Traktor with a firm victory over Neftekhimik

Panov and Antipov didn’t appear in the starting line-up. Yakutsenya took Panov’s place in the second line. Third line consisited of Razin, Katichev, Suglobov, Sayustov and Zakiev (the latter substituted Antipov in the starting line-up). Fourth line looked like this: Nesterov-Shinin, Glinkin-Popov-Karpov. Due to Antipov’s absence, Ryabykin was the team’s captain for the match, his assistants being Chistov and Razin.

First period

Traktor dominated the first period from the get-go. First Belov took a nice shot, but Dalton was on guard. Couple of shifts later Traktor pulled ahead – Chistov received a pass from Ryabykin abd wrapped around the net, giving Traktor the lead. Nail Yakupov was the most active Neftekhimik’s player. It was him who created two goal-scoring opportunities for this team, but Garnett was on point. Shortly after Traktor cemented the lead as Andrey Popov took a shot, and Karpov was there to deliver the puck right into the net. It was Maksim’s first KHL career goal. Both Traktor and Neftekhimik then had a power play, but the score remained the same as the teams headed for an intermission.

Second period

Second period was evenly matched with both teams having few goal-scoring chances. Neftekhimik’s fourth line could pull one back a couple of times, but Garnett was flawless. Middle-period Neftekhimik got a power play but failed to score as Traktor’s defensive performance was above all praise yet again. Several minutes later Traktor had their chance to capitalize on the power play, but to no avail.

Third period

The game’s somewhat soporific pace stayed intact for the better part of the third period with a few exceptions. Kostitsyn’s shot was stopped by Matt Dalton; in a similar situation Garnett turned Yakupov’s shot away with a pad save. Traktor still looked better and should have put an exclamation point on the match when Yakutsenya was in perfect position at the crease, but Dalton gave his team a chance to stay in it. To home team’s credit, they put together all they could to do just that, and five minutes before the final buzzer Oscar Osala pulled one back for his team. However, it was all Neftekhimik could create, and the final minute of the game saw Kostitsyn tally an empty net goal, thus establishing the final score – 3:1.

Stats and details

Neftekhimik (Nizhnekamsk) vs. Traktor (Chelyabinsk) 1:3 (0:2, 0:0, 1:1)

Goals: Chistov (Ryabykin, Bulis), 4 (0:1); Karpov (Popov, Glinkin), 11 (0:2);Osala (Cibak, Milovzorov), 55 (1:2); Kostitsyn, 60 (1:3 – empty net)

Neftekhimik (Nizhnekamsk)