SKA – Admiral

SKA – Admiral – 5:0

16 October 2023

SKA eventually made short work of Admiral Vladivostok at the Ice Palace in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, cruising to an emphatic 5:0 victory.

However, to the surprise of many, Admiral had initially started firmly on the front foot.

The Vladivostok-based outfit unexpectedly dominated the vast majority of the opening stanza. At one point, Admiral were indeed outshooting SKA 12-2, with our skaters solely relying on the impressive Artemiy Pleshkov to keep our team in the game. One of his best saves denied the threatening Pavel Shen with Admiral skating away on the odd-man rush.

Nonetheless, after wasting a 5-on-3 powerplay, Admiral then conceded the first goal against the run of play while competing shorthanded.

Alexander Kadeikin was the scorer for SKA, as he expertly bundled the rebound in. The goal marked his first since returning to SKA in the summer.

That goal proved to be the turning point.

SKA practically put the game to bed with two quickfire goals at the start of the second stanza. Borna Rendulic knocked the rebound over the line after Admiral goaltender Pavel Khomchenko had stopped Vladimir Alistrov’s initial effort, before Alexander Nikishin thumped his one-timer home from the right faceoff circle.

Admiral did use their time-out following Nikishin's goal, but in truth it made little difference to the flow of play.

In full control of proceedings, SKA went on to dominate the entirety of the period. Stepan Starkov, Vasily Glotov and 19-year-old Semyon Sinyatkin were all presented with clear chances at close range, but Khomchenko pulled off a series of wonderful saves to keep the away team in with a slim chance.

Despite their best efforts, Admiral simply couldn’t cope with SKA’s increased pace and intensity. And, to everyone’s delight, our fourth goal in the 43^rd minute was netted by the fired-up Sinyatkin.

From a seemingly impossible angle on the left wing, the teenager caught Khomchenko sleeping to score his maiden KHL goal.

SKA weren’t finished there either. Arseniy Gritsyuk joined the party midway through the concluding frame, firing into the far corner from the right of the slot on the PP.

To their credit, Admiral kept on plugging away and passed up a number of golden opportunities throughout the closing stages, but Pleshkov refused to be beaten as he gained his third shutout of the campaign. His standout stop was witnessed against Anton Berlyov when it seemed certain that the Admiral forward would score.

SKA will now prepare to face Neftekhimik in Nizhnekamsk on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Admiral – 5:0 (1:0, 2:0, 2:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kadeikin (Alistrov, Sapego), 16.28 PPG

2:0 Rendulic (Alistrov, Nikishin), 20.19

3:0 Nikishin (Vorobyov, Alistrov), 23.47

4:0 Sinyatkin (Gritsyuk, Glotov), 42.20

5:0 Gritsyuk (Vorobyov, Galchenyuk), 50.29 PPG

Goalkeepers: Pleshkov – Khomchenko

Shots: 66 – 55

Shots on target: 37 – 31