Romazan Memorial Tournament. A confident victory for Traktor

First period
Yugra started off with a bang - Krivonozhkin took a half-zone shot turned away by Garnett. Traktor responded when Dugin couldn't outplay Biryukov.Goalies were the center of attention for couple more times in the minutes to come. Midway into the period Semyon Kokuyov got a power play for Traktor. During those two minutes Katichev charged a terrific blue-line slapshot; Bulis was there on the crease, but both times Biryukov was on the winning end of the episode. Later on a four-on-four and a subsequent goal came about; during incomplete full strength play Kontiola and Panov broke away for a two-on-one resulting in another Cap's preseason goal. Yugra got somewhat angry and tried to conjure up something to try to tie it up; Garnett had to dig down to the bottom of his chest of skills to stop the shot taken by Sitnikov. A minute before the buzzer Kostitsyn was penalized for tripping, but the opposition could not come up with anything worthy of mention before the sound of the horn.

Second period
Yugra started the period with one-man advantage, but still failed to capitalize on the chance. Garnett was impeccable this time, but not five minutes later when Magogin delivered a vicious slapshot to the top corner. The newly established score did not stand for long as right after the faceoff Darzins cut off the defense with a precise pass to Bulis. Traktor's resident Czech utilized the chance to perfection. Some time later great skills shown by Chistov gave Traktor a two-man advantage. Sweet and swift patented combination, Kuryanov to Bulis, Jan's second goal in two minutes and 3:1 on the scoreboard. Traktor seemed pretty confident, but Yugra jabbed back out of nowhere - as Guskov was ready to leave the sin bin, Shefer slapped from the blue line; Garnett was blocked by traffic in front of the net and did not see the moment the shot had been taken. 3:2 before the horn promised a hard-fought third period.

Third period
The period started out somewhat chaotic - the only notable moment occurred when Popov missed the puck by a whisker. Chaos stopped when Yugra was once again left 4-on-5. The Cap himself could seal the deal, but Biryukov managed somehow to move to the empty corner and stop the puck. Kostya got mad at himself and delivered a healthy check to Dyakov which, in ref's mind, was good enough for two minutes in the bad guys' box. Opponents then exchanged some heavy shots that did not find the mark. 90 seconds before the final buzzer Yugra pulled the goalie only to have Darzins secure Traktor's victory with an empty-netter. That was not all though - 4 seconds prior to the horn Tsybin broke away from the defense and tallied a penalty shot chance. Dmitry himself punished the opposition for unnecessary negligence and established the final score of the game in the process - 5:2.

Game details

TRAKTOR VS. YUGRA – 5:2 (1:0, 2:2, 2:0)

Goals: Panov (Kontiola, Vasilchenko), 17 (1:0); Magogin (Sitnikov), 26 (1:1 - PP); Bulis (Darzins, Kondratyev), 26 (2:1); Bulis (Kuryanov, Chistov), 28 (3:1 - PP); Shefer (Sitnikov), 34 (3:2); Darzins, 60 (4:2 – en); Tsybin, 60 (5:2 - penalty shot).
Shootouts: Knyazev (0:0 - wide), Kontiola (0:0 - denied by goaltender), Yakubov (0:0 - denied by goaltender), Darzins (1:0), Khlyntsev (1:0 - denied by goaltender), Kuryanov (1:0 - denied by goaltender).

Traktor (Chelyabinsk)
Garnett;
Mamashev – Bondarev, Chistov (A) – Kuryanov – Kokuyov,
Vasilchenko – Ryabykin (A), Panov (C) – Kontiola – Kostitsyn,
Kondratyev – Katichev, Darzins – Bulis – Dugin,
Flyagin – Guskov, Glinkin – Osipenko – Popov,
Tsybin.

Yugra (Khanty-Mansiysk)
Biryukov;
Tyulyapkin – Pepelyaev, Khlyntsev – Yakubov (C) – Zhukov,
Khvostov – Shefer, Sitnikov (A) – Magogin – Skorokhodov,
Galvins (A) – Dyakov, Knyazev – Gorbunov – Krivonozhkin,
Safronov – Putilov, Krysanov – Yatsenko – Bulyansky,
Olonov.

PIM: 12 (4+6+2) - 16 (4+6+6).
PP goals: 1-1.
Shots: 33 (9+11+13)- 39 (13+15+11).
Faceoffs won: 30 (10+9+11)- 30 (14+9+7).

Referees: Denis Bondar, Igor Tsepayev (both - Magnitogorsk).
Linesmen: Dmitry Smorodin, Valery Khudaygulov (both - Magnitogorsk).

August 26, 2013. Metallurg Arena, Magnitogorsk, Russia.