Kazan climbs to fourth. February 3 round-up

Ak Bars leapt into the top four in the Eastern Conference after an emphatic road win in Chelyabinsk. Traktor’s five-game winning streak came to an end in the face of a powerful performance from the team from Kazan.

Traktor Chelyabinsk 1 Ak Bars Kazan 4 (0-1, 1-2, 0-1)

The early stages saw the home team enjoy more possession, while Ak Bars created the opening goal. Nikita Dynyak broke the deadlock in the seventh minute, taking a feed from Mitchell Miller and firing past Zach Fucale.

Early in the second period, Ak Bars doubled the lead through Alexander Radulov. Traktor was caught changing on the fly and Vadim Shipachyov turned possession over and launched a counterattack the finished with Radulov scoring from the slot.

There was some hope for the home team midway through the second stanza when Sergei Kalinin pulled a goal back. However, a power play goal from Semyon Koshelev restored the visitor’s two-goal cushion and left Traktor with a long road back in the final frame.

The third period saw Traktor’s offense dictate the play. The host outshot Ak Bars 18-8 but could not find a way past Timur Bilyalov. Indeed, the visitor arguably created the better chances on the counter attack and sealed the victory in the last minute when Radulov potted his second of the game, this time into an empty net.

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