CHELYABINSK (Interstat) — Dmitry Nikolayev made 21 saves and Traktor Chelyabinsk held off Sibir Novosibirsk 2-1 in a Kontinental Hockey League game Monday at Traktor Sport Palace in Traktor Arena. Attendance was 7,500. Traktor improved to 8 wins and 10 losses, while Sibir fell to 7 wins and 14 losses.

Nikolayev earned the win while stopping 21 of 22 shots. Mikhail Goryunov-Rolgizer, a 5-foot-9, 163-pound forward, had one goal and four shots for Traktor. Andrei Svetlakov, 5-foot-11 and 203 pounds, had one assist, three shots and two hits. Mikhail Grigorenko, 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, scored once on two shots. Ilya Lyuzenkov of Sibir scored once on one shot. Nathan Legare, 6-foot and 201 pounds, recorded six shots and three hits. Andrei Pribylsky, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound defenseman from Moscow, Russia, had no recorded statistics. Nikita Soshnikov, 5-foot-11 and 183 pounds, had five shots. Vladislav Valentsov, a defenseman, had no recorded statistics. Stepan Gorbunov, 6-foot-5 and 196 pounds, added three shots.

Sibir opened the scoring at 7:39 of the first period when Lyuzenkov beat Nikolayev. Alexander Pershakov and Pavel Tyutnev assisted. Pershakov’s assist was his third of the season, and Tyutnev’s was his first. Traktor’s Andrei Chivilyov was called for tripping at 22:22 of the second period. Nine seconds later, Goryunov-Rolgizer tied the game with his fourth goal of the season, with Svetlakov assisting. Svetlakov’s assist was his eighth.

Sibir’s Yegor Alanov received a two-minute penalty for delaying the game at 32:28 of the second period. In the third period, Sibir’s Yegor Korshkov was sent off for boarding at 46:17. Grigorenko then scored the go-ahead goal at 53:42 of the third period, giving Traktor the lead for good. Grigorenko’s fifth goal of the season came unassisted. Traktor scored twice after allowing the opening goal. Nikolayev was named Traktor’s top star.

Traktor protected the one-goal edge from there behind Nikolayev, who had recent stops of 30 saves on 31 shots in a loss at Avangard Omsk and 38 saves on 40 shots in a win at Shanghai Dragons. Traktor entered after a 3-1 home win against Ak Bars. Sibir had lost 5-1 at Metallurg M and 6-3 at SKA before this matchup. The teams had met earlier this season, with Sibir winning 2-1 at Traktor.

Traktor’s recent results also included a 2-1 shootout loss at Avangard, a 3-2 overtime loss at Neftekhimik, a 6-2 win at Shanghai, a 2-1 home loss to Sibir, a 2-0 home loss to Amur and a 2-1 home loss to Amur. Sibir’s recent results also included a 3-2 shootout win at Dynamo, a 4-2 win at Salavat Yulaev, a 3-2 win at Barys, a 4-2 loss at Salavat Yulaev, a 3-2 loss at Neftekhimik and a 5-4 overtime loss to Salavat Yulaev at home. Traktor’s prior results also included a 3-2 win at Ak Bars, a 4-2 win at Spartak and a 2-1 overtime win at Dynamo. Sibir’s previous results also included a 1-0 home loss to Barys. Traktor won at home.

Traktor is scheduled to visit CSKA and Dinamo Minsk before hosting CSKA, Barys, Ak Bars, Avtomobilist and Shanghai. Sibir is scheduled to host Metallurg M, Neftekhimik and Ak Bars before visiting Avangard and CSKA. The teams are scheduled to meet again when Traktor visits Sibir. Traktor later is scheduled to visit Severstal and SKA. Sibir later is scheduled to host Dynamo, Traktor, Avtomobilist and Severstal before visiting Torpedo.

Interstat’s game simulator projected Traktor 2, Sibir 1, and its ELO system gave Traktor a 66.1 percent probability to win. The total score of 3 went over the over/under line of 4.5.