SKA – Dinamo Minsk

SKA – Dinamo Minsk – 3:2

13 October 2023

Despite Dinamo Minsk registering 46 (!) shots on target, SKA held on for a gritty triumph at home in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, emerging victorious by a score of 3:2.

After a positive start, SKA ended up conceding a dreadful goal out of the blue in the eighth minute.

When pouncing on a wayward pass, Roman Gorbunov fired the puck past the stranded Nikita Serebryakov in our net.

To our delight, SKA grabbed an equaliser on the powerplay in the 16^th minute, with the in-form Borna Rendulic sending a bomb beyond the unsighted Alexei Kolosov. Alexander Kadeikin cleverly blocked the young Belarusian goaltender’s view on the doorstep.

Unfortunately, Minsk went on to dominate practically the entirety of the remaining two periods.

Competing with confidence, flair and pace, a phenomenal Dinamo side applied overwhelming pressure on SKA from the start of the second stanza until the end of the third.

Seconds after the pipe had twice come to our rescue during one single play, the Belarusians did strike their deserved second marker in the 28^th minute, as Ioannis Kaldis tapped the puck over the line with Serebryakov out of position.

However, even though Dinamo were so dominant, SKA netted two decisive goals midway through the second stanza against the run of play.

Sergei Tolchinsky whipped an instant wrister into the right corner while competing on the PP, before Artyom Sergeev escaped his marker on the right faceoff circle and got the better of Kolosov near-post to score his maiden SKA goal.

Luck was certainly on our side throughout the ensuing third period.

Serebryakov single-handedly won the game for us. While coming under severe pressure, the impressive 27-year-old bravely stood tall to the challenge, pulling off a range of incredible saves at point-blank range with Minsk forcing the issue. One of his many memorable stops prevented the lively Vitaly Pinchuk from scoring a candidate for goal of the season after a dazzling solo raid.

Pinchuk also appeared to tip against the left post on the rare occasion when Serebryakov was powerless.

Huffing and puffing, Minsk pulled Kolosov for the extra skater, laid siege to the SKA net, but remarkably failed to make their dominance count and departed Saint Petersburg without any points to show for their efforts.

SKA will now prepare to host Admiral Vladivostok at the Ice Palace on Monday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Dinamo Minsk – 3:2 (1:1, 2:1, 0:0)

Goals:

0:1 Gorbunov, 07.13

1:1 Rendulic (Nikishin), 15.10 PPG

1:2 Kaldis (Kuznetsov, Curran), 27.05

2:2 Tolchinsky (Kadeikin), 28.34 PPG

3:2 Sergeev (Alistrov, Rendulic), 32.58

Goalkeepers: Serebryakov – Kolosov

Shots: 38 – 73

Shots on target: 22 – 46