Sibir – SKA

Sibir – SKA – 0:3

27 September 2023

Away in the Siberian capital of Novosibirsk, SKA confidently put Sibir to the sword in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, earning an emphatic 3:0 victory.

SKA immediately took a firm grip of proceedings.

Dominating proceedings, our players effectively protected the puck inside the attacking zone for long periods during the opening stanza. Anton Krasotkin was in form, though, as the Sibir goalkeeper stopped all 15 shots which he faced in the first period.

His best save denied Valentin Zykov at point-blank range, as he somehow managed to tip his attempt over the crossbar while falling off balance.

At the other end, Sibir thought that they had drawn first blood when Pavel Gogolev caught Artemiy Pleshkov cold from the left flank, but the goal was disallowed as a consequence of a high-sticking foul committed by former SKA forward Nikolai Prokhorkin.

SKA eventually did make their dominance count midway through the second stanza.

Unmarked to the left of the crease, Mikhail Vorobyov expertly diverted Artyom Sergeev’s intelligent pass past the helpless Krasotkin.

Straight after the ensuing faceoff draw, Prokhorkin suddenly managed to battle his way through 1-on-1, but Pleshkov stood tall to the challenge.

Our second marker arrived with little over a minute remaining in the period. It was a beauty too, as the lively Alex Galchenyuk beat the Sibir defence for sheer skill and emphatically whipped the puck into the left corner. 19-year-old forward Semyon Sinyatkin contributed with an assist to register his first KHL point.

Pleshkov protected our two-goal advantage in the concluding moments of the second period with a superb left-pad stop against Ilya Morozov from the high slot.

Our in-form 20-year-old goalkeeper got the third period going with another superb stop, preventing the puck from crossing the line when under severe pressure.

Not long later, Sinyatkin could have added his first league goal to his assist, but he could only whack the puck against Krasotkin’s pads when clean through.

Despite requiring goals, Sibir barely spent any time inside our zone in the stanza, with our team calmly keeping the Siberian side at arm’s length. Sibir didn’t exactly help themselves either with their poor discipline and constant penalties.

SKA's powerplay goal was finally scored in the penultimate minute of the match, with Galchenyuk’s pass being inadvertently directed in by a home player.

The flawless Pleshkov did indeed successfully see the game out to pick up his second shutout of the campaign!

SKA will now prepare to face Sochi away next Monday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Sibir – SKA – 0:3 (0:0, 0:2, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Vorobyov (Sergeev, Nikishin), 29.31

0:2 Galchenyuk (Vorobyov, Sinyatkin), 38.37

0:3 Galchenyuk (Gritsyuk), 58.38 PPG

Goalkeepers: Krasotkin – Pleshkov

Shots: 39 – 81

Shots on target: 20 – 36

Faceoffs: 22 – 27