Dynamo Moscow - SKA

Dynamo Moscow - SKA - 2:3

7 March 2016

The first game of this KHL Gagarin Cup playoff second round series took place today against HC Dynamo Moscow away. Head coach Sergei Zubov made only one major change since the series against Lokomotiv, with Ilya Kovalchuk replacing Steve Moses in the second line. Mikko Koskinen was in our net, and Alexander Yeryomenko was his opposite number for Dynamo.

The VTB Ice Palace was packed out for this one, and it was a quiet start from both teams. Dynamo were happy to sit back and let SKA hold possession, while our players weren’t willing to take any risks moving forward. Neither goalkeeper were having a lot of work to do, and it was always going to take a penalty to open things up. The inaugural foul was fortunately taken by Dynamo, and it took our players only a few seconds to make them pay. Nikita Gusev hung to the left of the crease, played it across, and Evgeny Dadonov backhanded over the line. Dynamo upped their tempo after that conceded goal, and Mikko Koskinen kept us ahead with a stunning save: a loose puck bobbled around our crease, and Mikko’s stick somehow prevented a Dynamo forward from netting.

However, things were about to get a lot worse in the second period. In the first shift Dynamo’s Andrei Mironov hopefully dumped in on net from the left faceoff circle, and his weak wrister caught Mikko Koskinen unawares – 1:1. That goal threw SKA, and Dynamo smelt blood. The pressure was becoming unbearable, and Mikko regained his confidence with some neat saves off slappers from distance. Dynamo were controlling proceedings, but completely against the run of play SKA grabbed a second lead. On another powerplay Vadim Shipachyov pulled to the right, sent it to the doorstep, and that man Evgeny Dadonov was on hand to score. The hosts didn’t like that, and they carried on laying siege to our goal. SKA didn’t help their cause with Yegor Yakovlev taking a delay of game call, and unfortunately that led to Dynamo’s equaliser. Alexander Osipov let rip from the point, and Daniil Tarasov tipped in by the left post. Sergei Zubov used his coach’s challenge, but his argument claiming that the goalkeeper was interfered against was waved off.

The game was hanging on a knife’s edge moving into the third frame, and just like at the beginning Dynamo let SKA hold the initiative. The hosts were waiting for their opportunities on the counterattack, and they prevented SKA from finding any clear shooting lanes inside Dynamo’s zone. The tension was rising, and midway through the period the match’s deciding episode arrived. Dynamo’s Denis Barantsev took out Jarno Koskiranta with a disgusting hit, and his 5+20 penalty paved the way for SKA to take a crucial advantage. Alexander Yeryomenko couldn’t hold on to the puck, and Nikita Gusev batted it in from point blank range. Nevertheless that was the only goal that we could score on that extended powerplay, and in the closing stages Dynamo did make us sweat. With their goaltender pulled Juuso Hietanen wristed from distance, it took a cunning deflection, and Mikko Koskinen made an instinctive save to seal our win. 3:2, and SKA take a huge win in game one of the KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs second round series!

Match protocol:

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

Goals:

0:1 Dadonov (Gusev, Kuteikin), 10.54

1:1 Mironov (Karpov), 20.42

1:2 Dadonov (Shipachyov, Chudinov), 32.46

2:2 Tarasov (Osipov, Kokarev), 37.23

2:3 Gusev (Shipachyov, Dadonov), 50.23

Goalkeepers: Yeryomenko – Koskinen

Shots on target: 30 – 26

Penalty minutes: 31 – 8

Faceoffs: 33 – 29