Jokerit - SKA

Jokerit - SKA - 3:2

5 January 2017

SKA’s next game in this away series took place against HC Jokerit in Helsinki, Finland. Head coach Oleg Znarok opted to shuffle the first line around for this one, bringing Alexander Barabanov up to join Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk. Mikko Koskinen and Ryan Zapolski were the starting goaltenders.

As expected, Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena was packed out for this one. Jokerit’s fans were pumped to see their team take on SKA, however their heroes struggled against SKA’s attack. Desperate for a win after three consecutive defeats, SKA opened the scoring early on – all alone on the left faceoff circle, captain Pavel Datsyuk calmly stroked beyond the beaten Ryan Zapolski. It was the perfect start for SKA, but Jokerit came right back at us. Throwing themselves about, the Finns scored out of nothing at the end of the period – hanging behind the net, Pekka Jormakka swung strongly to the slot, squeezing his attempt under Mikko Koskinen.

Unfortunately, Jokerit’s confidence grew even further after the break – allowed to take aim at the high slot, Peter Regin launched a stinging drive into the left corner. Nikita Gusev then took a poor slashing penalty, but, amazingly, SKA pegged Jokerit back shorthanded. Caught out defensively, Jokerit lost track of Swede Patrik Hersley, who thumped a one timer into the roof of the net. As time went on, both teams became willing to take more risks, in turn creating a number of goalscoring opportunities. SKA had the best of them, with Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Barabanov forcing the netminder into alert stops up close.

In such a tight battle, the next goal was always going to prove crucial. Steve Moses had the perfect chance to get it, but one on one, he failed to go five hole on Ryan Zapolski. Sadly, that miss turned out to be the game’s turning point. Midway through the period, Mikko Koskinen pushed a slap shot on to the stick of Antti Philstrom, and the home forward took full advantage – 2:3. SKA threw everything at Jokerit during the closing stages, however it wasn’t meant to be. 2:3 in Finland, SKA will now fly to Latvia.

Match protocol:

Jokerit – SKA – 3:2 (1:1, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Datsyuk (Voynov, Shirokov), 05.32

1:1 Jormakka (Niemi, Maki), 19.12

2:1 Regin (O’Neill, Genoway), 20.41

2:2 Hersley (Rukavishnikov, Plotnikov), 23.43

3:2 Pihlstrom (Jensen, Anttila), 49.04

Goalkeepers: Zapolski – Koskinen

Shots on target: 21 – 35

Penalty minutes: 12 – 12

Faceoffs: 21 – 31