Tractor Secures Away Victory Over Sibir
Chelyabinsk«s Tractor defeated Sibir in the final match of their away series. The game in Novosibirsk on Saturday, January 31, ended with a 3:1 score in favor of the visitors. Before the game, the teams were separated by one point (50 for Tractor, 49 for Sibir), so they occupied adjacent positions in the Eastern Conference standings.
«Both teams will take the ice in special jerseys,» announced the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). «The home team will wear unfamiliar colors for themselves, while the guests will, for the first time in history, don a thematic away uniform with accent details — the surnames of fans who have made 50+ away trips for the black-and-whites.»
The score was opened in the 12th minute. Alexander Rykov capitalized on the opportunity with an assist from Mikhail Grigorenko — 1:0 in favor of Tractor.
«A perfectly logical goal from the Chelyabinsk side,» assessed the black-and-white club. «They held the advantage for a long time and finally converted it into a goal. A great pass came from behind the net to Sasha Rykov, and he one-timed it into the far corner.»
And a couple of minutes later, Mikhail Grigorenko scored a goal himself. The assists came from Alexander Rykov and Maxim Dzhioshvili — 2:0.
In the middle of the second period, Tractor extended the lead a bit more. This time, Maxim Dzhioshvili was the scorer, with assists from Grigory Dronov and Yegor Korshkov — 3:0.
But soon after, Sibir finally managed to break through the Chelyabinsk net. Vyacheslav Leshchenko was the goal scorer, assisted by Mikhail Orlov and Yegor Zaitsev — 3:1.
At the start of the third period, Tractor was shorthanded, and the home team went on the attack. Sergei Mylnikov saved the team, and very spectacularly at that.
In the final moments, Sibir pulled their goalie for an extra skater, but it didn«t help them catch up. On the contrary, the Chelyabinsk team scored into an empty net. However, the goal was disallowed: the referees called offside.
The final score of the match was 3:1 in favor of Tractor.
Words from the Head Coaches
«The match was very important for us,» admitted Tractor«s head coach Yevgeny Koreshkov. »We finished a tough three-game series. This win was needed. The guys did great. Everyone worked together, held on, endured until the end — and deservedly won.«
«The first period, you know… We lost our zone, they pressured us a bit, as they say. And we conceded two goals,» assessed Sibir«s head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov. »The power play didn«t work today. There were moments where we could have scored. And in the third period, we just didn»t have enough, maybe… I don«t know, not so much luck, but the puck just didn»t go in there. We started shooting a lot, screening, but their goalie played really well. If we had scored the second one, maybe there would have been enough time to equalize and push the game to overtime. But as it is — congratulations to the opponent on the win, we«re preparing for the next game.»
The Chelyabinsk team returns home, and on February 4, they face Ak Bars from Kazan.
