Sibir - SKA

Sibir - SKA - 5:2

4 September 2015

SKA begun their Far Eastern Russian KHL tour today with a match against HC Sibir Novosibirsk in Siberia. Head coach Andrei Nazarov opted not to make any serious changes, with Ilya Grebennikov kept in the third line and Alexander Dergachyov in the fourth. Mikko Koskinen was our netminder, with ex SKA man Alexander Salak his opposite number for the hosts.

It was a fast and furious start in Novosibirsk, as Sibir lived up to their reputation as being quick starters at home. The home fans made it a raucous atmosphere inside the arena, and three minutes after the opening faceoff they had something to shout about. David Ullstrom was allowed to stand on the doorstep alone, and he made no mistake. SKA couldn’t let Sibir run away early on, and thankfully an equalising goal arrived not long later. Our players broke away two on one, and Anton Burdasov wristed home from the right faceoff circle. That didn’t put Sibir off though, and they came so close to retaking the lead. A huge scramble erupted on our crease, and only a stunning Maxim Chudinov goal line clearance denied them. The tempo simply wouldn’t let up, and at the other end Evgeny Artyukhin failed to punish Alexander Salak for turning over the puck when twisting for an empty net wraparound. Evgeny Dadonov then missed two golden opportunities from point blank range, and just 36 seconds before the end of the period Sibir scored their second. With a SKA powerplay having expired Maxim Shalunov skated down the right flank, and he fired hard over Mikko Koskinen’s glove.

SKA came out looking for a lot more solid performance in the second, and right away our players managed to wrestle back control. Plenty of openings kept coming our way deep inside of Sibir’s zone, and a couple of home penalties helped the cause. Netminder Alexander Salak was on his game however, and he refused to be beaten from any angle. As the period went on Sibir upped the pace on their counterattacks, and Mikko Koskinen was forced into a fantastic body stop from the doorstep. The home fans took the noise level up a notch with that, and they found their third goal. Stepan Sannikov took up the loose puck, and charged down the wing to beat Mikko Koskinen near left post with a thumping wrister. Anton Burdasov almost clawed a goal back in the dying moments, however his wraparound laid on the line before the goaltender gloved it.

Everything had to be given if there was to be any chance of saving the game, and young forward Alexander Dergachyov impressed as he charged to Sibir’s net only to be taken down illegally. Our powerplay wasn’t working at all today however, and try as we might no real danger was created in front of Sibir’s goal. It was a different story for the hosts though, and they were simply ruthless when approaching Mikko Koskinen. Damir Zhafyarov made it 1:4 with a bundled backhanded up close, and on a four on three Oleg Gubin lifted a rebound over Mikko Koskinen. There was very little for Andrei Nazarov to smile about, although a late Dmitry Kalinin rebound goal did lift everyone’s spirits. Nevertheless that was as good as it got for SKA despite a late rally, and the team falls to Sibir 2:5 in Novosibirsk. The next game will take place against Metallurg Novokuznetsk away on Sunday.

Match protocol:

Sibir – SKA – 5:2 (2:1, 1:0, 2:1)

Goals:

1:0 Ullstrom (Kopeikin, Vereshchagin), 02.27

1:1 Burdasov (Khafizullin, Artyukhin), 04.14

2:1 Shalunov (Kopeikin, Vereshchagin), 19.24

3:1 Sannikov, 37.24

4:1 Zhafyarov, 48.52

5:1 Gubin (Zhafyarov), 54.08

5:2 Kalinin (Lindstrom), 56.43

Goalkeepers: Salak – Koskinen

Shots on target: 28 – 42