Medvescak - SKA

Medvescak - SKA - 5:4 OT

2 October 2016

SKA made the trip to Croatia for today’s fixture against HC Medvescak Zagreb. Head coach Oleg Znarok gave Finnish goaltender Mikko Koskinen his first start in net since the World Cup, while Yegor Rykov and Roman Rukavishnikov made up the fourth line defensive partnership for this match. Danny Taylor was Medvescak’s netminder.

In the opening few shifts, Medvescak seemed the brighter team. Their home fans were creating a deafening atmosphere, and they drew first blood – Bobby Butler lashed his wrister past Mikko Koskinen’s blocker. Evgeny Dadonov drew SKA level immediately after a goalmouth scramble erupted, but not long later, Medvescak regained their lead – on the powerplay, Gilbert Brule’s long range effort caught Mikko cold.

Our players had work to do, however two Medvescak fouls in a row gave us a golden chance to draw level again. Fortunately, we managed to do so, as Evgeny Dadonov cleverly hooked the puck over the goaltender. That goal gave us some real confidence, but with the period drawing to its close, Tomas Hertl forced the puck over the line for Medvescak as our players failed to kill off a Sergei Plotnikov high sticking call.

Sadly, SKA’s task got a whole lot harder in the third period. Edwin Hedberg powered down the right flank, beat all of our defensemen for pace, squared it to the slot and Shaone Morrisonn was on hand to score. Things didn’t look too promising, but having made many a comeback this season, SKA didn’t lose faith. The players were slowly upping the intensity on the Croatians, and with time ticking down, we pegged Medvescak back – after Evgeny Dadonov sealed his hat trick clean through, Alexander Barabanov tied it up with a tricky backhander blocker side.

In a topsy-turvy encounter, the last laugh eventually went to Medvescak. Ilya Kovalchuk was forced into fouling a second before the buzzer, and in the extra frame, Goran Bezina finished the match with a high wrister. 4:5 today, SKA take only one point from Zagreb.

Match protocol:

Medvescak – SKA – 5:4 OT (2:1, 1:1, 1:2 – 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Butler, 04.06

1:1 Dadonov (Gusev, Shipachyov), 04.49

2:1 Brule (Krejcik, Pare), 08.48

2:2 Dadonov (Gusev, Belov), 27.24

3:2 Mertl, 39.51

4:2 Morrisonn (Hedberg, Pare), 44.12

4:3 Dadonov (Shipachyov, Khafizullin), 50.14

4:4 Barabanov (Kovalchuk, Koskinen), 57.10

5:4 Bezina (Krejcik, Genoway), 61.19