Lokomotiv - SKA

Lokomotiv - SKA - 3:4 SO

4 September 2021

In a memorable battle, SKA weathered the storm against Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl, emerging victorious 4:3 after a penalty shootout in the second match of the 2021/2022 KHL regular season.

As expected, Lokomotiv came out all guns blazing, but it was SKA who made the early breakthrough in the fifth minute.

Waiting patiently at the blue line, the unmarked Vasily Tokranov received an accurate pass, and his rising attempt flew over Edward Pasquale’s blocker. Moments later, Vladislav Kamenev could have doubled our lead, but his effort was stopped by the mask.

It didn’t take Lokomotiv long to get back on level terms.

Not long after Alexander Samonov had denied Maxim Shalunov in spectacular fashion, Denis Alexeev took full advantage of a goalmouth scramble, sending the puck high into the net with our goalkeeper out of position.

Lokomotiv went on to create a series of clear opportunities during the rest of the first period. Applying heavy pressure on our players, the hosts were simply too fast at times, creating space at will and causing our defence serious problems with their pace. Fortunately, Samonov was on top form, pulling off wonderful saves to keep SKA in the game.

SKA took the lead for the second time early in the second stanza.

On the counter-attack, Joonas Kemppainen received a clever pass from Marat Khusnutdinov, powering towards the slot and going top-shelf on Pasquale.

Nevertheless, despite that setback, the flow of the game didn’t change. Firmly on the front foot, Lokomotiv continued to lay siege to our net, testing Samonov from any angle possible and forcing our defence into a number of errors. Their pressure did indeed result in a goal in the 28^th minute of proceedings, as Alexei Marchenko unleashed a low wrist shot under Samonov’s pads.

The incessant pressure from the home team wasn’t letting up. However, SKA and Samonov were standing firm, and Khusnutdinov registered our third marker with a little over a minute remaining in the second frame as he gave Pasquale no chance with an unstoppable attempt immediately after a faceoff draw.

That goal did seem to give SKA a real boost.

In the ensuing third period, our team defended a lot more solidly in comparison to the first two periods, not allowing Lokomotiv to get close to Samonov’s net.

Everything looked to be going to plan. But, with around five minutes remaining in regulation, Yegor Averin created a third Lokomotiv equaliser out of nothing, collecting his own rebound after a solo raid and nudging the puck over the line with Samonov helpless to force overtime.

Lokomotiv were dominant in the extra frame. Thankfully for us, Samonov simply refused to be beaten, notably denying the clean-through Maxim Shalunov as SKA struggled to move the play out of their own zone. Anton Burdasov had our best chance of overtime, lashing a trademark one-timer over the crossbar.

A shootout was required. To our joy, with Linden Vey, Kirill Marchenko and Andrei Kuzmenko hitting the jackpot, and Andre Petersson being the sole Lokomotiv player to beat Samonov, SKA claimed the extra point to leave Yaroslavl with a scintillating victory.

SKA will now prepare to host Admiral Vladivostok in the first home game of the campaign on Monday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Lokomotiv - SKA - 3:4 SO (1:1, 1:2, 1:0, 0:0 - 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Tokranov (Burdasov, Falkovsky), 04.56

1:1 Alexeev (Kraskovsky), 08.19

1:2 Kemppainen (Khusnutdinov, Kuzmenko), 23.57

2:2 Marchenko (Petersson, Shalunov), 27.28

2:3 Khusnutdinov (Kamenev, Kemppainen), 38.58

3:3 Averin (Misyul), 54.59

3:4 Kuzmenko, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Pasquale - Samonov