SKA - Avtomobilist - 5:2

Following the Euro Hockey Tour break, SKA comfortably eased back into the KHL routine, defeating Eastern Conference leaders HC Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg 5:2 inside the expectant Saint Petersburg Ice Palace.

In the first period, Nail Yakupov batted a loose puck under Vladimir Sokhatskiy's left pad, but had Igor Shestyorkin not denied opposing forward Vladimir Krikunov at point blank range with a stunning save, the teams would have gone to the break level.

SKA increased the intensity in the second frame. Taking advantage of a juicy rebound off the boards, Maxim Karpov registered his first of the match, sliding his attempt past the sprawling goalkeeper. Alexei Kruchinin then slotted into the gaping left corner before Maxim Karpov grabbed his second with a wonderful effort when clean through.

Midway through the third stanza, Maxim Karpov secured his maiden hat trick with SKA, hitting the jackpot when on the powerplay. Dan Sexton and Nigel Dawes scored late for the visitors, but it didn't prevent SKA from running out 5:2 winners!

Match protocol:

SKA - Avtomobilist - 5:2 (1:0, 3:0, 1:2)

Goals:

1:0 Yakupov (Koskiranta, Plotnikov), 04.11

2:0 Karpov (Belov, Gusev), 36.58

3:0 Kruchinin (Kablukov, Li), 39.27

4:0 Karpov (Rukavishnikov, Tokranov), 39.38

5:0 Karpov (Gusev, Datsyuk), 49.17

5:1 Sexton (Mamkin, Da Costa), 57.29

5:2 Dawes, 58.47

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin - Sokhatskiy

Shots on target: 31 - 35

Faceoffs: 31 - 20

Hits: 25 - 17

Penalty minutes: 6 - 8

12.11.2018.