Chelyabinsk's rebuild is tough: Ak Bars routinely dismantled Traktor in Kazan.

      "Ak Bars" beat "Traktor" 3-2 in the regular-season championship

      Kazan team faced the most crisis-hit KHL club of recent months

      "Ak Bars" played a KHL regular-season game for the first time in a week. The last time the Kazan team played was on December 20 in Ufa against Salavat Yulaev (2-1). After a relatively long break they faced Traktor — arguably the most crisis-ridden team in the KHL over the past months.

      The Chelyabinsk side are only getting used to life under a new coaching staff. Recall that Traktor’s head coach Benoit Grou left first. A little later, assistant coach Rafael Riche also stepped down from his duties with the Ural team. Now the Chelyabinsk players are competing this season under Evgeny Koroshkov. Fans may remember him from his recent work on Roman Rotenberg’s coaching staff at SKA.

      It must be admitted that Traktor’s results in the championship have not improved significantly so far. Chelyabinsk remain the second-worst team in the league in terms of goals conceded (129). And in the Eastern Conference standings things are quite tense for Traktor. Last year’s Gagarin Cup finalist currently has only a five-point cushion over ninth place (Barys).

      Therefore, for the Ural team virtually every upcoming game now has colossal importance. Koroshkov himself mentioned this at the press conference.

      "Our team is not in a position to pick and choose opponents. We prepare for Lada and for Ak Bars the same way," said Traktor’s coach.

      "The guys played great, with full concentration"

      However much the Chelyabinsk team wanted to beat Ak Bars yesterday (2-3), objectively they had little chance. Yes, Traktor’s attack is varied, rich in big KHL names (Grigorenko, Glotov, Svetlakov, Livo). But at the back the Urals are in outright anarchy. Traktor are playing the championship with only two fully established pairs of defensemen — Dronov–Day and Gross–Telegin. Arseniy Koromyslov and Andrey Pribylsky, due to their young age, are still fairly inexperienced and make many mistakes during the game. The chemistry among the players frankly suffers.

      And on the bench there’s no one to strengthen Traktor’s defense — unless they turn for help to Chelmet or Belye Medvedi. Ak Bars didn’t show anything extraordinary in the match, but the Kazan side’s skill was enough to score three goals against their opponents without much difficulty. And, by the way, the hosts did this without Alexander Barabanov and Dmitry Katelevsky in the lineup, who missed the game due to illness.

      Overall, the flu epidemic has been going through Ak Bars all last month. Entering the team’s locker room you can, without much sniffing around, pick up a stock of garlic. And how else to fight a virus if not by the old-fashioned folk remedy?

      Anvar Gatiyatulin, although pleased with the victory, nonetheless did not hide his concerns about future games. In December there has been constant rotation within Ak Bars’ lines; the team has not played in an optimal lineup for a long time. Nevertheless, the Kazan team consistently shows results, continuing to sit confidently in second place in the Eastern Conference.

      "The guys played great, with full concentration, and added at the right moments. A good team win, thanks to the fans for their support. This month has been like this for us — there are bouts of colds, it affected the training process, and forced changes in the lineup. The doctors are doing everything possible to deal with it. During the two long breaks there was an opportunity to bring in players from Irbis and Bars; we called up the guys from Almetyevsk. It’s a good moment for the hockey players to feel the atmosphere, and for us — to see how the players are progressing. As for games, everything is at the level of competition: to make the lineup you have to win that competition," Gatiyatulin said after the match.

      Timur Bilyalov made a big contribution to Ak Bars' victory

      Ak Bars scored hard-fought goals in the match. Alexander Khmelevsky scored again. The Kazan side also managed to convert one of their power-play chances through Ilya Safonov. The Kazan players were head and shoulders above the visitors in the first two periods.

      However, in the third twenty minutes Traktor applied pressure and came very close to sending the game to overtime. But between the hosts’ goalposts last evening stood an excellent Timur Bilyalov. In the final minutes of the match the goalkeeper several times clearly saved the Kazan club.

      Bilyalov stopped 39 shots on goal and finished the game with a 95 percent save percentage.

      Photo: ak-bars.ru

      More news about the event:

      Anvar Gatiyatulin commented on Ak Bars' victory over Traktor

      Ak Bars head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin shared his impressions after the match with Traktor, which ended 3-2 in favor of the Kazan team. 10:37 28.12.2025 GTRK Tatarstan - Kazan

      "He has to be brilliant in every game." Ak Bars beat Traktor for the third time in a row

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      The Chelyabinsk rebuild is hard: Ak Bars routinely dismantled Traktor in Kazan

      Ak Bars beat Traktor 3-2 in the regular-season championship

      Kazan team faced the most crisis-hit KHL club of recent months

      Ak Bars played a KHL regular-season game for the first time in a week. 08:26 28.12.2025 IA Tatar-inform - Kazan

      Gatiyatulin named factors in Ak Bars' victory over Traktor

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      Ak Bars skillfully beat Traktor: caught them on counterattacks up front, Bilyalov shone in defense

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      "The guys played great, with full concentration" — Gatiyatulin on the match with Traktor

      Ak Bars head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin commented on the results of the match with Traktor (3-2). 21:26 27.12.2025 IA Tatar-inform - Kazan

      Gatiyatulin — on players' colds: "This affects training"

      Ak Bars head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin commented on his team’s win in the KHL regular-season home match against Traktor (3-2). 21:26 27.12.2025 Business Online - Kazan

      Ak Bars beat Traktor 3-2 in the penultimate match of the year

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      Ak Bars defeated Traktor in a KHL regular-season game

      Ak Bars beat Traktor 3-2 in a KHL regular-season match. 19:26 27.12.2025 IA Tatar-inform - Kazan

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