Polyakov salvages home point against Severstal

18 February 2026

Matvei Polyakov ensured that SKA tallied an important point against Severstal Cherepovets at the Ice Palace with a dramatic late leveller, although the visitors did edge the subsequent penalty shootout to emerge victorious 3:2.

Coming into this game on the back of five consecutive wins, SKA found themselves on the brink of a disappointing regulation setback to a tricky Severstal side. Nevertheless, with a mere 15 seconds remaining on the clock, Polyakov stabbed home to make sure that our points streak extended to seven matches.

Future shootout hero Alexander Skorenov initially opened the scoring in the eighth minute, smashing an unstoppable one-timer beyond Artemiy Pleshkov on the powerplay.

SKA conjured up a response in the seventh minute of the second stanza through a clever wrister from the in-form Nikolai Goldobin. However, we weren’t level for long, though, as Ruslan Abrosimov completed a flowing counter-attack move for Severstal with a slick finish.

The third period saw SKA huff and puff with increased urgency.

Time was rapidly running out. But, to our delight, Polyakov was the first to bounce on the loose puck at point-blank range to force overtime.

And Scott Wilson really should have completed the comeback for SKA on the break-away, thumping a huge slap shot against the crossbar when presented with a clear look at Alexander Samoilov’s net.

Unfortunately, that miss proved decisive, as Ilya Chefanov and Skorenov converted in the shootout for Severstal whereas Matvei Korotky was the only SKA player to score.

SKA will now prepare to host CSKA Moscow in Saint Petersburg on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Severstal – 2:3 SO (0:1, 1:1, 1:0, 0:0 – 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Skorenov (Kaldis, Ilyin), 07.38 PPG

1:1 Goldobin (Plotnikov, Sapego), 26.36

1:2 Abrosimov (Reingardt, Grudinin), 30.41

2:2 Polyakov (Korotky, Wilson), 59.45

2:3 Skorenov, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Pleshkov – Samoilov

Shots: 70 – 56

Shots on target: 29 – 29