SKA fall to Spartak amid penalty trouble

3 October 2025

It wasn’t a Friday night to enjoy for SKA against Spartak, as the ill-disciplined away team succumbed to a disappointing 1:3 defeat on the road in the 2025/2026 KHL regular season.

Having taken the lead in the second stanza, SKA had initially put themselves in a good position against one of the league’s most potent attacking sides, but penalty after penalty prevented the visitors from gaining any points.

A somewhat scrappy first period was low on quality and clear chances.

Competing with the backing of their passionate home fans, it was no surprise to see Spartak play on the front foot, with Artemiy Pleshkov being forced into a handful of challenging saves. His best was witnessed against Alexander Pashin, recovering in time to cover the sharp shot from close range.

23-year-old defenseman Yegor Zelenov was on the ice to make his KHL debut for our team. And one of his first contributions was a vital one, as he outmuscled the lively Pavel Poryadin on the crease to prevent the Spartak forward from connecting with a sharp pass.

SKA were mainly relying on counter-attacks and powerplays to trouble home goaltender Artyom Zagidulin. Two odd-man rushes ended in blocked shots, while Valentin Zykov struck the pipe with a rasping wrister.

The second stanza saw Spartak take full control of proceedings.

Our team did break the deadlock against the run of play in the 27^th minute, though, as Zykov tapped Marat Khairullin’s intelligent pass into the right corner.

However, the rest of the period belonged to the Muscovites.

With SKA committing an alarming amount of defensive errors, the home side really did start to force the issue, creating clear opportunities at will and tallying a grand total of 17 shots on target during the second period alone.

Defenseman Nikita Smirnov made the save of the frame, somehow getting his stick on Mikhail Maltsev’s rebound with the home supporters already out of their seats.

Spartak’s incessant pressure did eventually tell with two quickfire markers in the closing stages.

Alexander Belyayev wristed over the unsighted Pleshkov’s glove, before Poryadin cooly converted his 1-on-1 chance – after Nikita Korostelyov had wasted a similar opportunity earlier on in the period – with the SKA defence nowhere to be seen.

A 5-on-3 powerplay at the start of the third period presented Spartak with an opportunity to double their advantage which they didn’t waste.

Alone on the left circle, Korostelyov hammered a clattering one-timer past Pleshkov into the near corner.

To our frustration, our players spent practically the entirety of the stanza shorthanded. Under severe pressure, Pleshkov was continuing to keep SKA in what a shout, pulling off a series of top saves with Spartak testing him from all angles.

Pleshkov was pulled for the extra skater for the last 90 seconds to make it 5-on-5 with Khairullin sitting in the box, but to no avail.

SKA will now prepare to face Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl on Monday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:00 local time.

Match protocol:

Spartak – SKA – 3:1 (0:0, 2:1, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Zykov (Khairullin, Vorobyov), 26.22

1:1 Belyayev (Usmanov, Korolyov), 37.43

2:1 Poryadin (Todd, Ruzicka), 38.34

3:1 Korostelyov (Orlov, Lockhart), 45.21 PPG

Goalkeepers: Zagidulin – Pleshkov

Shots: 76 – 52

Shots on target: 44 – 23