Game four. Dinamo Minsk - SKA

Game four. Dinamo Minsk - SKA - 3:4

8 March 2022

In the fourth match of the first round of the 2021/2022 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs, SKA emerged victorious by a score of 4:3 against Dinamo Minsk to consequently clinch the series 4-0.

Former SKA forward Malte Stromwall opened the scoring for Minsk on the powerplay in the 32nd minute of proceedings with a huge slap shot. However, SKA soon got back on level terms on the man advantage, as Andrei Kuzmenko gobbled up the rebound at point-blank range.

Adam Almquist handed the Belarusians their second advantage of the day in the second minute of the third period, thumping a powerful attempt beyond Lars Johansson on the powerplay.

SKA weren't prepared to allow Dinamo to force a game five, though.

Nikita Gusev equalised for our team in the 47th minute, as he completed a flowing play on the slot on yet another powerplay. Not long later, SKA took the lead for the first time, with Marat Khusnutdinov beating young Dinamo goaltender Alexei Kolosov when presented with an odd-man rush.

Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi doubled SKA's money in the 53rd minute with a superb individual effort to put our players in an excellent position.

After pulling Kolosov for the extra skater in the closing minutes, Stromwall hammered another rocket past Johansson with 31 seconds remaining in the third frame, but SKA managed to hold on and successfully see the series out.

SKA will now prepare to compete against Spartak Moscow in the second phase of the playoffs. The series will begin later this month.

Match protocol:

Dinamo Minsk - SKA - 3:4 (0:0, 1:1, 2:3)

Goals:

1:0 Stromwall (Almquist, Beck), 31.21 PPG

1:1 Kuzmenko (Burdasov, Lehtonen), 36.02 PPG

2:1 Almquist (Stromwall), 41.13 PPG

2:2 Gusev (Kuzmenko, Burdasov), 46.26 PPG

2:3 Khusnutdinov (Galimov), 50.47

2:4 Shvets-Rogovoi (Vorobyov), 52.51

3:4 Stromwall, 59.29

Goalkeepers: Kolosov - Johansson