Traktor Proves More Effective

Traktor Chelyabinsk – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 3:2 (1:1, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals: 20. Bulis (Chistov, Panov), 39. Glinkin (Popov), 45. Kukuyov (Piganovich) – 1. Netík (Bartovič), 36. Jeglič (Foster, Tičar)

Lineups:
Traktor: Garnett (Demchenko) – Quint, Katichev, Borodkin, Piganovich, Atyushov, Khlystov, Kostromitin – Panov, Chistov, Bulis – Penkovsky, Wilson, Kokuyov – Růžička, Glinkin, Popov – Sayustov, Toluzakov, Mokin
HC SLOVAN: Janus (Backlund) – Sigalet, Štajnoch, Bartovič, Surový, Netík – Baranka, Sersen, Hudáček, Nedorost, Vondrka – Starosta, Foster, Jeglič, Tičar, Nagy – Brejčák, Lunter, Bližňák, White

Slovan had the ideal start to the first game of their away trip. During the first line change, Milan Bartovič brought the puck into the zone and sent it into the scrummage in front of Garnett's net, where Tomáš Netík came out the winner to shoot Slovan into the lead - 0:1. Matikainen's men then dictated the tempo of the game, often putting the home defence under pressure. Netík had another decent chance, while Tičar shot dangerously, as did stout defenseman Kurtis Foster in a powerplay. Traktor's first serious chance came in the 11th minute - the third line outfoxed the Slovan defence, and Janus had to pull off a fine save to keep out Růžička. A foul from Bližňák then helped Traktor get a foothold, but Janus repelled a number of good shots. The Traktor fans finally got to celebrate their first goal in the final minute when the puck found its way past Janus off the stick of Jan Bulis 1:1. 

In the 22nd minute, it was Garnett's turn to make a save, catching Nedorost's testing shot from the left wing. The goalie from overseas shone again a couple of minutes later, stopping Netík from celebrating his second. The second line - specifically Vondrka - also had a chance, but he couldn't make use of Hudáček's cross-shot, and Ladislav Nagy shot just wide moments later. Chistov's attacking line then paraded about in front of Janus - our defence had their work cut out to clear the puck to safety - and the hosts also threatened in a powerplay after Foster's foul. In the 32nd minute, a foul on Milan Bartovič resulted in a penalty shot, but the puck got away from the captain's stick as he attempted a feint. In the 37th minute Slovan regained the lead – Tičar found Foster, and Žiga Jeglič got a fine touch on the puck to send it into the net - 1:2. But the game was again all square within three minutes - Traktor ran rings around the shorthanded Slovan and Glinkin hit the target - 2:2. 

Five minutes into the final period, Kokuyov got the puck between the circles and gave Traktor the lead for the first time in the game - 3:2. Chelyabinsk could then have doubled their lead, but Janus was able to catch Quint's effort. Slovan pushed for an equaliser, two players challenging Traktor deep in their zone, and Garnett made important saves off Starosta and Sersen. The home goalie again displayed fine form to deny Rok Tičar, deflecting the puck onto the post. But Slovan had to think about the back door as well - Růžička could have settled the game from an overlap in the 55th minute. Slovan pulled their goalie late in the show, but this failed to produce an equaliser. Thus Slovan leaves Chelyabinsk empty-handed.

Petri Matikainen: It's a tough defeat for us, because our performance was a good one. Above all in the first two periods, we skated well, were decisive in front of goal, created pressure and had plenty of scoring opportunities. We were in the lead twice, but the home side always had a reply. Unfortunately we need an excessive number of chances to score a goal. I think our games will improve, but this is a high-quality competition - there are no weak opponents - so we will have to perform even better, in every area.