Salavat Yulaev - SKA

Salavat Yulaev - SKA - 1:3

1 February 2017

SKA began their latest KHL away series with a match against HC Salavat in Ufa. Head coach Oleg Znarok was happy to welcome captain Pavel Datsyuk back to the line-up, while Arkhip Nekolenko was kept in the fourth line. Igor Shestyorkin and Andrei Gavrilov were the starting goaltenders.

In the midst of a seven game losing streak, Igor Zakharkin's Salavat came flying out of the blocks. Both teams were throwing bodies into attack, in turn setting an exciting pace to proceedings. SKA, who were searching for a second consecutive victory, were the more dangerous, creating a number of excellent chances on Salavat's crease. Pavel Datsyuk was denied by an acrobatic Andrei Gavrilov save, before Alexander Barabanov hacked wide with the goal at his mercy. Home forward Enver Lisin came the closest for Salavat, but his individual effort was stopped by an alert Igor Shestyorkin.

The hosts were dealt a blow for the second stanza, as netminder Andrei Gavrilov was unable to continue because of injury. His replacement Niklas Svedberg contrived to concede a goal within the first minute - on a powerplay, Vadim Shipachyov lashed a one timer over the glove. Buoyed by that goal, SKA began to dominate, pressing Salavat deep inside their own zone. Halfway through the period, the second goal arrived - Vadim Shipachyov forced the puck between the pads. SKA thought that they had score a late third, however after a long video review, it was determined that Jarno Koskiranta's shot didn't cross the line.

Despite everything pointing towards an eighth defeat, Salavat refused to wave the white flag. Unfortunately, their pressure resulted in a goal - Enver Lisin capped a fine solo play with a powerful shot into the right corner.

SKA weren't about to give the hosts hope though, with Vadim Shipachyov sealing his hat trick on the slot with ten minutes remaining. That proved to be the final event of note, SKA calmly held on to clinch an important 3:1 triumph in Ufa! As a result of CSKA's defeat against Traktor, the lead at the top of the KHL table has extended to five points.

Match protocol:

Salavat Yulaev - SKA - 1:3 (0:0, 0:2, 1:1)

Goals:

0:1 Shipachyov (Belov, Dadonov), 20.56

0:2 Shipachyov (Dadonov, Gusev), 31.05

1:2 Lisin (Loginov, Parshin), 45.24

1:3 Shipachyov (Voynov, Dadonov), 50.24

Goalkeepers: Gavrilov/Svedberg - Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 26 - 30

Penalty minutes: 18 - 2

Faceoffs: 20 - 33

Hits: 13 - 8