SKA - Amur

SKA - Amur - 4:1

25 September 2016

SKA continued their home series with a match against HC Amur Khabarovsk. Interim head coach Pyotr Vorobyov installed Roman Rukavishnikov into the fourth line, but apart from that change, the line-up was kept the same. Igor Shestyorkin and Juha Metsola were the starting netminders.

In comparison to the previous game, a thrilling 9:4 win over Ugra, it was a dull start in the Ice Palace. Amur were focused on shutting up shop, while SKA’s players struggled to get anything going in the attacking zone. Indeed, it was Amur’s counterattacks causing the most danger, as Igor Shestyorkin made a few confidence building saves up close. Nevertheless, SKA slowly grew into the game and as the period came to a close, we drew first blood – Nikolai Prokhorkin’s stunning pass behind the net was finished by Sergei Shirokov.

That goal allowed SKA to play with more freedom and on the powerplay, we grabbed a second. Anton Belov hung at the point, dumped in on net and struck gold. Our intensity had taken a notable rise and with Amur’s defence looking wobbly, we scored a crucial third marker. Alexander Barabanov swung to the crease, dished a stunning pass to Nikita Gusev and the latter made no mistake. Facing a three goal deficit, Amur were forced into taking more risks and Igor Shestyorkin stopped a few dangerous long range efforts.

Despite knowing that the game was up, Amur didn’t throw the towel in, netting a consolation in the third period – Jarno Koskiranta inadvertently turned in a Kirill Kapustin pass into his own net. Jarno would later make up for that error though, poking home a juicy rebound to make the points safe. SKA calmly saw the game out and have taken a third win on the bounce 4:1!

Match protocol:

SKA – Amur – 4:1 (1:0, 2:0, 1:1)

Goals:

1:0 Shirokov (Khokhlachyov, Prokhorkin), 16.02

2:0 Belov (Barabanov), 28.54

3:0 Gusev (Barabanov, Koskiranta), 35.17

3:1 Kapustin (Atyushov, Litovchenko), 47.05

4:1 Koskiranta (Barabanov, Gusev), 51.32

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Metsola

Shots on target: 27 – 26

Penalty minutes: 14 – 14

Faceoffs: 35 – 27