The hardest lead in hockey
22 December 2023
Kunlun Red Star 2 Traktor Chelyabinsk 5
You often hear about it. Commentators love to point out the difficulty of defending a 2-0 lead. Should a team twist, and go all-out in search of more goals while accepting the danger of a counterattack? Or is it better to sit on what you have, only to risk handing the momentum to the opposition?
Naturally, there’s never a definitive answer. Unfortunately for the Dragons, though, Friday’s game proved an exhibition of everything that can go wrong after jumping to a fast lead. Red Star scored twice in 15 minutes, only for Traktor to rally and ultimately post a 5-2 victory.
There was good news before the game, with confirmation that Teemu Pulkkinen was available once again. He joined the third line alongside Brandon McMillan and newcomer Tyler Graovac. Elsewhere in the line-up, Jason Fram came into the team and Matt Jurusik resumed as starting goalie. Ryan Sproul and Austin Wong missed out today.
Things started well. The Dragons killed the first penalty of the game and then took the lead. Parker Foo stole the puck in our zone and set Colin Campbell away. Colin got to the top of the left-hand circle and unselfishly opted not to shoot, instead feeding Kyle Wood who rifled home a wrister from between the hash marks.
The day got even better when Luke Lockhart contained his productive form to double our lead after 15 minutes. There was much to enjoy about this one, from Tyler Wong’s delicious no-look feed that sent Luke into the Traktor zone, to Lockhart’s irresistible wrister over Zach Fucale’s shoulder.
Had the Dragons held that two-goal lead to the intermission, we might have seen a very different outcome. However, Traktor hit back before the intermission through leading scorer Maxim Shabanov. Late in the frame, Pulkkinen fired wide from a good position, and the game was poised at 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period saw penalty trouble, and the Traktor PP scored twice through Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Anton Burdasov. Now at least there was no uncertainty about tactics, but a couple of big chances went begging as we tried to get back on level terms before the second intermission.
Early in the third, Traktor extended its lead. In response, we swapped goalies and sent Jeremy Smith into the game. The remainder of the game saw the Dragons dominate. Traktor, apparently, decided that defense was the best way to protect a two-goal lead. Fucale did well in goal, and the visitor blocked eight shots in the final stanza as Red Star did everything to try to save the game. Not even a run of power play chances could produce a lifeline, though, and Traktor finished the job in the last minute when Burdasov scored again.
Thus, Traktor got a repeat of its earlier 5-2 scoreline in Chelyabinsk. However, with three of those five goals coming on the visitor’s power play, the Dragons can take some comfort from their play at equal strength despite the disappointing result.
Leave a Reply