SKA stay alive in Moscow!

4 April 2025

Thanks to a bullet from Sergei Sapego in OT, SKA survived a blockbuster against Dynamo Moscow to win the fifth match of the first round of the 2024/2025 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs 4:3, consequently remaining alive in the competition!

After conceding late in the third period, SKA were one goal away from elimination, but 25-year-old defenseman Sapego hammered in a rocket in the 72^nd minute to reduce the series deficit to 2-3.

SKA made the perfect start in the second minute of proceedings.

Sergei Plotnikov took full advantage of an interference foul committed by Dynamo defenseman Kirill Adamchuk, tapping home when receiving a gorgeous feed from Ivan Demidov.

However, it didn’t take Dynamo long to equalise.

And it was a really poor goal to concede as well, with a defensive lapse allowing Artyom Mikheyev to speed through on the left flank and slide the puck past Artemiy Pleshkov’s pads.

Competing on the front foot, the hosts applied heavy pressure on SKA throughout the opening stanza, with their sharp movement particularly causing us problems. Cedric Paquette probably had the clearest look at our net when alone between the circles, blasting wide of the mark.

The second stanza was contested in a similar manner.

This time, however, SKA managed to take the lead without conceding a quick equaliser.

Demidov was picked out by an intelligent pass from Sergei Sapego on the right wing, sped towards the Dynamo net and beat Motorygin for power.

Dynamo did play with the initiative for virtually all of the period.

Pleshkov made a grand total of 12 saves in the second frame alone, shutting the door on the clean-through Dylan Sikura, preventing Dmitry Rashevsky from taking advantage of a 2-on-1 opportunity and fielding a threatening effort after Pavel Dedunov had bravely blocked a slap shot.

Just like in the preceding two games, the third period turned out to be a thriller.

Jordan Weal drew Dynamo level in the 46^th minute, carefully turning the puck in after Pleshkov had stopped the initial shot.

Nevertheless, despite that setback, our players didn’t need long to regain their composure. On only their second powerplay of the evening, SKA grabbed their third with around eight minutes remaining in regulation time, with Alexander Nikishin unleashing a strong wrister which flew past an unsighted Motorygin.

That goal had been scored moments after Demidov had seen his second disallowed for offside.

Dynamo took a risk when swapping Motorygin for the extra skater with three minutes still left to play. Unfortunately for us, that decision proved to be the right one, as Artyom Ilyenko bunded the rebound in with the backhand to force the third overtime of the series.

SKA weren’t to be denied, though, as Sapego became the fourth player to get the better of Motorygin.

Game six of the series is scheduled to take place in Saint Petersburg on Sunday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:00 local time.

Match protocol:

Dynamo Moscow – SKA – 3:4 1OT (1:1, 0:1, 2:1, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Plotnikov (I. Demidov, Gritsyuk), 01.53 PPG

1:1 Mikheyev (Ozhiganov, Dzhioshvili), 04.22

1:2 I. Demidov (Sapego), 28.07

2:2 Weal (Paquette, Pylenkov), 45.47 PPG

2:3 Nikishin (Kuznetsov), 52.21 PPG

3:3 Iylenko (Pylenkov, Ozhiganov), 57.25

3:4 Sapego (Pedan), 71.49