Game four. Dynamo Moscow - SKA

Game four. Dynamo Moscow - SKA - 1:3

24 March 2021

In the fourth match of the 2020/2021 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs second round, SKA eased to a confident 3:1 victory against Dynamo Moscow at the VTB Arena, consequently moving 3-1 ahead in the series.

Dynamo were gifted two powerplays during a somewhat quiet first period, as Oscar Fantenberg was found guilty of hooking and the referees noticed too many SKA skaters on the ice. However, Dynamo weren’t willing to start with as much speed and aggression as in the previous game, and SKA comfortably dealt with their two powerplays.

The frame’s most memorable moment was a brief fight between Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi and Daniil Tarasov.

Magnus Hellberg was the busier goalkeeper in the opening 20 minutes. He did make one mistake when inadvertently passing the puck to Dynamo forward Vadim Shipachyov but, to his credit, he did get back to his net in time to save the latter’s ensuing shot.

SKA went on to take charge of proceedings in the second period.

All of a sudden, our players began to apply overwhelming pressure on Dynamo, putting together neat passing plays and drawing a tripping penalty out of Dynamo forward Vyacheslav Kulyomin.

A penalty which allowed SKA to open the scoring on the powerplay.

Alone to the left of the slot, Vladimir Tkachyov managed to tap the puck over the line, with his attempt ricocheting off Bocharov before rolling in.

SKA doubled their money on another powerplay in the 35^th minute of proceedings

Initially, Anton Burdasov had appeared to waste a glorious chance on the crease, but the puck dropped at the gleeful stick of Joonas Kemppainen after a wicked deflection off the boards. Kemppainen duly made full use of the opportunity, hooking his effort beyond the stranded Bocharov.

Two quickfire penalties from Emil Galimov and Oscar Fantenberg handed Dynamo a two-man advantage in the closing minutes of the frame. SKA kept the Muscovites at bay with solid defensive play, however, with one wrist shot smacking Hellberg’s crossbar.

Dynamo predictably threw everything at SKA in the third frame. Nevertheless, the visitors weren’t having any trouble in dealing with Dynamo’s meek threat, winning the vast majority of battles across the ice and protecting Hellberg effectively.

Shvets-Rogovoi practically put the game to bed in the 58^th minute, as he went top-shelf on Bocharov from the right faceoff circle after receiving an intelligent pass from the in-form Vladislav Kamenev.

In the concluding minutes, Dynamo did get on the board after pulling Bocharov for the extra skater, as Ivan Igumnov knocked the puck in after a deflection had disorientated Hellberg. That didn’t affect the result, though, as SKA calmly saw the match out!

The fifth game will be held in Saint Petersburg on Friday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Dynamo Moscow - SKA - 1:3 (0:0, 0:2, 1:1)

Goals:

0:1 Tkachyov (Kuzmenko), 24.55

0:2 Kemppainen (Tkachyov, Burdasov), 34.54

0:3 Shvets-Rogovoi (Podkolzin, Kamenev), 57.00

1:3 Igumnov (Cajkovsky, Shipachyov), 58.49

Goalkeepers: Bocharov - Hellberg

Shots on target: 27 - 28

Faceoffs: 27 - 32

Hits: 14 - 7