Severstal - SKA

Severstal - SKA - 2:4

18 January 2015

Exactly a week after hosting Severstal in Saint Petersburg, SKA travelled to Cherepovets to take on the same opponents. Mikko Koskinen was handed his place back in net with Igor Shestyorkin dropping to the bench, and in Ilya Kovalchuk's absence Vadim Shipachyov was named the team's captain.

SKA began on the front foot and Jimmie Ericsson, battling away for the puck by the right hand post, was denied by ex SKA goaltender Jakub Stepanek. Just under eleven minutes in the deadlock was broken, as Andrey Kuteikin let rip with a cannon from the blue line. That however sparked a series of SKA penalties, and Mikko Koskinen had to be alert to help our team kill several of them in a row.

In the second again it was SKA with the initiative, and it should have been two immediately. Yevgeni Dadonov burst through one on one, and couldn't beat the goaltender despite having the goal at his mercy. Severstal's net bulged again not long afterwards though, as Roman Cervenka swept home the loose change to the left of the slot. The hosts had to wake up now, and after a few further gaping opportunities at Jakub Stepanek's net, they got themselves back into things. Andreas Thuresson, crashing down between the circles, got on the end of a feed across from the right, and thrashed into the net.

All the momentum was with Severstal now, and with SKA seemingly sleeping, they began to crash the net with serious force. All of their pressure eventually led up to an equaliser, as Yevgeni Mons was left all alone to score from up close. They didn't stop there either, as at any given opportunity they dumped the puck deep into SKA's crease. Slowly but surely they began to tire though, and our team took full advantage. Minutes after Yevgeni Ketov shorthanded failed to score when clean through, Roman Cervenka deftly moved off the right faceoff circle before clinically wristing into the far corner. That goal came with only two minutes remaining, and the game was killed with a few seconds left as Viktor Tikhonov hit the empty net. 4:2 in SKA's favour, and our team continues their superb 2015 form!

Match protocol:

Severstal - SKA - 2:4 (0:1, 1:1, 1:2)

Goals:

0:1 Kuteikin (Chudinov), 10.57

0:2 Cervenka (Khokhryakov), 23.55

1:2 Thuresson (Kazakovtsev, Kovyrshin), 34.14

2:2 Mons (Buchnevich, Khokhlov), 46.25

2:3 Cervenka (Martensson, Khokhryakov), 58.01

2:4 Tikhonov (Ponikarovsky), 59.29

Goalkeepers: Stepanek - Koskinen

Shots: 35 - 40

Faceoffs: 30 - 26