SKA - CSKA - 3:2 OT

22 December 2021

In a pulsating battle, SKA registered a hugely important victory in Saint Petersburg, defeating CSKA Moscow 3:2 in overtime in the 2021/2022 KHL regular season.

CSKA shaded the opening frame at the Ice Palace.

On the front foot, the Muscovites carved open a serious of excellent chances, with Vladislav Kamenev, Lucas Wallmark and Konstantin Okulov all being denied by alert saves by Lars Johansson when in inviting positions. Midway through the frame, Wallmark should have opened the scoring for CSKA, but he couldn’t make contact on the puck with the right corner gaping.

Nevertheless, SKA also started to create chances towards the end of the frame, and our players continued competing on the front foot in the second stanza.

That was only after Mikhail Grigorenko had missed a huge chance for CSKA, though, as he wristed into Johansson’s glove on an odd-man rush.

SKA broke the deadlock in the 29^th minute on the counter-attack. Pulling to the slot on the right flank, Alexander Volkov decided to shoot instead of making a pass to the onrushing Valentin Zykov, and he beat Ivan Fedotov with a rasping attempt.

Our team subsequently dominated across the ice for the remainder of the period, forcing CSKA to make several mistakes and testing Fedotov from any angle possible.

The lead was doubled in the 32^nd minute. After escaping his marker on the doorstep, Danila Moiseev connected with a clever pass from behind the net and managed to lift the puck past Fedotov’s right shoulder.

SKA were seemingly in a fantastic position. However, the game suddenly turned on its head at the start of the third period.

Following a poor defensive mistake, the puck dropped to Konstantin Okulov on the crease, who forced the puck over the line at point-blank range with Johansson helpless.

CSKA went on to boss the entire third frame with their incessant pressing. In stark comparison to the second period, the Muscovites simply had too much power and pace for SKA, creating opportunities at will and refusing to let our players keep control of the puck for a prolonged amount of time.

The capital outfit did get back on level terms with 52 minutes on the clock.

Pavel Karnaukhov’s first shot was stopped by Johansson, but the CSKA forward pounced on the rebound and backhanded in.

In truth, Johansson was the only player preventing CSKA from claiming the two points in regulation time, pulling off wonderful saves against the likes of Kamenev and Joakim Nordstrom as he received somewhat little help from the skaters in front of him.

Nordstrom wasted a glorious 2-on-1 opportunity for CSKA with six minutes remaining in regulation.

But, in overtime, Nikita Gusev became the hero for SKA, sending a searing wrist shot high over Fedotov’s blocker to grab a thrilling triumph for the home team.

SKA will now prepare to face Sibir in Novosibirsk on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 13:30 Moscow time.

Match protocol:

SKA - CSKA - 3:2 OT (0:0, 2:0, 0:2, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Volkov (Zykov, Sedov), 28.40

2:0 Moiseev (Gusev, Pylenkov), 31.50

2:1 Okulov (Kamenev, Plotnikov), 40.46

2:2 Karnaukhov (Okulov), 51.58

3:2 Gusev (Lehtonen), 61.26

Goalkeepers: Johansson - Fedotov

Shots: 60 - 64

Shots on target: 32 - 32