Game four. Lokomotiv - SKA - 1:2

SKA played game four of the 2016/2017 KHL Western Conference final against HC Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl. Due to Mikko Koskinen’s injury, head coach Oleg Znarok was forced into putting Igor Shestyorkin in net. Alexander Sudnitsin was Lokomotiv’s starting goalkeeper.

Facing elimination at home, Lokomotiv predictably took the initiative during the opening stages. The Yaroslavl outfit were crashing SKA’s net, testing Igor Shestyorkin at any opportunity. Our goalkeeper was up to the task though, stopping all eleven shots in the period. SKA were relying on counterattacks to trouble Alexander Sudnitsin, managing to create a few promising chances along the way. Evgeny Dadonov had the best of them, but alone on the doorstep, he failed to steer home a clever pass.

Our players stepped it up in the second stanza, drawing a few penalties out of the hosts. Eventually, it paved the way for the first goal. Dinar Khafizullin opened himself up at the high slot, received possession and scored with the help of the pipe. That goal gave SKA confidence, and midway through the period we doubled the advantage. Escaping his marker at the point, Anton Belov unleashed a huge slap shot beyond Alexander Sudnitsin. However, despite SKA’s dominance, Lokomotiv halved the deficit shorthanded. It was ex SKA forward Alexander Kadeikin who did it, tipping in a clever Andrei Loktionov pass.

Lokomotiv had no other option than to throw everything at SKA in the third period. The home team let the shackles down, committing heavily to attack and peppering Igor Shestyorkin’s goal. Nevertheless, Igor stood tall to the task, pulling off a stunning point blank range save to deny Daniil Apalkov. SKA were solely focused on defence, rarely making any advances. Lokomotiv did pull Alexander Sudnitsin for the extra skater in the final minute, but SKA held on to win 2:1 and win the third round series 4:0! SKA now advance to the KHL Gagarin Cup final!

Match protocol:

Lokomotiv – SKA – 1:2 (0:0, 1:2, 0:0)

Goals:

0:1 Khafizullin (Dadonov, Shipachyov), 28.06

0:2 Belov (Dadonov, Prokhorkin), 34.21

1:2 Kadeikin (Cherepanov, Loktionov), 36.39

Goalkeepers: Sudnitsin – Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 34 – 26

Penalty minutes: 14 – 14

Faceoffs: 32 – 24

Hits: 16 – 13

Referees: Jerabek, Ravodin

29.03.2017. Arena 2000, Yaroslavl.