SKA - Amur - 1:2 OT

15 January 2016

The third match of this home series took place today against HC Amur Khabarovsk. Head coach Sergei Zubov didn’t make any real changes for this match, as Mikko Koskinen kept his place in net and Vadim Shipachyov, Nikita Gusev and Evgeny Dadonov were all in the third line. HC Amur’s starting goaltender was Alexander Perchursky.

Looking for a third win on the bounce SKA began with purpose, and cutting in off the right flank Sergei Shirokov fired directly into the goaltender’s chest at close range. Amur took heed from that chance though, and tightened up their defence. We were having very few real openings, and Jarno Koskiranta’s dangerous wrister from distance was the best that our players could offer. Most of the play was being shut down at neutral ice, and both sides were having serious trouble getting set up in the opposing zone. Mikko Koskinen had very little work to do in our net, making only six routine saves in the period.

The second period was much the same, as Amur’s defence was proving difficult to break down. Steve Moses did have one real huge chance to break the deadlock on the slot, but all alone he contrived to fire wide of the right post. Amur themselves began to attack more after that, and took a surprisingly lead. With our defence sucked out Tomas Zahorna took a whack from the left faceoff circle, and the puck whistled over Mikko’s glove. That shocked the Ice Palace somewhat, and it took a while for our team to get going. Most of the action was coming in our zone, however two guilt edged opportunities did come and go for SKA. Maxim Chudinov slapped over the net when open glove side, and then Dinar Khafizullin missed the open right corner with an empty net to aim at.

All of the pressure was on our team in the third period, and the players did take the tempo up a notch. The pressing was building around Amur’s net, and Vadim Shipachyov passed up a gaping chance when alone on the doorstep. The fans were beginning to get frustrated, but ten minutes from time Amur’s stubborn defence was finally beaten. A loose puck popped out to the tip of the slot, and Dmitry Kalinin one timed between Alexander Pechursky’s pads. That calmed everyone’s nerves, but with time running down Amur had a great opening in which to win it. On a three on one Denis Tolpeko should really have won it for the visitors, however thankfully he missed the target all together.

Overtime it was, and unfortunately it ended all too quickly. Vyacheslav Ushenin was fouled by Maxim Chudinov when clean through, and he stepped up to dispatch his penalty shot under Mikko’s blocker. 1:2 today, and SKA take only one point against Amur. The next match will take place on the 17^th of January against HC Sibir Novosibirsk.

Match protocol:

SKA – Amur – 1:2 OT (0:0, 0:1, 1:0 – 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Zahorna (Bergfors), 27.59

1:1 Kalinin (Shipachyov, Moses), 51.21

1:2 Ushenin, 62.25

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Pechursky

Shots on target: 30 – 24

Penalty minutes: 6 – 4

Faceoffs: 29 – 33

Hits: 8 – 10

Referees: Safiullov, Deev