Game one. SKA - Dynamo Moscow

Game one. SKA - Dynamo Moscow - 1:4

18 March 2021

In the first match of the 2020/2021 KHL Gagarin Cup second-round playoff series, SKA couldn’t beat Dynamo Moscow at home, conceding an avoidable 1:4 defeat.

SKA came out with energy inside a packed Ice Palace. Immediately taking the initiative, the hosts quickly began asking questions of the Dynamo defence, with Vladislav Tsitsyura, Joonas Kemppainen and Evgeny Ketov putting themselves about with physical play.

However, just seconds after moving to the powerplay for the first time in the match, Dynamo scored the opening goal of the series as Michal Cajkovsky launched an unstoppable one-timer over Alexander Samonov.

Dynamo did indeed gift SKA three powerplay opportunities of their own in the first period. Igor Ozhiganov and Anton Burdasov were particularly threatening, but SKA lacked aggression in the attacking third and the visiting team protected Ivan Bocharov in their net effectively.

Our players made a vast improvement in the second stanza.

Piling the pressure on the visiting team, SKA bossed proceedings and created plenty of guilt-edged opportunities, as Malte Stromwall hacked over the crossbar on an odd-man rush and a powerful slap shot smashed against the pipe with Bocharov a beaten man.

Unfortunately, though, Dynamo hit back with a second marker midway through the frame against the run of play.

Unmarked at the blue line, Dmitry Sergeev opted to try his luck, and his seemingly harmless attempt sneaked past the unsighted Samonov.

Throughout the remainder of the period, SKA did try to muster a response, but Bocharov was standing tall to the challenge as he continued to make the required saves for Dynamo.

Dynamo went on to practically kill the game at the start of the third period.

Lurking on the crease, Oscar Lindberg escaped his marker to connect with a big rebound, tapping it in with Samonov completely powerless.

SKA didn’t give up, though, and Lukas Bengtsson did finally get the home team on the board with a little less than five minutes remaining in the third stanza as he beat Bocharov with a strong wrister on the powerplay.

In the concluding minutes, SKA head coach Valeri Bragin did pull Samonov in favour of the extra skater, but that only resulted in Dmitrij Jaskin hitting the empty net and securing Dynamo’s win.

The second match of the series is scheduled for Saturday in Saint Petersburg. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA - Dynamo Moscow - 1:4 (0:1, 0:1, 1:2)

Goals:

0:1 Cajkovsky (Jaskin, Kagarlitsky), 11.15

0:2 Sergeev (Kruglov, Igumnov), 30.54

0:3 Lindberg (Cajkovsky, Tarasov), 44.53

1:3 Bengtsson (Vey, Burdasov), 55.23

1:4 Jaskin (Shipachyov, Tarasov), 57.42

Goalkeepers: Samonov - Bocharov

Shots on target: 33 - 27

Faceoffs: 29 - 27