Just not enough

Kokuyov and Katichev returned to the line-up. Semen replaced Mokin in the fourth line, Yevgeny took Guskov's place in the third pair. Also, two first D pairs were mixed up a bit as Bondarev accompanied Ryabykin in the first pair while the second consisted of Kondratyev and Vasilchenko. Fokin was in the nets from the start, Demchenko became the substitute goalie.

First period
Traktor played more than 10 minutes of power play during the first twenty. In his very first shift Yevgeny Artyukhin was sent off with match penalty for kneeing Katichev, continuing a recent unfortunate string of illegal checks that nearly crippled Mike Murley of Medvescak and Petr Vrana of Lev. Then Kadeykin received double minor for high sticking. Traktor could punish Atlant on more than one occasion, but in some the hosts were unlucky and in some soild #1 Atlant goalie Galimov saved his team. However, all this was preceded by an always important quick goal on the road by Atlant (Engqvist). Then came the power play time for Traktor; hosting team created a litany of scoring chances, but all seemingly to no avail; however, one player had another opinion on that - Chistov found the back of the net with his trademark wrister. Traktor played shorthanded before the horn but successfully killed off this penalty and kept the score tied right up to the intermission.

Second period
Traktor had an auspicious start of the period - Jan Bulis scored his first goal of the season after Ryabykin sent the puck to the crease clearly in the hope for a timely deflection; Bulis gladly obliged and pulled Traktor ahead. Atlant got up off the canvas quickly and were on the hop in an effort to tie the game; their active play led to a little brawl between Kondratyev and Yashin. Kondratyev was rewarded with an additional deuce for roughing, and this was when Traktor could solidify the lead - Kontiola and Kostitsyn ran off for a breakaway, but spoiled this fine chance. As soon aseach bad guy left the sin bin, Atlant tied it up - Engqvist scored his second goal of the night.

Third period
The final twenty went on under the motto "We'd rather wait for our opponents to blunder'. The greatest chance for Traktor came with a mid-period power play; much to the chagrin of Chelyabinsk fans Galimov was unbeatable durng these two minutes. This came back to haunt Traktor five minutes prior to the buzzer - what nominally was a 5-on-5 goal in reality came about moments after Kontiola left the penalty box; Pavel Kopytin gave Atlant an important away win to boost team's confidence. Conversely, Traktor cannot taste victory for four games now and will try to put that unpleasant streak to a screeching halt in a Sunday game against Lokomotiv.

Game details

TRAKTOR vs. ATLANT – 2:3 (1:1, 1:1, 0:1)

Goals: Engqvist (Dyblenko), 2 (0:1); Chistov (Ryabykin, Bondarev), 15 (1:1 - PP goal); Bulis (Ryabykin), 22 (2:1 - PP goal); Engqvist (Igor Radulov), 38 (2:2); Kopytin (Engqvist, Igor Radulov), 56 (2:3).

TRAKTOR (Chelyabinsk)
Fokin (0:00 – 59:36);
Ryabykin (A) – Bondarev, Chistov – Bulis – Kuznetsov (A),
Kondratyev – Vasilchenko, Kostitsyn – Kontiola – Darzins,
Katichev – Borodkin, Panov (C) – Dugin – Abdullin,
Glinkin – Popov – Kokuyov.

ATLANT (Moscow Region)
Galimov;
Batyrshin – Novopashin, Koltsov (A) – Kablukov – Yashin,
Petrov (C) – Rukavishnikov, Shmelev – Engqvist (A) – Igor Radulov,
Dyblenko – Velikov, Levitskiy – Kadeykin – Artyukhin,
Niskala, Kopytin – Trubachev – Glukhov,
Shevchenko.

PIM: 15 (4+9+2) - 40 (33+5+2).
Shots: 22 (11+5+6) - 22 (5+8+9).
Faceoffs won: 19 (7+7+5) - 28 (12+10+6).
TOI: Ryabykin (25:47), Bondarev (24:09), Kuznetsov (20:52) - Batyrshin (22:05), Igor Radulov(20:34), Engqvist (20:15).
PP goals: 2-0.

Referees: Vyacheslav Bulanov, Aleksandr Cherenkov (both- Moscow).
Linesmen: Gleb Lazarev (Perm), Roman Menshikh (Tomsk).

October 18, 2013. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance - 7000.