Failed shootouts cost Traktor one point

Jan Bulis returned to the lineup and filled Kuznetsov's spot in the top line. Thus, Chistov was relegated to the third line to play along Panov and Zavarukhin. The only change in the defensive combinations was Khlystov replacing Artamonov.

The match began with a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of bombings in Volgograd. Traktor fan sector prepared a banner appropriate to the occasion and kept silence for the first 10 minutes of the game.

First period
Despite having more puck possession throughout the first twenty, Lev did not look more sharp in their attacks than Traktor. Not even a minute into the game Vehanen stopped a savvy shot by Kostitsyn. Traktor, however, did not follow it up and was left shorthanded. Lev had a couple of decent shots, but the match remained scoreless. Later on Jan Bulis waged a mini-war on the opponents' crease, but was stopped with a timely block. After this, both teams took a rather long and deep breather which ended closer to the horn when Lev embarked on a long assault of Garnett's net. This resulted in fireworks, but not the ones visitors were hoping for - Kondratyev and Vrana got into a little barroom brawl that was won on points by Traktor D-man. Before the horn Traktor had a PP, but did not manage to squeeze out a goal out of it.

Second period
The second period, being the mirror image of the first one, saw Traktor dominate on the offensive end. First off Chistov put his brilliant stick handling to good use and had a rendezvous with Vehanen; unfortunately, Finnish goalie did not seem to be an art connoisseur, otherwise he would not dare stop Stanislav. Nonetheless, some time later came the opening goal of this game; the returning Bulis caught a rebound and directed in into the net. Both teams then exchanged scoring chances that did not change the score (this includes Bulis hitting the post). What did change the score, though, was Novotny deflecting the rubber into the goal ten seconds prior to the horn.

Third period
Traktor began picking up the pace right from the start and, after a chance on goal by Borodkin going awry, pulled ahead for the second time in this match; Kontiola did all the work and hit the empty goal. Later on Michael Garnett, who rarely got a mention during this review, once again proved he is the undisputed #1 goalie; Garnett turned away four consecutive shots and a one-on-one by Thornberg. Alas, Garnett's magic did not work when Ullström redirected the puck into the goal, thus tying the game up and sending it into OT.

OT and shootouts
Both teams had good scoring chances during the overtime, but eventually it boiled down to the shootouts. Once again Traktor came out on the losing end; Jakub Klepis gave visitors two points with a well-executed penalty shot.

Game details

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

Goals: Bulis (Kondratyev, Kostitsyn), 25 (1:0 – PP goal); Novotny (Sevc), 40 (1:1); Kontiola (Bulis), 43 (2:1); Ullström (Azevedo, Novotny), 55 (2:2 – PP goal); Klepis, 65 (2:3 – game-winning penalty shot).

TRAKTOR
Garnett;
Ryabykin (C) – Bondarev, Bulis (A) – Kontiola (A) – Kostitsyn;
Kondratyev – Vasilchenko, Glinkin – Popov – Kokuyov;
Katichev – Borodkin, Chistov – Zavarukhin – Panov;
Khlystov – Klimontov, Abdullin – Valeyev – Mokin.

LEV
Vehanen;
Sevc – Mäenpää, Azevedo – Novotny (C) – Ullström;
Oystrick (A) – Nemec,Sekac – Zackrisson – Thornberg;
Jaakola – Gragnani, Ridderwall – Vrana (A) – Klepis;
Mikus – Nakladal, Matai – Cingel – Repik.

PIM: 8 (4+2+2+0) - 10 (4+6+0+0).
Shots: 20 (3+8+6+3) - 33 (11+8+13+1).
Faceoffs won: 22 (5+10+5+2) - 35 (9+10+16+0).
TOI: Kondratyev (21:38), Bondarev (20:49), Glinkin (20:41) - Klepis (21:42), Sekac (21:25), Novotny (21:05).
PP goals: 1-1.

January 3, 2014. Traktor Arena, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Attendance - 7000.