SKA - Dynamo Moscow

SKA - Dynamo Moscow - 3:1

17 January 2019

In a tense battle, SKA proved too strong for HC Dynamo Moscow at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace, emerging 3:1 winners to complete a 2018/2019 KHL regular season four-game sweep of the opponents.

The game was littered by penalties from both sides, but after conceding an avoidable equaliser shorthanded, SKA recovered to tally a 3:1 win with Pavel Datsyuk scoring the winner in the second period.

Having won their past three consecutive away matches, Dynamo started with real confidence in Saint Petersburg, taking the game to SKA and creating a couple of promising opportunities. At point blank range, Maxim Mineev had a golden chance, but he was denied by a superb stop by a sprawling Igor Shestyorkin. SKA were struggling to stay in the opposing zone, however, out of nothing, our players snatched the lead. Pouncing on a juicy rebound, defenseman Dinar Khafizullin poked the puck past Ivan Bocharov.

Dynamo equalised on the powerplay early in the second stanza. Dmitry Kagarlitsky collected the puck, swung into the SKA zone, subsequently whipping a wicked wrister over Igor Shestyorkin. Buoyed by that goal, Dynamo suddenly took the initiative, however SKA held on and gained a second advantage. Lurking on the doorstep, Pavel Datsyuk received a clever pass from Sergei Plotnikov, lashing an instant effort under the goaltender. Dynamo defenseman Yegor Zaitsev was then sent off with a 5+20 penalty for a dirty foul against Nikolai Prokhorkin, but the Muscovites kept our team at bay.

SKA improved even further in the third period and doubled their money after 53 minutes. Standing at the blue line, defenseman Anton Belov wound up for a huge one timer, slapping a thumping slap shot past the sleeping Ivan Bocharov and in turn practically sealing the win. Asides from a wonderful glove save from Igor Shestyorkin in the final moments, SKA calmly saw the game out, claiming an important 3:1 win at home!

Match protocol:

SKA – Dynamo Moscow – 3:1 (1:0, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Khafizullin (Gusev), 15.11

1:1 Kagarlitsky (Shipachyov), 21.00

2:1 Datsyuk (Kruchinin, Plotnikov), 28.46

3:1 Belov (Prokhorkin, Gusev), 52.21

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Bocharov

Shots on target: 28 – 20

Faceoffs: 30 – 23

Hits: 17 – 15

Penalty minutes: 6 – 33