Traktor Chelyabinsk went 1-0 up in its KHL Eastern Conference final series with a hard-earned 3-1 win against Avangard Omsk on Thursday.
Avangard boasted the league’s meanest defense in the regular season, but conceded three goals from 21 Traktor shots, and only converted one of 38 efforts against Traktor goaltender Ilya Proskuryakov.
Avangard took an early lead through Alexander Perelozhkin’s fourth-minute strike, before Konstantin Panov leveled the scores on 30 minutes.
Three minutes later Evgeny Katichev put Traktor in front from Petri Kontiola’s assist.
Avangard piled on the pressure with 15 shots in the third period, but could not find a way past Proskuryakov.
Traktor hosts Avangard for the second game of the series Saturday.
Friday sees the second game of the Western Conference final between SKA St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow, after the Moscow team scored a dramatic 5-4 comeback win Wednesday.
