So good, we won it twice
28 January 2025
Kunlun Red Star 4 Traktor Chelyabinsk 3 OT
The first 10 minutes of this game were among the best we’ve seen from the Dragons this season. The last 10 minutes brought an alarming collapse. But, after throwing away one winning position our guys rallied to win it again – for real this time – in overtime thanks to Luke Lockhart’s ninth goal of the season.
Locky settled an action-packed encounter on the eve of the Chinese New Year. However, in line with another oft-quoted Chinese proverb, we had to endure some interesting times before securing the win.
Initially, everything went according to plan. Hudson Elynuik had a good early chance even before Jan Drozg put us ahead in the fourth minute. Our Slovenian sniper scored for the second game in a row and there were significant assists. Kyle Rau got his first point in the KHL, while Alexander Sharov collected a helper against his hometown club a month after arriving in the Dragons’ Lair.
On the subject of significant assists, Danny O’Regan produced a mini masterpiece for our second goal. He threaded the needle to set up Yaroslav Likhachyov and, with five minutes gone, we were up 2-0.
And there’s more. After Jeremy Smith denied Vasily Glotov, our first power play of the game saw Joey Duszak make it 3-0. To direct a popular footballing taunt at the Eastern Conference leader: “Top of the league? You’re having a laugh!”
There was a warning late in the opening frame, though. Traktor pulled goal back on the power play thanks to Buddy Robinson. The visitor also sent Zach Fucale into the net in place of Sergei Mylnikov, and suddenly goals were harder to come by for our guys. A second-period power play saw Fucale deny Drozg from close range before Likhachyov fluffed his shot at an open net and Traktor scrambled clear. Later, Colin Campbell was denied by the incoming goalie and Spencer Foo saw his one-on-one halted.
Despite holding a two-goal lead, those misses felt ominous. And, in the third period, they were punished. Smitty pulled off a huge stick save to deny Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer but in the last 10 minutes Traktor managed to tie it up at 3-3. Rolgizer reduced the deficit, then Glotov sent us into overtime. From “having a laugh” to “that joke isn’t funny anymore” in the space of an evening.
Red Star might have won it before the extras. A power play in the 58th minute shifted the momentum away from Traktor and Rau almost squeezed a shot over Fucale’s glove. But the outcome was destined to be settled in the extras.
Jayden Halbgewachs thought he’d done it, but his delicate touch on Duszak’s feed somehow bounced off the inside of the post to safety. The Dragons kept pressing, and reward came after three minutes of overtime. Lockhart got the puck out by the left hand boards and there didn’t seem much open for him. With Traktor playing a congested defense, he went the long way round, circling back to the blue line before galloping through the central channel. Space opened up and his shot flew past Fucale to win the game.
That’s two wins from two meetings with Traktor this season, and it gives our guys back-to-back victories after Saturday’s 2-1 result at Vityaz. With Torpedo winning at Sochi, we’re still six points behind the playoff spots, but can gain ground with a win at home to Sochi on Friday.
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