Traktor could not exorcise the shootout demons yet again

First period
Both teams seemingly took some time to get going, and Traktor seemed to have recovered from the lethargy first. Popov and Chistov had their shots stopped by Stana. CSKA’s forwards woke up shortly when Rylov and Aleksandr Radulov bothered Garnett and could very well succeed had they not accidentally knocked down Traktor’s goalie. Visitors had their say later on when Bulis and Yakutsenya had a two-on-one, but the latter missed the net. Traktor then lost their momentum after committing a foul. The one who picked up this momentum was Garnett who confidently dealt with shots by Marchenko and Datsyuk.

Second period
Traktor started the period with a one-man disadvantage but once again proved their supremacy in penalty killing. As soon as Traktor was back in full strength, visitors pulled ahead. After Stana turned Antipov’s shot aside, the puck deflected from one of CSKA defensemen’s skate and slowly crawled into the net. The game acquired the nerve right away; it resulted in five consecutive penalties from both sides combined. The most unpleasant situation occurred when Igor Radulov accidentally hit Garnett in the face with a stick, but luckily Michael was able to continue. Late in the second Kostitsyn had a great one-on-one chance, but Stana stopped him with a stick save. Both teams exchanged goal-scoring chances right before the break; Dugin could add the puck into the net from the crease but failed to; then in spirit of reciprocity Rylov had a hundred percent scoring chance, but somehow Garnett pulled off a save and kept his team in the lead.

Third period
Two minutes after the break Kostitsyn and Yakutsenya could have pretty much sealed the deal, but Andrey did not execute an accurate pass in a two-on-one situation. Traktor then failed to capitalize on the power play, and CSKA immediately came up with a suitable punishment; Datsyuk made a pass from behind the net that found Denisov; Denis fired an exceptionally accurate shot to the top corner and tied the match.It was only a warm-up though; shortly after Traktor was left shorthanded, but this did not faze Panov who first stole the puck on Traktor’s blue line and then spurted to CSKA’s net and found the goal with a scintillating wrist shot. Visitors were seemingly licking their chops thinking about the important three points when Datsyuk shattered Traktor’s dreams two minutes before the buzzer. Traktor had a chance to secure a victory without resorting to overtime, but the power play did not bring the desired result.

Overtime and penalty shootouts
None of the teams garnered the winning goal during the overtime. When the shootouts came along, CSKA fans excitingly popped for Pavel Datsyuk, sensing that this could be Traktor’s executioner. It turned out just like this; Pavel executed a masterpiece of a penalty shot that you should rather go and see on YouTube instead of just reading about it. 3:2 as a result; in a match where Traktor seemingly had a victory in their pocket, Chelyabinsk team has to settle for one point.

Stats and details

CSKA vs. Traktor – 3:2 SO (0:0, 0:1, 2:1, 0:0, 1:0)

Goals: Antipov (Panov), 23 (0:1); Denisov (Datsyuk, A. Radulov), 46 (1:1); Panov, 51 (1:2 – shorthanded); Datsyuk (I. Radulov, Shirokov), 58 (2:2); Datsyuk, 65 (3:2 – game-winning penalty shot).

Penalty Shootout: Yakutsenya (0:0 – missed), I. Radulov (0:0 – post), Kuznetsov (0:0 – goaltender), Datsyuk (1:0), Panov (1:0 – missed).

CSKA (Moscow)
Stana;
Marchenko – Rylov, I. Radulov – Datsyuk – A. Radulov (A),
Maenpaa – Denisov, Shirokov (C) – Persson – Zubov,
Sergeyev – Kondratyev, Kvasha – Grigorenko – Davis,
Gimayev, Zharkov – Sprukts – Barbashev.

Traktor (Chelyabinsk)
Garnett;
Quint – Ryabykin (A), Chistov – Kuznetsov – Lemtyugov,
Belov – Vasilchenko, Kostitsyn – Bulis – Yakutsenya,
Shinin – Katichev, Panov (A) – Dugin – Antipov (C),
Razin, Glinkin – Popov – Karpov.

Penalty Minutes: 10 (0+4+6+0) - 12 (4+6+2+0).
Shots: 27 (9+10+7+1) - 43 (10+12+18+3).
Faceoffs Won: 37 (7+15+12+3) - 24 (9+5+8+2).
Power Play Goals: 0-0.
Time on Ice: Denisov (25:35), Rylov (24:58), A. Radulov (23:19) - Ryabykin (26:47), Quint (25:41), Kuznetsov (23:22).

Referees: Denis Naumov, Roman Shchenev (both – Togliatti).
Linesmen: Eduard Metalnikov, Aleksandr Sirotkin (both – Samara).

January 6, 2013. CSKA Ice Palace, Moscow, Russia.

Photo courtesy of CSKA’s Press Office