Traktor force game 6

Gagarin Cup finals, day 5

Dynamo Moscow (W3) - Traktor Chelyabinsk (E3) 3-4 (0-3, 3-0, 0-1)

For the guests from Chelyabinsk it was a must-win game to keep the chances to win their first ever Gagarin Cup title alive for at least a few more days. Hosts Dynamo had the more aggressive start but with great efficiency Traktor earned a very fast three-goal lead! At 03:34 Stanislav Chistov used a break away and deked out Dynamo goalie Yeryomenko after he blocked a blue line shot by the hosts. Two minutes later the guests had another break away but this time Valery Nichushkin was stopped in the 1-on-1 from short distance! Still Traktor only needed one more minute to double their lead through when Anton Glinkin fired the puck into the right corner after a pass back to the slot by Nikita Nesterov from right to the Dynamo net. At 08:59 Vladimir Antipov even made it 3-0 for Traktor with a precise shot into the left corner - with a little help by the goal post - from the right circle after his team colleague Yegor Dugin had won a face off. This was also the end of the working day for Dynamo goalie Yeryomenko whose backup Sharychenkov entered the match. Both teams had one more big opportunity until the end of the period but didn't use them.

The middle period started with more active guests but after Petri Kontiola sat inside the penalty box for a slashing call, Dynamo used their first power play of the match to get onto the scoreboard through Marek Kvapil who use the man advantage with a brilliant shot from the left circle into the right top corner past the glove hand of Garnett at 27:33. Not even a minute later Jakub Petruzalek used a rebound from short distance to increase the hope for Dynamo. With the momentum on their side the hosts even tied the match at 34:50 when Sergei Soin received a perfect pass inside the neutral zone by Dominik Granak to fire the puck into the left bottom corner through the five-hole of Garnett! Two minutes later Traktor had a great chance to restore their lead but Petri Kontiola's shot from short distance against the already beaten Sharychenkov went just inches wide past the left post and hit the side netting!

The last 20 minutes of the match showed two teams who didn't want to risk more than necessary with few opportunites on any side. Completely out of the blue Andrey Kostitsyn - who already won the series against Ak Bars Kazan in the previous round with a late strike - sniped the puck into the right corner from inside the slot for the 4-3 guest lead! Dynamo played without their goalie during the last 90 seconds but the result didn't change anymore.

The series now continues with game #6 in Chelyabinsk later this week.   

Dynamo lead 3-2 in the series

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