Traktor versus the boards

Traktor line-up is rarely unchanged, and this game was no exception. Aleksey Vasilchenko recovered from an injury and returned to the first D pair, accompanied by Ryabykin who, by the way, played his 1000th game in Russian's upper hockey echelon. Kontiola's line was the top one for this game, Chistov-Bulis-Kuznetsov became the second one. Fourth line consisted of D-men Khlystov and Artamonov and forwards Valeyev, Osnovin and Mokin. Aleksandr Danilishin was the substitute goalie for the game.

First period
Avtomobilist began the match in a rather unceremonious manner, locking Traktor up in the defensive zone several times, even though not creating anything substantial. Traktor shrugged it off and got to work - Popov outplayed two defensemen, but Kovar stood still and stopped his shot. Shortly after Traktor was down two men, and these were troubled times for the black-and-white. Traktor toughed it out though; Borodkin threw himself selflessly in puck's way a couple of times to show that the team was ready to leave it all on the ice. Since then and until the horn, there was the only team on the attack - first Kovar stopped a scoring chance by Borodkin, then Kuznetsov missed the corner of the net by a whisker. Two zips on the board after the first period.

Second period
Business really picked up in the second twenty. Three minutes into the period the score was opened; Kontiola to Kostitsyn and into the net that was almost torn by Andrey's cannonball of shot. Emotions were running high; Deveaux tried to avenge himself on Katichev for a hit in the first game between the opponents, trying to get Zhenya to fight, but he did not fall for this trick. Traktor picked up the pace by then, and only solid performance by Jakub Kovar kept Avto in the game. Visitors had a fair share of their scoring chances, yet Michael Garnett unfailingly turned these threats aside. As some fans were already hitting the concession stands, Avto tied the game. Home boards did not help Traktor as an unpredictable rebound landed right on Chernov's stick who directed the rubber into the net. The clock stopped twenty seconds before the buzzer.

Third period
The nerve of the match started to show right at the top of the period. Traktor quickly pulled ahead; Osnovin hit a wonderful wrister to the top corner. However, a veteran fan could tell you this was not it for the game. If you were one of those fans, your gut did not fail you. The unfortunate happened midway through the period; the puck bounced of the board behind Garnett's net, then off his pad and found its way in the back of the net. Before the horn Traktor had two power play chances, but nothing came in either because of Kovar or Traktor players' inaccuracy. 15 seconds before the horn Traktor was left shorthanded which translated into three on four due to OT regulations.

OT and shootouts
Traktor killed off the penalty at the top of the OT; the highlight of this episode was two shots blocked by Bulis. The game rolled into penalty shootouts. Unfortunately for the black-and-white clad fans, Fedor Malykhin gave Avtomobilist the win in hockey lottery.

Game details

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

Goals: Kostitsyn (Kontiola), 25 (1:0 – PP goal); Chernov (Tryamkin, Malykhin), 40 (1:1); Osnovin (Valeyev), 43 (2:1); Megalinskiy, 49 (2:2); Malykhin, 65 (2:3 – game-winning penalty shot).

TRAKTOR (Chelyabinsk)
Garnett;
Vasilchenko – Ryabykin (C), Dugin – Kontiola – Kostitsyn,
Kondratyev – Bondarev, Chistov – Bulis (A) – Kuznetsov (A),
Katichev – Borodkin, Glinkin – Popov – Kokuyov,
Khlystov – Artamonov, Valeyev – Osnovin – Mokin.

AVTOMOBILIST (Yekaterinburg)
Kovar;
Gusev (C) – Tryamkin, Yefimov – Levandovsky – Deveaux,
Yegin – Lepistö (A), Chernov – Malykhin – Lazarev,
Megalinskiy – Antonov, Demagin – Yemeleyev – Simakov (A),
Zhuravlev – Rybnitskiy, Arkalov – Streltsov – Golyshev.

PIM: 10 (4+2+4+0) - 12 (2+4+6+0).
Shots: 23 (5+8+8+2) - 23 (8+7+8+0).
Faceoffs won: 17 (4+6+7+0) - 36 (9+13+13+1).
TOI: Ryabykin (27:10), Vasilchenko (25:02), Kondratyev (21:08) - Lepistö (24:16), Malykhin (21:38), Lazarev (21:23).
PP goals: 1-0.

Referees: Rafael Kadyrov (Ufa), Sergey Karabanov (Moscow).
Linesmen: Yevgeny Petrov, Ivan Fateyev (both - Omsk).

December 5, 2013. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance - 7000.