MOSCOW, November 17 (R-Sport) – Traktor Chelyabinsk beat Avangard Omsk 4-3 on penalty shots to inflict a first defeat in six games on last season’s Gagarin Cup runner-up.
Traktor, leader of the Eastern Conference, increased its lead over second-placed Avangard to five points and extended the winning run to four games.
In Friday’s game at Arena Omsk, each team netted one goal in the first period before producing a similar exchange in the second to make the score 2-2.
Traktor wing Konstantin Panov put the visitors ahead two minutes before the second break, but Avangard center Dmitry Semin leveled the score with his second goal of the game in the third period.
After a goalless overtime, Evgeny Kuznetsov outplayed Avangard goaltender Karri Ramo to hit the winning penalty shot.
Elsewhere Friday, Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk stunned Evgeni Malkin’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3-2 at home as the Pittsburgh Penguins star was unable to get any points in his second consecutive game.
Metallurg is third in the East and Yugra is outside the playoff zone in 10th.
In Kazakhstan, Barys Astana routed Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 7-2 to end its five-game losing streak and inflict a 10th consecutive defeat to the Eastern Conference bottom team.
Barys is three places above Avtomobilist in ninth.
