The Matchup:
Metallurg
Magnitogorsk
(18-0-9-5)
vs
Donbass
Donetsk
(9-6-4-14)
Players You May Recognize
Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Erik Ersberg, Oskar Bartulis, Anton Babchuk, Evgeni Dadonov, Clay Wilson
Recap
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| And so...the blog continues... |
Two days ago, Paul Maurice spoke about how negotiations were going well with the NHL and NHLPA. Reporters asked him about the players he would be losing if the lockout ended, and with a sad smile, he acknowledged how lucky he was to have them in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season. There will be no more sad smiles for Paul Maurice for the time being though. It looks like he will keep his strong roster intact longer than he anticipated.
Magnitogorsk hosted Donbass Donetsk in their final game before the December Euro Hockey Tour break. They received good news beforehand with the
signing of Cal O'Reilly's brother, Ryan O'Reilly, formerly of the Colorado Avalanche. Ryan signed through '13-'14 and is expected to join the team after the break. Magnitogorsk will not hold him to his contract if he receives a better NHL offer though (assuming they ever play again).
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| Courtesy of @stapler_87 |
The good news ended there as Magnitogorsk suffered through a frustrating game filled with missed opportunities. The first period was fast paced but the goalies stole the show early on. Jan Laco started for Donetsk and made several key saves on Sergei Mozyakin and Dmitry Kazionov throughout the period. He would finish with 30 saves on 31 shots. The one shot that he did let in happened early in the 2nd period. Roughly two minutes into the period, Mikhail Yakubov won a faceoff straight back to Sergei Bernatsky. Bertnatsky immediately unloaded a slapshot that Laco missed through a partial screen.
Later in the second period, Magnitogorsk defenseman Georgi Misharin was called for delay of game after he cleared a puck over the glass. Donetsk tied the game on the powerplay when Evgeni Dadonov took the puck into the corner and fed it out to Tuomas Kiiskinen. Kiiskinen fired a quick wrist shot to tie the game at 1. Magnitogorsk took control of the game for the rest of the second period but was unable to beat Laco.
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| Maurice's Asst Coach was too busy to help I guess |
The third period was filled with powerplays for and special teams would be the deciding factor. It started when Oskar Bartulis was given a 5 minute major and game misconduct for slashing Misharin. Then, Magnitogorsk proceeded to take a hooking penalty and high sticking penalty to somehow end up on the wrong side of a 4 on 3 penalty kill. They killed both penalties off and Evgeni Malkin drew a trip to create a 5 on 3 advantage. Metallurg was unable to capitalize on the powerplay though. They would have 3 more powerplay chances in the period and were unable to score on any of them. Meanwhile, with 3:30 left in the game, Misharin was called for interference and Donetsk succeeded in taking the lead on the powerplay. Peter Podhradsky fired a shot from the point that beat Ahonen and would stand as the game winning goal.
Magnitogorsk's loss can be blamed completely on the 0 for 5 powerplay number, especially with all 5 occurring in the 3rd period with the game tied at 1.
Final Score: Donbass Donetsk 2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1
Magnitogorsk drops to 18-0-9-6 and Donetsk improves to 10-6-4-14.
Player Notes
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| He even looked sad all game. |
Evgeni Malkin - Malkin had a VERY quiet game, only registering 1 shot and no points in 23:43 of ice time. He did well in the faceoff circle, finishing 14 for 22, but this was certainly one of his least impressive games. Malkin simply was not very noticeable on the ice and was not around the puck much. His whole line (Kulemin-Malkin-Lisin) was quiet in general today.
Next Game: 12/19, 10:30am EST @ Atlant
Links:
Metallurg 
(18-0-9-5)
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