Korotky bags three as SKA thump Sochi!

24 October 2025

Matvei Korotky was the star of the show this Friday evening, tallying his first KHL hat-trick to help SKA pummel Sochi 8:1 in Saint Petersburg and finally get back to winning ways!

The gifted 19-year-old forward, who has impressed since the start of the campaign, was too hot for Sochi to handle, registering three brilliant goals and standing out with his intense play.

SKA were rewarded for a positive start with two quickfire goals in the space of 38 seconds in the sixth minute.

Korotky fired into the left corner when receiving a clever pass from Vladislav Romanov after a Sochi defensive mix-up, before Matvei Polyakov whacked the loose puck home with fellow young forward Nikita Nedopyokin claiming his maiden KHL assist on the play.

Sochi promptly signalled for their time-out in a bid to stay in with a chance.

Our youthful third and fourth lines were indeed setting the tone with their energetic, tenacious approach, forcing Sochi into committing several errors with their incessant pressing.

Sochi did begin to create chances of their own towards the end of the first period. Sergei Ivanov had to make a series of challenging saves, in particular smartly denying the onrushing William Bitten.

The start of what turned out to be a memorable second period saw SKA well and truly blow sorry Sochi away.

Sergei Plotnikov got the party started in the second minute, rifling over Shchetilin’s blocker with an unstoppable wrister on the powerplay.

Just like in the first period, SKA then grabbed another a mere 30 seconds later, with Korotky receiving another intelligent pass from Romanov and giving Shchetilin no chance with his ensuing one-timer.

Eager to somehow turn the side, Sochi opted to pull Shchetilin in favour of Maxim Tretyak.

However, that decision by Sochi boss Vladimir Krikunov backfired spectacularly.

Korotky was the first to beat Tretyak, banking his own rebound in off the goalkeeper’s back from a seemingly impossible angle shorthanded to secure his hat-trick. Incredibly, SKA subsequently netted their second shorthanded goal during that same penalty kill in the next play, as Mikhail Vorobyov whipped beyond Tretyak when completely unmarked at the high slot.

Tretyak would pick the puck out of his net again midway through the frame.

After he had been fouled against when clean through, Rocco Grimaldi stepped up to take a penalty shot, and he converted it with aplomb to score his first goal since late September.

Having realised the error of his ways, Krikunov made the call to reinstate Shchetilin in place of the hapless Tretyak.

Interestingly, despite the score, Sochi were managing to cause SKA problems with their quick attacking play, testing Ivanov on 11 occasions throughout the second period and unleashing more attempts (30 in comparison to 24) on goal than our team.

The third period, however, duly got going with SKA’s eighth.

And once again it was a defensive horror show from the southern outfit, as Joseph Blandisi was given all the time in the world to pick his spot on the right wing.

To their credit, Sochi refused to wave the white flag in terms of their attacking ambition, probing with urgency and regularly calling Ivanov into action. Our 21-year-old goaltender pulled off one scintillating save at close range, sticking out his glove in time to shut the door on Daniil Seroukh.

Unfortunately, though, his shutout hopes were eventually ruined with five minutes to go.

Jean-Christophe Beaudin was the villain of the piece, tucking in when falling off balance on the doorstep to net a consolation powerplay goal for Sochi.

SKA thought that they had replied instantly when Polyakov took aim with the backhand on the counter, but a brief video review determined that the puck had not crossed the line.

Still, it made little difference to the outcome, as SKA calmly saw out the remaining minutes to emphatically snap their three-game losing streak.

Our players will now prepare to host Sibir Novosibirsk at the Ice Palace on Wednesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Sochi – 8:1 (2:0, 5:0, 1:1)

Goals:

1:0 Korotky (Romanov), 05.16

2:0 Polyakov (Loktionov, Nedopyokin), 05.44

3:0 Plotnikov (Khairullin, Vorobyov), 21.21 PPG

4:0 Korotky (Romanov, Dishkovsky), 21.51

5:0 Korotky (Dishkovsky), 25.04 SHG

6:0 Vorobyov (Khairullin), 25.45 SHG

7:0 Grimaldi, 29.22 PS