Jokerit - SKA

Jokerit - SKA - 1:4

6 January 2019

In Finland, SKA continued the maiden KHL regular season away series of 2018 in winning fashion, defeating HC Jokerit Helsinki 4:1 with a clinical performance.

During the first period, Jokerit held the initiative and created a number of opportunities, however fantastic goalkeeping from Magnus Hellberg kept the Finns at bay and three SKA goals against the run of play deflated the motivated hosts.

On an early powerplay, Jokerit thought they had taken the lead as Nicklas Jensen thundered a slap shot beyond Magnus Hellberg, however the goal was waved off for goaltender interference. Shorthanded, SKA then scored as Alexander Dergachyov punished Jokerit goalkeeper Janis Kalnins for a horrible error, but moments after that goal, Jokerit equalised with Nicklas Jensen firing a strong effort into the far left corner. This time, there was nothing wrong with the goal.

Jokerit were applying huge pressure on SKA, but instead of caving in, our players showed their mettle and even managed to score twice. Nikolai Prokhorkin stuffed a wraparound in on the powerplay, and with the frame coming to a close, the same player knocked the loose puck over the line after the goalkeeper had completely lost sight of it. 3:1 in SKA’s favour after 20 minutes.

The hosts replaced the forlorn Janis Kalnins for Ryan Zapolski in the break, but it made little difference. Within the first two minutes of the second period, SKA increased the lead to three, with Alexander Barabanov hitting the jackpot from point blank range. As our players gained confidence, plenty of spaces opened in the leaky Jokerit defence, and clear chances were appearing on a regular basis.

SKA calmly kept Jokerit at bay in the third period. Roared on by their vociferous supporters, Jokerit attempted to increase the intensity and create chances, but our defence was on top. On the counterattack, Sergei Plotnikov smashed a rasping slapper past Ryan Zapolski, but after video review, the goal was disallowed for offside.

Nevertheless, SKA expertly saw out the closing minutes and claimed a vital 4:1 triumph against HC Jokerit in Helsinki!

SKA now boast an eight point lead over Jokerit in second place of the 2018/2019 KHL Western Conference with a game in hand.

Match protocol:

Jokerit – SKA – 1:4 (1:3, 0:1, 0:0)

Goals:

0:1 Dergachyov, 12.19

1:1 N. Jensen (Grant), 12.36

1:2 Prokhorkin (Gusev, Khafizullin), 18.14

1:3 Prokhorkin (Gusev, Yakupov), 19.44

1:4 Barabanov (Kuzmenko), 21.46

Goalkeepers: Kalnins/Zapolski – Hellberg

Shots on target: 27 – 28