Severstal - SKA

Severstal - SKA - 2:7

8 September 2017

In Cherepovets, SKA took on HC Severstal for the final game of this KHL road trip. Head coach Oleg Znarok pulled Patrik Hersley, David Rundblad and Jarno Koskiranta in favour of Roman Rukavishnikov, Ilya Kablukov and Maxim Karpov. Igor Shestyorkin and Sergei Magarilov were the starting goaltenders.

SKA made a positive start in Cherepovets, immediately taking the intiative against the opponents. Sergei Shirokov grabbed the first goal early on, twisting to the crease and scoring with a powerful wrist shot. However, to our horror, Severstal had an instant response up their sleeve. Petr Holik equalised within 30 seconds, pouncing upon a juicy rebound. Our players were thrown by that goal, but they soon recovered. Sergei Plotnikov gave SKA the lead again on the powerplay, before Maxim Karpov's pass was deflected into the Severstal net by a home defenseman - 3:1.

The goals kept on coming in the second stanza. Sergei Shirokov extended the SKA advantage, firing a powerful wrister beyond the goalkeeper after brilliantly faking a slap shot. That goal forced Severstal into a goalkeeping change, with Alexei Artamkin replacing Sergei Magarilov. Severstal's Matej Stransky netted from point blank range to give Severstal a lifeline, but Nikolai Prokhorkin gave a beautiful counterattack the finished it deserved to keep SKA ahead by three goals.

Our players put the game out of sight during the third frame. Ilya Kovalchuk got his name on the scoreboard, launching a huge one timer past the netminder on a powerplay. Sergei Shirokov sealed the deal late on, scoring from the left faceoff circle for another special teams goal and his hat trick. Igor Shestyorkin calmly saved nine shots in the frame, seeing SKA through to a large 7:2 victory against Severstal Cherepovets!

Match protocol:

Severstal - SKA - 2:7 (1:3, 1:2, 0:2)

Goals:

0:1 Shirokov (Karpov), 04.43

1:1 Holik (Evseenkov), 05.13

1:2 Plotnikov (Datsyuk, Gusev), 07.58

1:3 Karpov (Kalinin), 14.08

1:4 Shirokov (Kalinin, Khafizullin), 25.09

2:4 Stransky (Holik, Evseenkov), 32.19

2:5 Prokhorkin (Rukavishnikov, Gusev), 33.40

2:6 Kovalchuk (Datsyuk, Plotnikov), 46.44

2:7 Shirokov (Karpov), 53.45