Amur put a screeching halt to Traktor’s winning streak

First period
The first goal-scoring chance of the game was created by Traktor – Chistov charged a one-timer after Kuznetsov’s pass, but Murygin made a save. Amur, on the other hand, was better in terms of speed, and this advantage quickly found its way on the scoreboard – Tarasov hit a nice backhander to pull Amur ahead. Three minutes later Amur doubled their lead – Pyörälä pushed through Traktor’s defensemen to make it a two-nothing game. The visiting team seemed to be totally off and could have gotten themselves in more trouble, but Garnett turned Hytönen’s tip-in aside. Later in the period Traktor evened the game somewhat and managed to create a couple of goal-scoring opportunities. Chistov’s crease shot was stopped by Murygin, and Kostitsyn hit the post after the breakaway.

Second period
Both teams did not pace themselves at the top of the period and went right to work. One minute elapsed, and Pyörälä could increase the goal margin. Traktor chose to answer with two checks by Kostitsyn; it also should be mentioned that the visiting team looked better in the power game. Shortly after that Amur got the power play and literally besieged Garnett’s net, but Traktor’s goaltender decided that he had already allowed just about all goals in this match. Hytönen, Petruzalek, Osipov – all came close to upsetting Garnett, but got no cigar, as the saying goes. Amur took a total of 20 shots during the period while Traktor responded only with 10, but still looked a bit better than the opponents. Amur could make it a 3-0 game seven minutes into the period when Petruzalek was left alone on the goal crease and tried to outsmart Garnett with a backhand shot, but Michael still had no intentions of letting anything in. Traktor then stood their ground during the shorthanded play and could pull one back, but Murygin first saved the goal after Yakutsenya’s tip-in, and then prevented the puck from going in after Kuznetsov took a shot to the upper corner.

Third period
Visitors were able to create more goal-scoring chances during the third period than during the previous two periods combined. Kostitsyn could not outplay Murigyn after the two-minute mark; then Glinkin and Kuznetsov tried their best to get Traktor back in it, but Murygin did not budge again. Nonetheless, Traktor was rewarded for the efforts – five minutes into the period Kontiola sent the puck deflected from the glass right into the net. However, referees nixed the goal on the assumption that there was high-sticking in Kontiola’s actions. Petri took a major exception to it and could score right away, but Murygin was on point yet again. Wrong goal or not, Traktor still pulled one back – Chistov charged a cunning low shot; Murygin was blocked by Bulis and did not see the puck. Later on the visiting team could have salvaged the seemingly lost match on several occasions, but neither Kuznetsov nor Kontiola managed to pull this off. Traktor’s six-match winning streak came to an end at the hands of Amur. Time will tell whether Traktor will be able to start a new streak this Monday in Novosibirsk.

Stats and details

Amur (Khabarovsk) vs Traktor (Chelyabinsk) – 2:1 (2:0, 0:0, 0:1)

Goals:Tarasov, 5 (1:0); Pyörälä, 8 (2:0); Chistov (Kuznetsov), 50 (2:1).

Amur (Khabarovsk)
Murygin;
Ozhiganov – Osipov (A), Pyörälä – Hytönen – Petruzalek,
V. Loginov – A. Loginov, Lugin – Nikulin – Tarasov (C),
Bilalov – Peretyagin, Shitikov – Korotkov – Yunkov,
Buturlin – Litovchenko – Belyaev.

Traktor (Chelyabinsk)
Garnett (0:00 – 59:57);
Quint – Ryabykin (A), Chistov – Bulis – Kuznetsov,
Belov – Vasilchenko, Yakutsenya – Kontiola – Kostitsyn,
Razin – Katichev, Panov (A) – Antipov (C) – Suglobov,
Nesterov – Shinin, Glinkin – Popov – Karpov.

Penalty Minutes: 4 (0+2+2) - 6 (2+4+0).
Shots: 44 (16+20+8) - 26 (5+10+11).
Faceoffs Won: 25 (7+8+10) - 30 (12+10+8).
Time on Ice: Osipov (26:13), Ozhiganov (24:02),A. Loginov (20:58) - Ryabykin (24:29), Quint (24:01), Bulis (21:05).
Power Play Goals: 0-0.

Referees: Anatoly Zakharov (Moscow), Pavel Komarov (Nizhny Novgorod).
Linesmen: Yevgeny Streltsov, Denis Tarasov (both – Nizhny Novgorod).

October 6, 2012, Platinum Arena, Khabarovsk, Russia. Attendance – 7100.

Photo courtesy of Amur’s Press Office