Bitter blow sinks SKA

27 October 2026

Despite having equalised with less than a minute left on the clock, SKA contrived to suffer a damaging 3:4 regulation defeat to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in Saint Petersburg.

Overtime looked a certainty after Matvei Korotky had tipped in with 45 seconds remaining. However, in a shocking turn of events, the impressive Yegor Vinogradov pounced on a dreadful defensive error to round Artemiy Pleshkov and earn a dramatic win for his side.

SKA started the brighter, wasting a couple of promising openings with young forward Amir Nugmanov immediately causing the away defence problems with his tenacious, robust approach.

Torpedo gradually grew into proceedings, though, opening the scoring on the man advantage in the 15^th minute through Vinogradov’s emphatic finish on the man advantage.

Nevertheless, we didn’t have to wait long for our response.

After Yaroslav Dyblenko had gifted us a 5-on-3 powerplay when carelessly hooking the puck out of play from inside his own zone, Korotky thumped a huge one-timer beyond the stranded Denis Kostin.

Another PP effort allowed Torpedo to take the lead again in the early stages of the second stanza.

It was a disappointing goal to give up, too, with Pleshkov just unable to prevent Daniil Seroukh’s rising wrister from slipping under his left arm.

Buoyed by that marker, the away side could – and really should – have grabbed their third moments later, with both Matvei Polyakov and Igor Geraskin somehow shooting wide on the slot.

Unfortunately for us, their pressure did eventually result in their third goal.

And it was another cheap goal to concede, as Viktor Fyodorov’s wrist shot sneaked under Pleshkov’s glove after Torpedo had caught us sleeping on the counter.

That goal really did back SKA into a corner.

Following a fast start to the ensuing third period, Sergei Sapego came within inches of hauling us back to within one, striking the right post when approaching the net unchallenged.

Our second goal subsequently arrived with the minutes beginning to tick down.

Danil Aimurzin rewarded SKA boss Andrei Razin for his risky decision to swap Pleshkov for the extra skater to make it a 6-on-4 powerplay in the 54^th minute, bundling Yegor Savikov’s initial shot over the line.

Savikov then played a huge part in our third goal.

With the defenseman having taken aim from distance, Korotky expertly redirected the puck high into the left corner over Kostin’s blocker.

But, in a cruel twist of fate, two-goal hero Vinogradov capitalised on a last-gasp error to steal the two points.

SKA will now prepare to face Ak Bars in Kazan on 2 November. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Torpedo – 3:4 (1:1, 0:2, 2:1)

Goals:

0:1 Vinogradov (Polyakov, Tkachyov), 14.51 PPG

1:1 Korotky (Atanasov, Glotov), 17.46 PPG

1:2 Seroukh (Polyakov, Vinogradov), 26.54 PPG

1:3 Fyodorov (Goncharuk), 37.29

2:3 Aimurzin (Savikov), 53.25 PPG