Kravtsov’s double puts Traktor in charge. March 3 playoffs
Traktor takes a 2-0 advantage to Nizhnekamsk after another close encounter with Neftekhimik.
Traktor Chelyabinsk 2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 1 (1-0, 1-1, 0-0)
(Traktor leads the series 2-0)
Traktor cemented its advantage in this Eastern Conference first round series, collecting a second victory in three days to take a 2-0 lead to Nizhnekamsk on Sunday. Once again, though, this was a hard-fought affair and, not for the first time, we saw a significant penalty count.
The opening game of the series saw more than 20 minutes of action with unequal teams and in game number two, the sin bins opened for business after 18 seconds as Alexei Byvaltsev and Evgeny Mityakin sat for their scuffle. However, it wasn’t until late in the first period that Traktor got its first power play of the game – and took just six seconds to convert it. From the face-off, Sergei Kalinin gained possession and advanced to the goal line before sending the puck back to Vitaly Kravtsov between the hash marks. Kravtsov’s one-timer did the rest and the home team took a slender advantage into the first intermission.
The middle frame began like the first, with another matching pair of penalties. This time it was Kalinin and Lukas Klok who sat, and Neftekhimik that took advantage in four-on-four play. Maxim Berezin was the scorer, firing the puck across the face of goal from an acute angle and getting the bounce to take it past Roman Will in the home net.
Kalinin, apparently, did not learn his lesson. Soon he was back in the box, this time with Bulat Shafigullin for company. Now it was Traktor’s turn to dominate during a passage of four-on-four play, with visiting goalie Alexander Sudnitsin laboring hard to keep the scores level. However, it wasn’t long before Sudnitsin was beaten when Kravtsov got his second of the game, celebrating his 200th KHL appearance in style and surprising the goalie with an early shot from just inside the Neftekhimik zone.
That second goal came midway through the second period and ushered in a spell of home pressure that saw the frame end with Traktor enjoying a 17-4 advantage on the shot clock.
At the start of the third period, the teams played eight-and-a-half minutes without a break. Ultimately, that favored Traktor, which was able to absorb Neftekhimik’s pressure as the clock ticked down, while Kravtsov almost completed his hat-trick on the breakaway. At the other end, the visitor’s attempts to salvage the game were hampered by further penalties as Oleg Leontiyev’s team came up just short.
