SKA - Dinamo Minsk

SKA - Dinamo Minsk - 6:2

10 October 2016

SKA marked the halfway point of this home series with a match against HC Dinamo Minsk. Forward Alexander Khokhlachyov was drafted into the fourth line, while record setter Igor Shestyorkin kept his place between the pipes. Ben Scrivens was his opposite number.

Coming off the back of a thumping 6:0 win over Jokerit, our players were in the mood for some more fun. It all began with a superb Alexander Khokhlachyov goal, as alone on the right wing, he swept home a beautiful Alexander Dergachyov feed. In that game with Jokerit, the Finns played almost half the match a man down, but Dinamo didn’t seem to have done their homework – on two separate powerplays, Vyacheslav Voynov scored with a firm wrister, and Nikita Gusev netted from a tight angle. The Belarusians didn’t know what had hit them, and before the period was out, Evgeny Dadonov cleverly tipped home to make it four.

Despite pulling the hapless Ben Scrivens for Mikhail Karnaukhov, Dinamo’s fortunes didn’t improve. Not long into the second stanza, Ilya Kablukov slapped hard into the near corner on the left faceoff circle. However, just as it seemed as though things were going perfectly, Dinamo became the first time in five matches to beat Igor Shestyorkin – Nikita Ustienko’s one timer put an end to Igor’s astounding streak. Building from that goal, Dinamo even earned a long five minute powerplay after Dinar Khafizullin was chucked out of the game, however SKA’s penalty killers did a fantastic job of keeping them on the outside.

With the Belarusian visitors knowing their fate, the tempo took a large decrease in the third period. Neither team were willing to up the pace, as SKA comfortably held on to possession. However, there was to be a final flourish – after Ilya Shinkevich pulled one back for Dinamo late on, Vadim Shipachyov gave the Ice Palace a sixth goal to cheer about with only eleven seconds on the clock. 6:2 today, SKA keep their winning run going!

Match protocol:

SKA – Dinamo Minsk – 6:2 (4:0, 1:1, 1:1)

Goals:

1:0 Khokhlachyov (Belov, Dergachyov), 02.44

2:0 Voynov (Kovalchuk), 08.54

3:0 Gusev (Shipachyov, Khafizullin), 12.28

4:0 Dadonov (Gusev, Chudinov), 19.17

5:0 Kablukov (Rykov), 23.57

5:1 Usitenko (Komarov, Drozd), 26.03

5:2 Shinkevich (Stepanov, Kulakov), 58.13

6:2 Shipachyov (Gusev), 59.50

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Scrivens/Karnaukhov