Moscow misery as SKA bow out

31 March 2026

SKA’s short 2025/2026 KHL Gagarin Cup campaign reached a premature conclusion in the capital, as a heavy 2:6 loss to CSKA Moscow on the night sealed a 1-4 series defeat.

Despite a spirited effort across the 60 minutes, SKA were found wanting in the big moments against a rock-solid CSKA side which kept our players at a safe distance throughout.

CSKA were presented with far too many clear opportunities in the opening stanza.

The in-form Denis Guryanov quickly opened the scoring in the seventh minute, eluding the sight of our defence to turn Nikolai Kovalenko’s clever pass home.

That goal arrived seconds after Jeremy Roy had struck the left post.

Nonetheless, SKA did initially tally an equaliser with 12 minutes having been played.

And it was a beauty, with Ignat Lutfullin teeing Andrei Pedan up with a superb individual play and the latter unleashing an unstoppable cannon from distance.

However, that goal only succeeded in drawing a strong response out of CSKA.

Vitaly Abramov and Maxim Sorkin both wasted glorious chances with only Artemiy Pleshkov to beat, but they did grab their second moments after a powerplay had ended as Roy pulled clean through and calmly backhanded in.

The second stanza followed the trend which had been set from the very start of the series.

Although SKA spent the majority of the period inside the attacking zone, they barely created any good looks at the CSKA net, and more sloppy errors resulted in a killer third conceded goal in the 28^th minute.

Sergei Plotnikov’s weak clearance fell at the stick of ex-SKA forward Sergei Kalinin, who caught Pleshkov cold with a whipped wrister.

Controlling proceedings with ease, the Muscovites continued to create chance after chance on the counter against a somewhat disorganised SKA defence, with Pleshkov shutting the door on Ivan Drozdov in stunning fashion and Dmitry Buchelnikov only capable of shooting against the pads.

The third period predictably saw SKA try and force the issue.

Just like in the first two periods CSKA continued to have the best opportunities, though, as Pleshkov kept SKA in the game by standing his ground against Prokhor Poltapov who was the next player to find himself 1-on-1.

Tempers began to rise midway through the frame. Joe Blandisi was at the centre of attention following a disagreement next to the CSKA bench, receiving a four-minute penalty for a headbutt attempt.

Pleshkov was then pulled for the extra skater with eight minutes still to play after Roy had committed tripping. On one occasion Ignat Lutfullin looked sure to score with the goal gaping, but Gamzin somehow kept it out on the line much to the delight of the packed CSKA Arena.

That miss was punished to the full, with Guryanov subsequently getting a telling deflection on Nick Ebert’s shot on a timely PP.

The game was now pretty much done and dusted as a contest. Brennan Menell did give SKA a faint glimmer of hope when cooly wristing in at the high slot, but CSKA had the final say as Kovalenko hit the empty net before Guryanov sealed his hat-trick from the doorstep after Pleshkov had returned to his goal.

Our attentions now switch to the MHL, where our youth team SKA-1946 will begin their quest for the Kharlamov Cup on Thursday in Saint Petersburg! Incidentally, our opponents are Krasnaya Armiya, CSKA’s junior side.

Match protocol:

CSKA – SKA – 6:2 (2:1, 1:0, 3:1)

Goals:

1:0 Guryanov (Kovalenko, Buchelnikov), 06.31

1:1 Pedan (Lutfullin, Phillips), 11.38

2:1 Roy (Guryanov, Kovalenko), 14.49

3:1 Kalinin, 27.24

4:1 Guryanov (Ebert, Kovalenko), 54.05 PPG

4:2 Menell, 56.35

5:2 Kovalenko, 57.37 EN

6:2 Guryanov (Poltapov, Sorkin), 59.07

Goalkeepers: Gamzin – Pleshkov