Ak Bars - SKA - 4:3 SO

27 December 2016

SKA completed this KHL away series with a match against HC Ak Bars in Kazan, Tatarstan. Head coach Oleg Znarok didn't make any major changes to the line-up, keeping Mikko Koskinen in net. Emil Garipov was Ak Bars starting goaltender.

These two teams came into this one as the league's best defensive sides, however that soon went out of the window. Evgeny Dadonov opened the scoring early on, beating Emil Garipov at the second attempt after Patrik Hersley's stick had broken. SKA were dominating the opening stages, but, out of nothing, Ak Bars sprung into life. Fyodor Malykhin equalised on the doorstep, and then two minutes later, Mikhail Glukhov tipped in. Our players weren't going to lay down though, making it a tied game before the period was out - Vadim Shipachyov punished the Ak Bars goalkeeper for a horrible turnover.

Vadim then made it a brace in the second - screening Emil Garipov, he fooled the goalkeeper with a clever deflection. Our team were full of confidence again, creating plenty of chances inside Ak Bars' zone. Anton Belov came the closest, as his goalbound wrister was swept off the goal line by the netminder's glove.

As time rolled on, SKA slowly retreated into their shells. Ak Bars' advances were becoming more and more threatening, making us panic on a numerous amount of occasions. Sadly, just as it seemed as though we would ride out the storm, the hosts forced overtime - Evgeny Dadonov failed to control Artyom Zub's pass, allowing Jiri Sekac to beat Mikko Koskinen one on one.

It went all the way to penalty shots, where Nikita Gusev's goal was cancelled out by two Ak Bars markers. 3:4, SKA take only one point from Kazan.

Match protocol:

Ak Bars - SKA - 4:3 OT (2:2, 0:1, 1:0, 0:0 - 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Dadonov, 02.23

1:1 Malykhin (Obukhov, Ohtamaa), 12.40

2:1 Glukhov (Zakharchuk, Paygin), 14.36

2:2 Shipachyov (Gusev), 17.44

2:3 Shipachyov (Hersley, Belov), 22.23

3:3 Sekac, 53.59

4:3 Malykhin, 65.00

Goalkeepers: Garipov - Koskinen