Dynamo Moscow – SKA

Dynamo Moscow – SKA – 3:4 SO

28 October 2022

In a pulsating battle, SKA outlasted Dynamo Moscow at the VTB Arena in the 2022/2023 KHL regular season, earning a scintillating 4:3 victory after a tense penalty shootout.

The thrilling action got off to a fast start in the first period.

SKA struck twice within the opening seven minutes. Lurking on the doorstep, Dmitrij Jaskin cleverly tipped Igor Ozhiganov’s wrister over Ilya Konovalov, before Damir Zhafyarov doubled SKA’s advantage when pouncing on the loose puck after the goalkeeper hadn’t been able to freeze Mikhail Vorobyov’s weak shot from distance.

Dynamo promptly opted to pull the hapless Konovalov in favour of Konstantin Volkov after the second goal which had been netted when playing 4-on-4.

That change had a positive effect for the Muscovites. They halved the deficit out of the blue in the 10^th minute, as Ivan Muranov stuffed the puck over the line after it had taken a wicked deflection off the boards. Initially, Alexander Samonov had stopped Maxim Dzhioshvili’s first shot, but he was powerless against Muranov’s effort.

Nevertheless, SKA quickly reinstated the two-goal lead on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Jaskin was once again the hero on the crease, neatly tapping the puck in from a tight angle on the right after it had taken another tricky ricochet behind the net.

Dynamo predictably increased the intensity of their play in the second stanza. In truth, SKA weren’t helping themselves at all, committing a number of avoidable mistakes in the neutral and defensive zones.

The hosts halved the deficit in the 36^th minute just four seconds after a powerplay had ended. Between the circles, Ilya Kablukov managed to get his body on Yegor Martynov’s wrist shot from distance, and Samonov couldn’t react in time.

Naturally, Dynamo set about laying siege to the SKA net in the third period.

For the majority of the frame, SKA defended excellently, calmly keeping the hosts at a safe distance thanks to intelligent play. But, out of nothing, Jaskin received a controversial holding foul and Dynamo pounced on their opportunity.

At the high slot, Eric O’Dell tapped Jordan Weal’s slap pass beyond the stranded Samonov to draw the home team level with a little over six minutes remaining.

Buoyed by that goal, Dynamo subsequently piled the pressure on SKA. At point-blank range, Vladislav Mikhailov was denied by a superb save from Samonov, a chance which arrived seconds after the Moscow club had missed the gaping net after our goalkeeper had saved the first shot.

The visitors successfully rode the storm to force overtime. In the concluding minute of the extra period, SKA were handed an ideal chance to end the match in their favour after home forward Maxim Sushko was punished for attacking the head and neck area, but Volkov stood his ground against a couple of huge shots from Marat Khairullun.

SKA finally got the job done in the penalty shootout. With Samonov stopping all four shots he faced, and Jaskin and Mikhail Vorobyov hitting the jackpot beautifully, SKA earned a memorable triumph.

Our players will now prepare to play Spartak in Moscow on Sunday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

Dynamo Moscow – SKA – 3:4 SO (1:3, 1:0, 1:0, 0:0, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Jaskin (Ozhiganov, Vorobyov), 04.08

0:2 Zhafyarov (Vorobyov, Nikishin), 06.47

1:2 Muranov (Dzhioshvili, Kablukov), 09.05

1:3 Jaskin (Nikishin, Vorobyov), 14.15 PPG

2:3 Kabulkov (Martynov, Kodola), 35.44

3:3 O’Dell (Weal, Martynov), 53.46 PPG

3:4 Vorobyov, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Konovalov/Volkov – Samonov