Defender of Chelyabinsk “Traktor” Ilya Karpukhin told that his teammate Maxim Shabanov became one of the best hockey players in the FONBET KHL championship.
On Tuesday, Traktor defeated Spartak Moscow (3:2) in a regular season penalty shootout. Shabanov, 23, scored the puck and converted the game-winning shootout.
— Why did the match turn out to be a mirror match? In Chelyabinsk, Spartak won on penalties.
– Yes, it’s a coincidence. Spartak is a very good organized team. It’s hard to play against the “red-whites”. I think the first goal we conceded was not entirely a result of the match. Then the flow of the match broke down a bit, but overall it was a good and even match. Two worthy teams, but we turned out to be stronger.
When you lose to an opponent and soon you have another match against him, you want to take revenge, to win. It adds strength and energy. I’m glad we were able to win.
— To what extent has head coach Benoit Groux changed Traktor’s philosophy?
— It’s too early to tell. Not only us, but everyone sees how much the game as a whole has changed. Let’s see what happens in the long term. What’s happening right now is awesome and cool. Everyone does the task, tries and fights, everyone wants to block the shot. Did you see how Max Shabanov jumped and made a cool block? This is what gives energy to the team. The guys see that everyone is blocking, everyone is sticking. It’s very cool.
— Do you think Shabanov has become one of the best players in the KHL?
— Max’s skills include a cart and a small cart. Now is the era of these hockey players – small, technical, skilled. Max can play in the zone, beat one-on-one, come out, create a chance out of nothing. I think he’s a very strong player. It’s clear to everyone, he is extremely talented,” Karpukhin told .
Watch live broadcasts of KHL matches on the channel, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.
More sports news in our telegram channel .
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
