Game five. SKA - Dinamo Minsk

Game five. SKA - Dinamo Minsk - 4:3 OT

10 March 2021

In a pulsating battle, SKA sent Dinamo Minsk packing in the first round of the 2020/2021 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs, defeating the visitors 4:3 in overtime at home to clinch a scintillating series by a score of 4-1.

Dinamo Minsk the quicker start at the Ice Palace. Seconds after an early powerplay had ended, the Belarusians made the breakthrough within four minutes, as Pavel Varfolomeev completed a flowing play on the doorstep.

Our players responded well. Competing on the front foot, SKA immediately began dominating proceedings after conceding, protecting the puck deep inside the Belarusian zone and creating promising opportunities.

With Dominik Furch in solid form in the Dinamo Minsk net, the visiting team were just about managing to keep SKA at bay, but our team did eventually get back on level terms in the 25^th minute.

After speeding past his markers to the crease, Emil Galimov sent a rasping wrister under Furch’s glove. All of a sudden, Minsk really did begin to struggle against our attacking power, and Galimov tallied his second of the day moments after a powerplay had expired midway through the second period.

Lurking on the doorstep, Galimov pounced on a big rebound to force the puck over the line with Furch already out of the picture.

That goal forced Dinamo Minsk to take more risks. Towards the end of the second period, the opponents did waste a couple of glorious opportunities, as Francis Pare was denied by a stunning save from Magnus Hellberg and Alexei Protas fired wide of the far post when alone on the right flank.

Minsk did, however, tally their goals in a catastrophic start to the third frame.

On the powerplay, Varfolomeev tricked Hellberg from the left faceoff circle, before familiar veteran forward Denis Mosalyov subsequently grabbed Dinamo Minsk’s third marker with a high wrist shot on the counter.

In truth, SKA struggled to generate any kind of attacking traction throughout the third period, with Minsk seemingly in full control. However, with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation, Kirill Marchenko forced overtime as he sent Galimov’s beautiful pass past the stricken Furch when presented with an odd-man rush.

The ensuing overtime period was full of drama. Initially, SKA played with the initiative and called Furch into action on a number of occasions, but Minsk gradually began to commit more bodies to attack and passed up a wonderful chance as Artyom Demkov couldn’t score when completely clean through.

That miss proved to be the pivotal moment in the series.

Playing on the powerplay after Dinamo Minsk defenseman Ilya Shinkevich had taken a hooking foul, SKA finally ended the series, as Andrei Kuzmenko tipped Anton Burdasov's one-timer beyond Furch.

SKA will now prepare to face Dynamo Moscow in the second round of the playoffs. The series will begin on either Wednesday or Thursday next week.

Match protocol:

SKA - Dinamo Minsk - 4:3 OT (0:1, 2:0, 1:2, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Varfolomeev (Mosalyov, Protas), 03.22

1:1 Galimov (Antipin, Morozov), 24.46

2:1 Galimov (Morozov, Ozhiganov), 29.44

2:2 Varfolomeev (Price, Menell), 42.05

2:3 Mosalyov (Protas, Gorbunov), 43.03

3:3 Marchenko (Galimov, Khafizullin), 57.58

4:3 Kuzmenko (Bengtsson, Burdasov), 68.47

Goalkeepers: Hellberg - Furch