Elusive equaliser doesn't arrive at Traktor

16 March 2026

SKA's five-match winning streak came to a disappointing end on Monday afternoon, as Traktor claimed a slender 2:1 win in Chelyabinsk.

Our players certainly had enough chances to equalise during a late spell of pressure, but Traktor - aided by ex-SKA goaltender Dmitry Nikolayev - held on for dear life.

The hosts had initially opened the scoring in the 12th minute.

And it was familiar face Mikhail Grigorenko who was the man of the moment, pouncing on the rebound.

Our players then had to cope with some intense pressing from Chelyabinsk. Nevertheless, withstand that challenge they did, and they got on the board in the third minute of the second stanza.

When connecting with a superb pass from Valentin Zykov, Rocco Grimaldi drew his stick back and thumped a rocket beyond Nikolayev.

The game's decisive moment arrived in the 38th minute.

Grigorenko sent a seemingly harmless pass across the slot with no teammate to be seen. However, in a somewhat unfortunate turn of events, the puck took a wicked ricochet off SKA defenseman Danila Galenyuk and trickled under the despairing Pleshkov.

SKA then set about trying to peg Traktor back. Brennan Menell, Marat Khairullin and Zykov all wasted excellent opportunities, though, with the home side seeing the game out successfully.

Our team will now prepare to face Sibir in Novosibirsk on Wednesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 15:30 Moscow time.

Match protocol:

Traktor - SKA - 2:1 (1:0, 1:1, 0:0)

Goals:

1:0 Grigorenko (Yusupov, Leivo), 11.06

1:1 Grimaldi (Zykov) 22.11

2:1 Grigorenko (Kravtsov, Leivo), 37.54

Goalkeepers: Nikolayev - Pleshkov

Shots: 58 - 50

Shots on target: 32 - 26

Faceoffs: 24 - 21

Blocked shots: 14 - 11