Game two. Metallurg Magnitogorsk - SKA

Game two. Metallurg Magnitogorsk - SKA - 3:1

10 April 2017

Game two of the KHL Gagarin Cup final between HC Metallurg and SKA took place in Magnitogorsk. Head coach Oleg Znarok made a couple of changes, promoting defenseman Roman Rukavishnikov to the first line and placing Viktor Tikhonov in the fourth. Igor Shestyorkin and Vasily Koshechkin were the starting goaltenders.

Leading 1:0 in the series, SKA made a confident start in the Ural region. However, against the run of play, the hosts broke the deadlock with a man's advantage. Jan Kovar got them on the board, steering home a clever Chris Lee pass. Nevertheless, SKA responded well. It didn’t take long for our players to equalise. Sergei Mozyakin earned a high sticking call, allowing Vadim Shipachyov to level the score at point blank range. Rattled by that goal, Metallurg were lucky not to fall behind. Both Ilya Kovalchuk and Anton Belov beat the goalkeeper with huge one timers, but the pipe came to Metallurg’s rescue.

Holding the momentum, our players continued piling the pressure on Metallurg. The hosts were being pinned by their goal, struggling to get out of the zone. Evgeny Dadonov should have given SKA the lead, but clean through, he failed to squeeze his effort under Vasily Koshechkin. Our team were dominant, creating plenty of opportunities by Metallurg’s net. With the period drawing to a close, Evgeny Timkin gifted SKA a late powerplay after cross checking, but that proved to be our downfall. Shorthanded, Metallurg burst forward, forced a juicy rebound and Vladislav Kalentik pounced.

Unfortunately, that goal proved to be key. SKA’s players notably lost energy during the third period, not having the ability to break down the sturdy Metallurg defence. Despite having 44 shots on target overall, the team couldn’t find that all important second marker. Metallurg iced it in the final minute, as Tommi Santala hit the empty net after Igor Shestyorkin was pulled. 1:3, SKA lose in Magnitogorsk and the series score is now tied at 1:1.

Match protocol:

Metallurg Magnitogorsk – SKA – 3:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kovar (Lee), 07.20

1:1 Shipachyov (Kovalchuk, Gusev), 11.40

2:1 Kalentik (Osala), 37.17

3:1 Santala (Timkin, Biryukov), 58.49

Goalkeepers: Koshechkin – Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 17 – 44

Penalty minutes: 12 – 6

Faceoffs: 26 – 29

Hits: 22 – 17