Game four. Lokomotiv - SKA

Game four. Lokomotiv - SKA - 1:4

20 March 2018

Leading 2:1 in the KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs second round series, SKA took on HC Lokomotiv for game four in Yaroslavl. Head coach Oleg Znarok brought forwards Maxim Karpov and Nikolai Prokhorkin into the line-up, keeping Mikko Koskinen in net. Alexander Sudnitsin was Lokomotiv's starting goaltender.

Lokomotiv came flying out of the blocks, throwing everything at SKA during the opening stages. Unfortunately, their early pressure resulted in a goal, as Yegor Korshkov tipped the puck under Mikko Koskinen's blocker. The hosts continued to dominant proceedings, but SKA seemed to have scored an equaliser when Jarno Koskiranta deflected Evgeny Ketov's wrister in. However, after a video review, it was determined that the Finn's stick was too high.

Nevertheless, SKA did make it 1:1 before the period finished. Alexander Barabanov's stick knocked the puck past the beaten Lokomotiv goalkeeper, getting SKA back on terms.

To our delight, that proved to be the game's turning point. SKA came to life in the second stanza, scoring three goals against a tiring Lokomotiv side. Ilya Kovalchuk gave SKA the lead when clean through, before Viktor Tikhonov went top shelf with an arrowed attempt from the left flank. The same player then grabbed his second in the period's final minutes, lifing his attempt over Alexander Sudnitsin at a tight angle.

Despite losing heavily, Lokomotiv refused to wave the white flag. Tempers reached boiling point in Yaroslavl, with several fights erupting in a tetchy third period. SKA comfortably held on to the victory though, seeing off Lokomotiv 4:1 to take a 3:1 series lead!

Match protocol:

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

Goals:

1:0 Korshkov (Cherepanov), 06.41

1:1 Barabanov (Zubarev, Shipachyov), 18.58

1:2 Kovalchuk (Gavrikov, Barabanov), 26.19

1:3 Tikhonov (Thoresen), 31.10

1:4 Tikhonov (Thoresen, Prokhorkin), 34.46

Goalkeepers: Sudnitsin - Koskinen

Shots on target: 22 - 34

Faceoffs: 27 - 28

Hits: 31 - 15