs won: 36 (10+12+13) – 22 (9+9+3).
Shots blocked: 3 (1+1+1) – 28 (12+6+10).
Hits: 15 (6+5+4) – 9 (2+1+6).
PIM: 2 (2+0+0) – 8 (2+6+0).
TOI: Nakladal (24:02), Koledov (23:37), Talbot (19:11) – Borodkin (26:05), Denisov (23:31), Belov (19:56).
Referees: Pavel Komarov, Yevgeni Gamaley.
Linesmen: Yuri Ivanov, Pyotr Alyoshin.
January 25, 2017. Arena-2000, Yaroslavl, Russia. Attendance – 8317.
Photo by Yaroslav Neelov
The black-and-white scored an early goal to grab the lead. Some forty seconds into the bout, Kirill Koltsov sent the puck towards the slot where Alexander Sharov deflected it past Alexander Sudnitsyn and into the net. Five minutes later, Max Yakutsenya beat Lokomotiv goalie off the rebound. After the mid-period mark, Max scored his second of the game, sending Sudnitsyn to the bench in the process. This was Yakutsenya's 15th goal of the regular season, which is a repeat of his career high during one regular season. Plus, Max his six more games to set a new one.
Sure enough, Lokomotiv hit the ice in the second period, motivated enough to reverse the unfavorable situation. Hosts controlled the puck a lot, but the black-and-white were pretty solid in their defensive play. However, Pavel Kraskovsky managed to pull one back around the mid-game mark, giving Lokomotiv a glimmer of hope. A true test for visitors came late in the second when the Yaroslavl team had two straight power play opportunities; the black-and-white managed to kill off both of them and head to the last break with a two-goal advantage.
The third twenty was rather nervous for all Chelyabinsk fans; Lokomotiv put together all of their remaining strength and stamina in order to get back into this game. Hosts crossed the neutral zone rather easily, but as soon as they entered the attacking zone, the black-and-white D met them with tremendous defensive efforts. Moreover, Pavel Francouz was also pretty great in between the pipes. The combination of these two factors allowed Traktor to get a victory and break several bad tendencies, the main being a three-game cold streak. The black-and-white are now six points away from the fifth place occupied by Salavat Yulaev and can breathe an itty-bitty sigh of relief.
Game details
LOKOMOTIV vs. TRAKTOR – 1:3 (0:3, 1:0, 0:0)
Goals: Sharov (Pestunov, Koltsov), 1 (0:1); Yakutsenya (Szczechura, Koltsov), 7 (0:2); Yakutsenya (Kruchinin), 12 (0:3); Kraskovsky (Osipov, Polunin), 28 (1:3).
LOKOMOTIV
Sudnitsyn (Murygin, 12);
Koledov – Nakladal, Kozun – Kontiola – Talbot;
Lyubushkin – Gavrikov, Ilyenko – Kraskovsky – Kadeikin;
Pashnin – Rafikov, Galimov – Apalkov – Kartayev;
Osipov, Lugin – Loktionov – Averin, Polunin.
TRAKTOR
Francouz;
Belov – Borodkin, Kruchinin – Szczechura – Yakutsenya;
Koltsov – Denisov (C), Sharov – Pestunov (A) – Roy;
Alexei Petrov (A) – Klimontov, Mosharov – Novotny – Penkovsky;
Mamayev, Chernikov – Yuri Petrov – Zinovyev.
Shots on goal: 39 (10+15+14) – 22 (11+4+7).
Faceoffs won: 36 (10+12+13) – 22 (9+9+3).
Shots blocked: 3 (1+1+1) – 28 (12+6+10).
Hits: 15 (6+5+4) – 9 (2+1+6).
PIM: 2 (2+0+0) – 8 (2+6+0).
TOI: Nakladal (24:02), Koledov (23:37), Talbot (19:11) – Borodkin (26:05), Denisov (23:31), Belov (19:56).
Referees: Pavel Komarov, Yevgeni Gamaley.
Linesmen: Yuri Ivanov, Pyotr Alyoshin.
January 25, 2017. Arena-2000, Yaroslavl, Russia. Attendance – 8317.
Photo by Yaroslav Neelov
