Traktor fought back three times, but lost to Vityaz in shootouts

Traktor finished the away series in Balashikha, where they lost to Vityaz in shootouts. Guests have goals on account of Nikita Soshnikov, Anton Burdasov and Alexei Byvaltsev.

Compared to the previous victorious game against Spartak, there were several changes in the composition of the Chelyabinsk team. The place at the gate was taken by Kirill Ustimenko, as Sergey Mylnikov fell ill. Ilya Proskuryakov was on the bench. In defense, Alexander Bryntsev is declared the seventh defender, and Artem Blazhievsky, who has been criticized a lot this season, is out of the squad. Also, Anvar Gatiyatulin fulfilled his promise to find a place in the playing squads for junior Alexander Rykov. The talented striker entered the match on the third line instead of Temu Pulkkinen. Kirill Kapustin, who returned from injury, was announced as the 13th forward.

Vityaz started the match inhospitably, and already in the third minute Stepan Starkov finished off the puck, which Kirill Ustimenko failed to press to the ice. However, soon the Chelyabinsk defenders sent Nikita Soshnikov to the solo passage to the gates of Maxim Drozhko. Forward “Tractor” did not miss his chance and equalized the score. The goals in the first period did not end there. At the 15th minute, Vityaz legionnaire Tyler Graovac accurately shot into the near corner. Note that there were certain questions to Ustimenko regarding the second puck.

In the second period, an equal game continued, in which the guests were more fortunate. Anton Burdasov with a barely visible movement corrected the puck into the goal after the transfer of Alexei Byvaltsev. But at the end of the playing segment, the Vityaz players missed the empty net twice and eventually went on a break with an equal score.

The beginning of the third period was marked by a spectacular fight between Ilya Karpukhin and Nikita Goncharov. Goncharov firmly put Chelyabinsk Roman Manukhov on board, and Karpukhin stood up for his partner with dignity. There were no knockouts, but Ilya won on points. But the hosts managed to score a goal. Vladislav Kara immediately realized the removal of the Chelyabinsk defender Albert Yarullin. But for the third time in this match, Traktor bounced back: 9 seconds before the end of normal time, with the goalkeeper removed, Alexei Byvaltsev successfully put his stick under Anton Burdasov’s throw.

Vityaz actively played overtime, and Ustimenko saved his team more than once. However, shootouts could not be avoided. It should be noted that Ilya Proskuryakov entered the series of post-match shots at the Chelyabinsk team. Unfortunately, it didn’t bring any luck. The hosts hit Proskuryakov’s gate three times, while the guests did not hit Dorozhko even once.

3:4 – defeat in a very dramatic match. Nevertheless, the Chelyabinsk residents return home after an extremely successful trip, where the team took 5 points in 3 matches. Now Traktor will have a home series, which will begin on January 19 with a duel with Barys.