Dynamo Moscow - SKA

Dynamo Moscow - SKA - 2:3

9 November 2016

SKA returned to KHL action with a blockbuster encounter against HC Dynamo Moscow in the Russian capital. Head coach Oleg Znarok didn’t make any surprises with the line-up, as Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergei Plotnikov were kept together in the first line. Igor Shestyorkin and Alexander Lazushin were the starting netminders.

As expected, there was a piping hot atmosphere inside the VTB Ice Palace. Given these teams’ history, it was always going to be a fiercely contested match, and it was Dynamo who began the stronger. As the hosts caught us out on pacey counterattacks, Igor Shestyorkin was forced into some tricky saves. Eventually, it led up to a goal – Yakov Rylov’s thumping slapper deflected in off the goalkeeper’s shoulder. That Dynamo marker seemed to wake us out of our slumber though, and practically in the next play, we tied it up. Joining the rush, Maxim Chudinov snuck a low wrister through Alexander Lazushin’s legs. We had the momentum now, failing to make use of two powerplays late in the frame.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t take that into the second stanza. Just like in the first, Dynamo crashed our net, and we had to rely on Igor Shestyorkin to bail us out. Our players were struggling to find their own game, and midway through the period, Dynamo punished us – on a broken play, Ansel Galimov went top shelf with the backhand when clean through. However, we had a golden opening to equalize immediately – all alone on the doorstep, Nikita Gusev was somehow denied by the netminder. Ilya Kovalchuk was the next to be cursing his luck, seeing his whipped wrister crack inches off target.

We were in a hole, but SKA are too good to back down. Seconds after Igor Shestyorkin pulled off a stunning save at point blank range, we pegged the hosts back – Evgeny Ketov’s snap shot caught Alexander Lazushin off guard. We weren’t finished there either, as on the powerplay, we grabbed a crucial lead. Anton Belov opened up on the left faceoff circle, let a one timer go and hit the jackpot. That proved to be the deciding moment, and despite some late Dynamo pressing, we held on for a hugely important 3:2 victory over HC Dynamo Moscow!

Match protocol:

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

Goals:

1:0 Rylov (Shipov, Fyodorov), 08.30

1:1 Chudinov (Shipachyov, Gusev), 10.03

2:1 Galimov, 31.52

2:2 Ketov (Rykov, Khafizullin), 43.16

2:3 Belov (Shipachyov, Gusev), 44.46

Goalkeepers: Lazushin – Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 33 – 36

Faceoffs: 26 – 39

Hits: 11 – 9