Metallurg Magnitogorsk - SKA

Metallurg Magnitogorsk - SKA - 5:4 SO

3 February 2017

SKA completed the final KHL road trip of the regular season with a match against HC Metallurg in Magnitogorsk. Head coach Oleg Znarok made two major changes to the line-up, instating Mikko Koskinen between the pipes and promoting Evgeny Ketov to the first line. Vasily Koshechkin was Metallurg's starting goaltender.

It was a quiet start in Magnitogorsk, with both teams requiring time to figure each other out. SKA slowly began to create goalscoring chances, calling goalkeeper Vasily Koshechkin into action with some tricky shots. The game eventually burst into life during the final minute, where both teams amazingly found the net: Pavel Datsyuk opened the scoring when clean through, before Chris Lee made it a tied game immediately with five seconds on the clock.

Nevertheless, despite that setback, SKA continued with the initiative in the second period. Under pressure, Metallurg didn't help themselves by taking two consecutive penalties in a row, fouls which allowed SKA to take the lead. Evgeny Dadonov netted two goals within thirty seconds, scoring from the doostep on both occasions. Metallurg could have cut the deficit before the period was out, but Alexei Bereglazov failed to score clean through.

Yaroslav Kosov took a 5+20 penalty at the end of the second, however SKA failed to create anything during that time. Unfortunately, to our horror, that proved to be the match's turning point. Metallurg forward Sergei Mozyakin made it a 3:2 game with a clattering slapper, and then Ilya Kablukov was promptly chucked out of the game for a high sticking offence. Jarno Koskiranta scored a fourth shorthanded though, speeding down the left wing and going top shelf on Vasily Koshechkin.

Sadly, that two goal advantage was instantly wiped out by Metallurg. Sergei Mozyakin, who has broken all KHL records this season, scored twice with identical slap shots to bring the hosts level. 4:4, overtime couldn't be avoided.

If there hadn't been enough drama for one match, more was in store. Nikita Gusev looked to have scored the winner early on in overtime, but, incredibly, it was waved off for a too many men offence. To compound SKA's misery, Danis Zaripov scored the deciding shot in the ensuing penalty shootout, as Igor Shestyorkin and Ilya Samsonov made appearances in net. 4:5, SKA take only one point from Magnitogorsk.

Match protocol:

Metallurg Magnitogorsk - SKA - 5:4 SO (1:1, 0:2, 3:1)

Goals:

0:1 Datsyuk (Kovalchuk, Belov), 19.26

1:1 Lee (Syomin, Filippi), 19.55

1:2 Dadonov (Belov, Shipachyov), 28.59

1:3 Dadonov (Gusev), 29.26

2:3 Mozyakin (Lee), 44.41

2:4 Koskiranta, 46.24

3:4 Mozyakin (Lee, Zaripov), 46.59

4:4 Mozyakin (Lee), 48.40

5:4 Zaripov, 65.00 SO