Ak Bars - SKA

Ak Bars - SKA - 3:2

24 November 2015

SKA made the trip to Tatarstan to take on HC Ak Bars Kazan. This was the first away game since the four game home stand last week, and head coach Sergei Zubov made a few changes to the line-up. Alexander Skrynnik was Mikko Koskinen’s backup, and Arkhip Nekolenko was brought into the fourth line for his KHL debut. Emil Garipov was Ak Bars’ goaltender, as ex SKA defenceman Nikolai Belov dressed up for the hosts.

It was a very quiet start inside the Tatneft Arena, with both teams unwilling to take any risks. The puck was rarely entering the attacking zone, and no one seemed brave enough to take the bull by the horns. Things picked up midway through the period though, and not in a good way for SKA. Yegor Yakovlev needlessly took out his opponent on the slot, and he was thrown out of the game with a 5+20 penalty. Mikko Koskinen made a superb left pad save as Ak Bars promptly piled on the pressure, however he was eventually beaten. Alexander Svitov squared for Dmitry Obukhov, and the latter twisted to the left of the slot before slotting home. The hosts continued to press during that extended powerplay, and Mikhail Varnakov came very close with a backhander that rolled all the way across the goal line. When that penalty ended SKA did have one big opening, but Dmitry Yudin’s goalbound effort between the circles was blocked at the vital moment.

SKA began the second frame on the powerplay, but it was Ak Bars who came closest to scoring. Shorthanded Stepan Zakharchuk was allowed to close in on the right flank, and Mikko Koskinen was thankful to see the right post smacked. Indeed with a man’s advantage not much was working out for our players, and barely any goalscoring chances were seen at all during the period. Ak Bars were happy to play at a slow tempo, while SKA couldn’t break down Ak Bars’ high defensive line. The frame looked to be petering out, but with 27 seconds to go our team got on the board. Andrei Zubarev slapped the puck at the blue line, and Alexei Ponikarovsky cleverly tipped in to get SKA back on terms.

Unfortunately, Ak Bars began the third period just as we had left the second. Seconds after puck drop Mikhail Varnakov wriggled free on the right, and he fired beyond Mikko Koskinen to put Ak Bars ahead again. Our players were struggling to get into the game, and quickly conceded a third. Fyodor Malykhin was left alone between the circles, and he one timed into the net. SKA were up against it now, and the rest of the period was spent deep inside Ak Bars’ zone. Nikita Gusev had a golden chance to score all by himself on the slot, but he was robbed by a superb Emil Garipov flash of leather. Time was beginning to run down, and with four minutes left finally our team got one back. Dmitry Kalinin picked up a juicy rebound by the left post, and expertly slotted high into the near corner. All of a sudden new hope was born, and the score should really have been equalled up. Joakim Lindstrom slapped against the right post, and Dmitry Yudin somehow failed to net on the follow up with the net open. That proved to be the final chance, and SKA lose to Ak Bars 2:3 in Kazan. The next match will take place against HC Lada Togliatti away on Thursday.

Match protocol:

Ak Bars – SKA – 3:2 (1:0, 0:1, 2:1)

Goals:

1:0 Obukhov (Svitov, Zakharuchuk), 15.04

1:1 Ponikarovsky (Kovalchuk, Zubarev), 39.37

2:1 Varnakov (Zakharchuk, Glukhov), 40.21

3:1 Malykhin (Varnakov, Glukhov), 46.04

3:2 Kalinin (Burdasov, Kovalchuk), 55.38

Goalkeepers: Garipov – Koskinen

Shots on target: 24 – 26

Penalty minutes: 10 – 31

Faceoffs: 35 – 28